Congress attendees from the diocese share experiences

By Linda J Oppelt

COLORADO SPRINGS. More than 100 people from the Diocese of Colorado Springs attended the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis, and  nearly all of them describe it as being a transformative experience. Here are the personal testimonies of some of the pilgrims from the diocese:

Jeff Stuber, St. Patrick:

I heard about the Congress in 2023 and decided that I needed to deepen my faith. I registered as soon as it opened. At the congress, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center were transformed into the most beautiful of venues for worship I have seen. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the activities of World Youth Day in the 90s. The congress Masses, processions, speakers, music . . . the liturgy, the reconciliation lines, the Shroud of Turin expo, the relics of saints, the 55,000+ people who came to gather as one. Our congress challenge is to walk with one other person and bring them to Christ.

Maryann Vanhorn, Corpus Christi:

I came back to the church about six years ago. I went to Medjugorje with a friend. It was a really unbelievable experience. The Blessed Mother saved me.

I first heard about the National Eucharistic Congress in June, when I saw the movie, “Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist.” The same friend that I had gone to Medjugorje with attended the congress with me. I was blown away! I experienced the same feeling of being with joyful, amazing people as at Medjugorje, but also so peaceful. It drew me closer to Jesus. I was so drawn to the Eucharist. The Litany of Healing and Repentance just stripped you down to the core. It made you take all your failures and put them at the foot of the cross. I didn’t know how to do that. I just felt, He loves me this much! I can’t wait to go to Mass. Now I want to go [every day].The powerful feeling of grace was so overwhelming.

I didn’t even realize, until this congress, that Jesus shows up at every single Mass — the miracle we experience — we experience Calvary — at each and every Mass! Jesus is the only way to happiness and joyous peace.”

Mark Elio, St. Patrick:

I experienced a deeply intensive immersion in the Catholic faith and its teachings along with a profound felt presence of the Lord in the beautiful liturgies and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament celebrated in the stadium every evening. I was inspired to pray to Jesus that He guide me in following through as a Eucharistic missionary, as expressed by Cardinal Tagle in his closing Mass homily: “When the priest or deacon says, ‘The Mass is ended. Go in the peace of Christ,’ please go! What you have heard, touched and tasted, you must share with others.” My implicit desire now is to live what the Lord blessed me with experiencing those five powerfully, unforgettable spiritually enriching days in Indianapolis!

Deacon Jim Bachta, St. Francis of Assisi, Colorado Springs:

The Eucharistic Procession at the NEC had a big impact on me and got me thinking. Some practical suggestions for follow-up commitments involved three areas: more frequent and more active participation in the Holy Mass, increased time before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration, and more frequent Eucharistic processions. The third one caught my attention as it occurred to me that after receiving Holy Communion, I am a living monstrance who “processes” out into the community making Jesus visible to everyone I encounter. It doesn’t always take dozens of people to have a Eucharistic procession, Jesus wants to go out of the church with me. I plan to be more intentional about my daily personal processions from now on, and will try to make Jesus more visible in my own behaviors.

Nona Stuber, St. Patrick:

Jesus’ living presence was brought across this land via the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. From the four corners of America there were large and small Eucharistic processions, in large cathedrals and small churches. Thousands of people of faith joined this amazing journey. The pilgrims visited prisons, nursing homes, and homeless shelters. Large crowds followed Him, hungry for his healing mercy, love, and grace.

After the pilgrims entered the stadium on the first night of the congress, the lights were dimmed and it was announced, “He is Here!” The spotlights shone on Bishop Cozzens processing in the arena with the monstrance lifted high. Then some 50,000 people knelt and joined together in adoration to worship and praise the Lord and to pray for unity and healing. My heart was overflowing with so many powerful emotions of Joy, Love, and Hope.

God is with us always; he remains in the midst of his people, in the messiness of the world and our own broken lives. HE is the answer to every question, every problem, every need. How thankful and humbled I am.

Rita Crabb, Ave Maria, Parker:

I came home full of joy. It was a progressive thing, where I started to apply it gradually, to be joyful to other people in all circumstances.

At an eye exam, I told the doctor, “I was at the National Eucharistic Conference and came home full of joy!” She said, “Tell me about it.” So, I did; I explained that we believe Jesus Christ is present in the Blessed Sacrament, and how much of a joy it was to be with fifty-five thousand people. She responded that she is spiritual [vs religious]. I told her about an app she could use to find all kinds of different prayers . . . You plant the seeds. 

Margaret Petrie, Holy Apostles

There’s so many words that I can use. Hope, renewal, the presence of the Holy Spirit was profound.

I’ve been praying with the verse, “I have come to set the world on fire and how I wish it was burning.” (Luke 12:49) I’ve been praying that for so long, and to be a part of [the congress], to actually hear that those people were called. It was just so powerful to feel the movement of the Holy Spirit and to be a part of that and to witness God’s love for us through all of those people.And the words that were spoken were like a fire hose of love coming at us. So I’m still processing it. It was just so amazing to see so many people, young, old, healthy, weak, every stage of our faith there. The themes about hunger — I feel like our world is so hungry and in need of being fed and we don’t even know it — we don’t even know it. Only Jesus satisfies that hunger.

Kristal Alfonso, Our Lady of the Pines:

My family was blessed to attend the National Eucharistic Congress. The gathering welcomed over sixty thousand Catholics from all over the US and beyond with one focus: to unite in prayer.

We listened to speakers from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences (Msgr. James Shea, Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, Father Mike Schmitz, and Jonathan Roumie were some of our favorites); worshipped with Catholics from all walks of life; even attended a Byzantine Mass; and lifted our unified voices up in prayer and song. It was, for me, a life-altering encounter with our Lord, and I will be forever changed…

I have always struggled with living up to an expectation I have placed on my own heart, one of questioning whether I was ever good enough for God’s forgiveness. And this was a constant theme of the NEC: we are all worthy of Jesus’ love and sacrifice if we repent and accept forgiveness. For me personally, I walked away feeling the Lord’s arms wrapped around me, with songs of worship and praise on constant repeat in my head, and my faith renewed and deepened.

Bishop James Golka

I have a sense that it was a healing moment for the church. And it especially strikes me that after the Mr. McCarrick situation — the pain that brought to us, and then COVID — what that has done to us which we’re still trying to unpack, this seemed like a moment for 50,000 Catholics to come together and do Catholic things — prayer, adoration, Eucharist, sharing the faith, evangelization, catechesis, discipleship-making. All of that created a synergy that I found healed a church that might have been somewhat fractured or wounded. The Body of Christ will always be that to some extent. But it seemed like this is part of God’s plan to help us heal and begin to move forward. So it also gave me a hunger for a new Pentecost. And a great trust and hope in what the Holy Spirit wants to do in the Church.

I loved when the congress began and the four different pilgrim groups came into the stadium one by one, and there was someone holding up a picture of the patron saint [of each route]. It felt like the saint entered the room; the whole country entered the room; and then the Blessed Sacrament came in.

The first spoken words were from the Bread of Life discourse from John’s Gospel. Bishop Cozzens proclaimed that Gospel. And then I remember him pausing, and when he spoke in his own words he said, ‘Lord, we wanted you to have the first word.’ For the congress to so intentionally set aside 30 to 60 minutes of quiet adoration, is really saying ‘the Lord is the center of this, not us,’ and that struck me as being key. It’s not true Revival unless he’s the center.

NEXT:

If you would like to share your own experience of the National Eucharistic Congress, whether from attending in person, or by watching the proceedings electronically, please submit it to editor@coloradocatholicherald.com.

[The talks are available online at www.eucharisticrevival.org, EWTN’s coverage at www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9CQlldupc5-TAMz3fOlJwyBO3zWLQFVv, or at relevantradio.com/national-eucharistic-congress.]

In future issues, the Herald will include responses to Bishop Golka’s challenge to diocesan pilgrims to decide on one thing, one action, to help the Eucharistic Revival happen in you, after the congress. Most attendees are still processing the events of the congress and how it will bear fruit in their lives.

In the Year of Mission that began at the congress, all Catholics are called to “Walk with One.” This initiative challenges everyone to prayerfully discern one person who is away from the Church, either no longer practicing their faith, or have never heard about or considered becoming Christian and following Jesus Christ.

According to the Walk with One website, www.eucharisticrevival.org/walk-with-one, “the Lord is asking each of us to step out of our comfort zone and evangelize one-on-one.” The website includes resources to help overcome the typical fears many have about evangelizing others.