by Andrew Koslosky KGCHS, Contributing Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (GG) — What is a Eucharistic congress? I suppose we don’t have much to draw on, being the last one was almost 84 years ago.
As I have shared with you in past weeks, our country has been in the midst of a Eucharistic revival. In recent days we experienced, as part of year two of this revival, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
What a sight it was to see our community in large numbers processing from Our Lady of the Gulf in Bay St. Louis, over the Bay Bridge. Then, there was the wonderful tribute to Our Lady of the Guadalupe Shrine at St. Paul’s Chapel in Pass Christian.
Soon it was on to St. Thomas the Apostle Church, in Long Beach, where we experienced the Blessing of the Sea, forever to be remembered by the now with the iconic photo of Fr. Vincent Ajai, standing in the waters and giving the ancient blessing to the Gulf Waters.
We then processed from St. James in Gulfport to the Cathe- dral of the BVM in Biloxi. Almost 22 miles of procession over
three days along the Gulf Coast. Thousands in all participating and making our Gulf Coast community proud.
We then experienced a beautiful evening of thanksgiving, The Healing of America Prayer Service. It was at this event that the communities along the gulf coast, inspired by the Pilgrimage, took part in an evening of prayer to heal our country.
It was also an opportunity to show our police, fire and armed service personnel our gratitude for their service, and to pray for their continued safety. I must tell you how proud I was to see our Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Peter Claver leading the procession into Holy Family church that evening.
There is nothing more that indicates the importance of an event then to have The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre present. So, what was the common thread for all of these events?
They were conducted in the presence of our Lord Jesus, present in the Eucharist, walking the whole journey with us in the Monstrance.
A very inspiring couple of weeks indeed… but this was just the opening act. The main event was yet to come. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you…The National Eucharistic Congress, June 17- June 21, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
I must admit, as I boarded the plane in Gulfport, I was curious about what I was about to see on my journey to the Congress. Was I going to a convention?
What will the city be like? How many Catholics will show up? Will all our Bishops make a point of being there? What will the energy be? Lots of questions… very few answers ahead of time.
Have you ever been to a Saints football game? How about a Billy Joel or Elton John Concert? The energy at Lucas Oil Stadium was electric. Sixty thousand seats sold and the main event… Jesus Christ.
When was the last time you were in a church and the entire congregation sang loudly and prayed with passion?When did you last see thousands of our youth running toward a stage, to sing songs to Jesus?
Every star of the Catholic Church seemed to be there. The Opening mass on Thursday morning was led by Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York. His opening homily was full of purpose, as he outlined the importance of this Congress, and he connected as only he can.
He received a standing ovation as he exited the stadium. Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Wilton Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle were just a few who joined us.
Almost 1600 priests, deacons, seminarians joined almost 200 Bishops and Cardinals with an additional 1300 religious sisters and brothers. We can confirm that 69,000 tickets were sold for the events.
Simply speaking, many of the pilgrims described the experience as personally life-changing and described seeing its deep effects on many people who encountered the Eucharist through it.
Almost every day began with a walk from our hotel to the stadium for the 8am rosary. This was followed by morning mass with sixty thousand pilgrims. We were joined for a few of our brunches and dinners by our Bishop Louis Kihneman.
After the food stop it was on to the Indiana Convention center for various talks, wonderful exhibits such as The Eucharistic Miracles, a Replica and The Story of the Shroud of Turin, and of course hours spent walking the many aisles of products, services, schools, religious orders all with a common theme of helping. to point us in the direction off a closer relationship with Jesus through the Eucharist.
In the Early afternoon, it was across the street to the beautiful St. John’s Church where there was a perpetual adoration of our Lord set up for us to take advantage of 24 hours a day. We then headed back to our hotels to freshen up and get ready for dinner.
In the evenings, we headed back to Lucas Oil Stadium for the night sessions where we heard most of the inspirational speakers mentioned earlier. Between the liturgies, speakers, exhibits, breakout sessions, small-group discussions and working your way through massive crowds, to say it’s been busy would be an understatement.
Actually, it’s been exhilarating. I shouldn’t be able to function on this little sleep and basically a steady diet of turkey sandwiches and chips. A heady combination of adrenaline and grace drove me, that’s for sure.
On Saturday afternoon, the Congress took to the streets of Indianapolis and processed with Jesus, ending at Memorial Park.
What a sight to see so many Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Semi- narians, Religious, Equestrian Orders of the Holy Sepulchre, Knights of Columbus, Knights of Peter Claver, and Sixty thousand strong in silent prayer before the Monstrance in the Park holding our Lord.
The obvious result shows the Power of prayer, the opportunity to reflect, to steady the ship and get going in the right direction, the hope shown us by our youth, and the resolve that we the chosen of Jesus Christ, are steadfast in our belief in Him, and in the real presence of the Eucharist.
It was a public statement to the nation that we are ready to lead, and raise our voices, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world
We were all sent home with the official commission to evangelize to our people. It’s time to bring everyone home to God, through Jesus Christ and the Eucharist.
In this divided and troubled country we live in, we remember that the forefathers made it very clear that we are “one nation, under God, indivisible.” This Congress and the entire revival is a time for us to unite our country, unite as a family, broth- ers and sisters in Jesus Christ.
So let me start following my commission by inviting you to join us this coming Sunday at mass. No matter how long it has been, understand that your Father in heaven wants you to come home.
Brothers and sisters, take the opportunity to reach out this week to someone who has been walking the road alone. Let’s invite at least one person to join us this Sunday. Let’s take advantage of the fire started by the National Eucharis- tic Congress.
Peace till next week Brothers and Sisters in Christ…
