Four routes, 60 days on the road, 6500 miles traveled and 100,000+ pilgrims. The time has finally arrived! Perhaps you were riveted to your TVs on Pentecost Sunday as the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage began from the four corners of the United States? Several of the inaugural Masses were televised or streamed on media. From Brownsville, TX and from the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, the site of the only approved Marian apparition in the United States, and from San Francisco, the city named in honor of Saint Francis, as well as New Haven, Connecticut where Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in a local parish, thousands of pilgrims began their journey with Our Eucharistic Lord to Indianapolis and the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
A special group of 24 pilgrims, known as “perpetual pilgrims,” have committed to accompanying the Blessed Sacrament for the entire two-month journey. These young men and women are a cross-section of the United States. This group of pilgrims includes college students, nurses, social workers, youth ministers, lawyers, personal trainers, actors, musicians and even an avid outdoorsman. They personify the mission of a pilgrim as becoming a witness and describe the Eucharist as a sacrament of healing, noting that through the Eucharistic Revival the Lord desires to encounter us and heal us. More information on each of the perpetual pilgrims can be found at https://www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/perpetual-pilgrims.
The Eucharistic Pilgrimage website contains a short video by Eucharistic Congress speaker, Sister Josephine Garret CSFN. Sister describes the pilgrimage as a chance to bring our prayer intentions and those of our country to the Lord. This is an immense opportunity to pray to Our Eucharistic Lord for our nation. The website also contains an interactive map highlighting all stops along the four routes. For those who have difficulty participating in the sponsored pilgrimage, Daughter of St. Paul, Sister Kathryn Hermes, offers some alternatives: https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/post/eucharistic-mini-pilgrimages-how-to-plan-one-this-summer.
Last week there was some exciting news from the Vatican. Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the computer savvy Italian teen who is a co-patron of the National Eucharistic Revival. This paves the way for Blessed Carlo’s canonization. On Sunday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, more commonly known as Corpus Christi. Many parishes will be holding Eucharistic Processions, important opportunities to renew faith in the Real Presence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that we are all pilgrims, and that pilgrimages and processions are journeys of the heart that lead us closer to heaven.
Please keep the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Congress, Revival and the pilgrims in prayer. Jesus, our Eucharistic Lord, we trust in You!
Blessings in the Holy Family,
Sister Marcella Louise Wallowicz, CSFN
