Ripple Effect: Eucharistic Congress meant to bear fruit in local parishes, communities

By Veronica Ambuul and Linda Oppelt

Photo: Six of the 24 young adults who participated in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage are interviewed by reporters from Catholic and local media at the Indiana Convention Center on July 16 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. (Herald photo by Veronica Ambuul) 

INDIANAPOLIS. If there was a common thread running through the talks given during the National Eucharistic Congress July 16-21, it was that the massive gathering and the events leading up to it were meant to have a lasting impact on parishes and dioceses back home.

That theme was woven into everything from homilies given by bishops and cardinals to the experiences recounted by the young adults who had walked across country for 60 days in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

In fact, it was the gatherings and interactions with communities of faithful around the country that made some of the deepest impressions on the 24 young people who journeyed with the Blessed Sacrament for 60 days leading up to the congress. Divided into groups of six and traveling along four routes, the pilgrims walked, rode in vans and even sailed on boats, all the while in eucharistic adoration. The group departed May 19 and met in Indianapolis just in time for the start of the congress on July 16.

The Junipero Serra route, which departed from San Francisco, was the longest of the four routes and passed through Colorado in early June. Jack Krebs, a student from Wisconsin who is currently studying at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, was one of the pilgrims who traveled the Serra route.

“I don’t think you can spend as much time around Jesus himself or the communities we’ve been in without having a spiritual journey as well,” Krebs said during a press conference at the Indiana Convention Center the evening of July 16. “For me, some of the bigger moments have been driving through Rocky Mountain National Park and reading through some of the psalms that talk about creation while being immersed in such a beautiful place, knowing the creator of all of it is right in front of me.”

“Also, the communities along the way have really inspired a deeper faith, because I’ve seen the faith of so many people in this universal Church as we’ve gone along, especially the smaller communities that really pulled through and brought a lot of people and a lot of zeal,” Krebs said.

When the pilgrims stopped in Denver the weekend of June 7-8, Archbishop Samuel Aquila, Bishop James Golka and many local clergy walked with pilgrims in a procession through downtown Denver. The event drew more than 5,000 people.

“It’s so amazing to see Jesus working in the hearts of people,” said Chas Firestone East, another one of the pilgrims on the Junipero Serra route. “Jack and I weren’t in the procession; we were just trying to find parking. We haven’t taken for granted any of the numbers.”

Matthew Heidenreich, one of the pilgrims who walked the Marian route from Minnesota to Indianapolis, added that he and his fellow travelers had witnessed miracles similar to those recounted in the gospels.

“That same Jesus who walked with his apostles 2,000 years ago was walking with us,” he said. “We’ve seen him do some of the same things he did in the gospels in new ways, in new places. We had a chance to do a couple of healing processions along the Marian route, where people were able to reach out and touch the vestments of the priest who was carrying Jesus, just like the story of the hemorrhaging woman.”

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chairman of the Eucharistic Revival, also spoke about the impact of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage on local communities during a press conference on July 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Indianapolis.

“The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage was quite profound for the Church in the United States over the past two months,” Bishop Cozzens said. “The pilgrimage was about being a culture that lifts up the Lord and honors the Lord; that’s why it was so successful. It’s really simple — we bring the Lord out on the street and we walk along singing songs of love.”

Msgr. James Shea, President of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota and another speaker at the congress, also spoke about how the event could have an impact far beyond the confines of Indianapolis. In a press conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on July 19, he placed the congress in the context of the New Evangelization called for by recent popes.

“This is a moment of great ingenuity, and you see wonderful apostolic movements that are springing up all over the place and thinking of new and creative ways in which the gospel need to be shared,” he said. “The new evangelization is the old evangelization. It’s the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ. Yes, it’s new in ardor, method, expression and circumstances, but it’s the same thing. And what we’ve become poor at because we’ve become complacent is that we’re not preaching the gospel with all of its overpowering, overwhelming, shockingly-epic-saga force. That’s what we’ve got to learn how to do again, so that we’re capturing not just the hearts but the minds (of people).”

In an impact session for ministry leaders on July 20, Curtis Martin, founder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, told participants they can only be effective evangelists if they trust that the transformative power of the Gospel truly works. He exhorted them to have a sense of urgency and not become complacent. Martin said that while God will take care of things, “he really wants you to pray and to weep and to fast and to love the poor, because he did those things for us.”

“The crisis in our culture today is not because Jesus is less relevant. He has never been more relevant,” Martin said. “We have the best story in the world. Not only is it fascinating and compelling — it’s true.”

(OSV News contributed to this story.)