For me, singing and shouting and praising the Lord as loud as I could was a taste of heaven.
Madonna House sent six delegates to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana in July. Here are some highlights and impressions.
On July 16 the Madonna House team began gathering in Indianapolis for the USA Eucharistic Congress. Mary McGoff, Victoria Fausto, and Maja Jocson, a volunteer, drove in from Ontario. Andorra Howard arrived on an early flight from Washington, DC. Jeremiah Barker flew to St. Louis from Edmonton and Fr. Denis Lemieux picked him up on his drive from Salem, Missouri to Indianapolis.
Shortly after arriving, we went over to the little downtown church, St. John the Evangelist, thinking we would be in time for the daily noon Mass. Imagine our delight when we encountered the last of the four walking pilgrimage groups arriving with the Blessed Sacrament after eight weeks walking across the country.
This group took the Marian route (North), starting in May from Mississippi Headwaters, Lake Itasca, MN. The other three routes were: the Elizabeth Ann Seton route (East), starting in New Haven, CT; the Juan Diego route (south) starting in Brownsville, TX; and the Junipero Serra route (West), which started in San Francisco, CA.
Two months, 551 stops in 65 dioceses and more than 6,500 miles later (with more than 100,000 participants along the way), the four groups of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage converged in Indianapolis on July 16, one day before the start of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Celebrating Mass with them was a wonderful beginning to our time at the Congress.
The Madonna House booth, featuring books, cards and display items, was in the Ministries area of the Exhibit Hall of the Convention center. The afternoons were full, as we visited with old friends, associates, bishops. We tried to keep two or three of our team at the booth at all times, while the others walked around, ate, rested, etc.
(Mary) “I was filled with pride as I walked through the exhibit hall and saw all of the Catholic ministries devoted to promoting life and family. More than 1600 booths offered everything, from assistance during a miscarriage to support for the disabled, the single mom, the “messy” family, parish evangelization, religious communities, Catholic colleges, Knights of Columbus, athletes, etc. It was clear that we were all Catholic and that we support life in every possible circumstance.”
The evening sessions, from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. at Lucas Oil Football Stadium, featured music, inspirational talks by well-known Catholic speakers, and a full hour of Eucharistic adoration. It was BIG and very powerful, and yet it was also very personal.
Every day there were eight Masses to choose from, most celebrated by a bishop with another dozen bishops and hundreds of priests concelebrating. Options included: Spanish, Youth, Byzantine, Latin, and several locations for regular Roman Masses.
On Saturday the Divine Liturgy in the Syro-Malabar Qurbana was celebrated in the Lucas Oil Stadium. Thousands attended, many of whom were first-timers to a non-Roman rite liturgy.
The morning Impact sessions focused on different themes: Encountering Jesus, Empowering Ministers for Eucharistic Evangelization, Renewal of Hearts, especially for ministry leaders, cultivating Catholic family life, Awakening the Fire in the hearts of youth, and Abide, – for bishops and priests seeking to deepen their faith.
On Saturday afternoon, with an Our Lady of Combermere banner, we joined thousands of processing bishops, seminarians, priests, nuns, families, and everyone else for a Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis, ending in adoration and Benediction at the War Memorial Park.
I had been looking forward to the Eucharistic Congress for two years. My family in Indianapolis had sent early information to me. In my mind it was a great opportunity for us to be a visible presence at a national event, a chance to network with other communities and a place to introduce Catherine Doherty to some new friends. Plus, I would get a chance to visit with my family.
I did get to do all of the above, but God had a surprise for me. From the moment we arrived on Tuesday to the closing Mass on Sunday in the Lucas Oil Football Stadium, I was immersed in the fire of the Holy Spirit and I knew God had planned all along for me to be a participant at this Congress.
During the night Revival sessions in the football stadium, the music and cheering was 60,000 voices strong. For me, singing and shouting praises to Jesus as loud as I could was a taste of heaven.
The teachings of those nights penetrated my heart deeply. Several speakers used the Scripture passage about meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They encouraged us to believe in Christ and his Resurrection, to return to him, and then proclaim the Good News whole heartedly. We were asked to repent of any unbelief, half-heartedness or division.
I chose to attend the Youth tract for the Impact sessions, where the music, dancing, and teaching spoke to my heart. It was refreshing to see thousands of teens and young adults celebrating the Eucharist together.
The Saturday procession through my home town of Indianapolis and then adoration at the War Memorial Park was very special to me as I let the sight of these thousands of Catholics — bishops, priests, seminarians, nuns, families, groups, old and young — super-impose itself over my memories of parades and concerts from my earlier years living in Indianapolis.
But super-imposed over the whole event was Jesus and his real presence in the Eucharist. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me the gift of attending this congress.”
(Jeremiah) “For me, it was striking to see a Church very much alive, to see a part of the Church — young, thoroughly American, thoroughly Catholic, thoroughly orthodox, broad-minded, diverse, open to the world but centered totally on Christ, on the Gospel, on the Eucharist.
It was moving to see all this energy, usually funnelled into enthusiasm for a hockey or football game or a concert, all directed toward the Eucharist. And this wasn’t done in a phony, showy sort of way.
Yes, it was flashy, it was big, it was American. But there was a genuineness, an authenticity, a purity of heart, even a simplicity to it — in the shared singular focus on the Eucharistic Christ. There was no hint of coopting the faith for one political agenda or the other.
The Eucharistic Congress wasn’t an antipolitical or an a-political event. It wasn’t a Democratic or Republican event, a left-wing or a right-wing event. It was simply a gathering in which we — 60,000 American Catholics — were all focusing on Christ our King, the Eucharistic Lord.
One of the speakers was Jonathan Roumie, who plays the part of Jesus in the TV series The Chosen. It was beautiful to see his thoroughly Catholic Christian faith, coming across loud and clear.
Roumie has played a key role in making the Gospels come alive in so many young American hearts, including a lot of Evangelical Protestant hearts. Roumie and his address at the Congress embodied a Catholicism that is American, biblical, and thoroughly Catholic.
He testified to something which characterized the Congress as a whole. We saw an American Church that is broad with a myriad of particular expressions of the faith — Filipino and Latino, East Indian and Ukrainian, black and white — thoroughly Catholic and singularly devoted.
Cardinal Tagle, on behalf of the Holy Father, celebrated the closing Mass and preached a homily that was both humorous and convicting, and somehow intimate and inspiring. He fully engaged the crowd, who exchanged signs of affection for the Church and the Lord whom he and the Holy Father both represent.
Part of the uniqueness of the whole event was the diversity of music styles, from praise and worship to traditional Latin chant, all very well done, in addition to the beautiful Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar liturgies with their music.”
(Jim Wildeson, MH Guest and Congress participant) “I was deeply struck during the closing Mass when Cardinal Tagle led us all in professing the Confiteor. There was an immense sense of unity, as so many thousands of us proclaimed our common faith; it was very moving.
To see over 250 bishops celebrating together was inspiring. I was also struck by the fact that, unlike at World Youth Days, which are primarily attended by youth, this gathering was of the whole church, people of all ages.”
(Andorra) “Images that come back to me are of the pilgrims who walked a thousand miles or more, jubilantly expressing their devotion, pride, and accomplishment in the stadium as they finished their journey. Or the nightly time of Eucharistic adoration where 60,000 people knelt in adoration and gratitude. There were moments when you could hear a pin drop.
Or the immense line of clergy processing in and out, broken up by moments of Bishops waving and the crowds clapping with recognition and delight.
Or the many people who came to our booth, including a friend and benefactor who is retired, but gives of herself to the little ones through Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I still can see the light coming from her as she watched a child discover the Good Shepherd. All of this filled my heart and still moves me to tears, even as I write.
But the memory that is most burned into my mind and heart is the Bread come down from Heaven living in a young gal sitting on a grubby sidewalk next to a homeless man as he poured out his soul to her. She listened intently with compassion and complete attention, while thousands of us walked by heading to the Stadium.
She was clearly a participant at the Congress, and at that moment she became for me a living tabernacle. The Bread come down from heaven for the life of the world, the life of this man, was evident in her, as she gave him food for his soul.”
(Victoria) “Some of my visual memories are of the jubilant pilgrims arriving in the stadium after eight weeks of walking from the four corners of the country with the Blessed Sacrament.
It was moving to see bishops and priests weeping openly at the love, devotion and support they saw for the Eucharist. It was a revival of Eucharistic love through much beauty, music and flowers.
Meanwhile, between events and behind the scenes, thousands of volunteers were bagging food for the homeless, 120 priests were hearing confessions, and adoration was going on 24/7 in a nearby chapel.
Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB led us in a remarkable Litany of Healing and Repentance during adoration one evening.
One message we heard more than once is that it is not an accident that we are here at this time. We were born for this time in the Church and the world.
This was not like a pep rally. Impressive as it was, it was not about the numbers of people who attended. It was only about the Eucharist. It was a deeply catechetical event which changed people’s hearts. The reality of being present to the Presence led to a revival in my own heart.”
