INDIANAPOLIS — More than 400 individuals traveling from the Diocese of Columbus arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 17 for the opening of 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
Approximately 50,000 people are attending the congress, which is the first to take place in the United States in 83 years. The congress is part of a three-year Eucharistic revival in the United States, intended to renew the Church by enkindling a relationship with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Pilgrims traveling from Columbus for the congress met at Holy Rosary Church in downtown Indianapolis for a Mass with Bishop Earl Fernandes. He was joined by several priests from the Diocese of Columbus who concelebrated the Mass.
The Mass was an opportunity for the faithful from Columbus to unite and receive the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist before the opening of the congress. About 300 Catholics from the diocese attended the Mass before gathering with 50,000 of their brothers and sisters.
“I feel like, by our country having this Eucharistic Congress, it’s not only going to honor our Lord, which is really what our country needs and the whole world needs, the Lord’s going to bless our country, and we’re going to be a beacon of light again for the world,” said Suzanne Haines, a parishioner at Columbus St. Patrick Church.
She had hopes of bringing some of her family to the congress. They experienced difficulties with making arrangements, but Haines was pleasantly surprised when a last-minute opening for the congress became available to her.
“I really wanted to bring my young adult son and daughter-in-law – they’re in Nashville – and my husband, and I tried to work it out. It wasn’t working, and I thought, ‘OK, I’m not supposed to go,’ and then we were trying every which way,” she said.
“My girlfriend texted and said somebody backed out and that they’d pay, and I went, ‘I’ll take it.’ … Things that are of God, you don’t fret; you don’t get anxious about; you don’t worry. You just go.”
Haines enjoyed the Mass with Bishop Fernandes at Holy Rosary.
In his homily, the bishop told those gathered that is good to be together. He reminded the congregation that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Eucharistic heart, and Jesus bids them to come to Him.
Bishop Fernandes also reflected on Christ’s humility. He described the Eucharistic Lord as meek and humble and recalled His great humility: being born of a lowly virgin in a stable, stooping down to wash his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper, and ultimately, dying on a cross.
“Such is the humility of our God,” the bishop said.
He told the congregation that Jesus became poor so that they might become rich. He encouraged the faithful to strive for the greatness that is theirs.
Bishop Fernandes also noted that every Mass is a celebration of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. God the Father gave the greatest gift – His only Son – and Christ gave His people the greatest gift: Himself in the Holy Eucharist.
“Every time you go to Mass with the bishop – it’s a lifting of the heart anyway because it’s Jesus – but he just gives such great homilies,” Haines said. “He gives a spirit of joy.”
Sister Margaret Therese, CSJ (Congregation of St. John), a member of the Apostolic Sisters of St. John, arrived in Columbus before making the trip to Indianapolis for the congress.
She lives at St. John Priory in East Orange, New Jersey and met up with Sister Marie, CSJ, an Apostolic Sister of St. John in Columbus who serves as the director of religious education at Columbus St. Christopher Church. The two traveled with other pilgrims from Columbus.
Sister Margaret Therese had good impressions of the Mass with Bishop Fernandes and pilgrims from the Columbus diocese.
“I thought it was very beautiful for the bishop and the faithful to be able to have the opportunity to open the congress in an intimate way in a beautiful church,” she said. “It was a very good start to the congress. So, I appreciate that very much.”
The opening of the congress later that evening began with an entrance procession by the four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Pilgrims arrived in Indianapolis the previous day after traveling across the United States from the north, east, south and west. Young adults serving as perpetual pilgrims had accompanied the Eucharistic Lord on a 60-day journey from city to city.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens led the tens of thousands of individuals gathered in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium in Adoration and prayer. The bishop of the diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, who also serves as chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, entered the stadium holding a monstrance with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
Kneeling before the Eucharistic Lord in a silent stadium, Bishop Cozzens told God that His people are gathered to give Him thanks and praise. He said they are there because they want to be changed.
The bishop acknowledged that, while all gathered there are sinners, they are His. Bishop Cozzens also expressed to God a desire for unity and a need for peace.
The evening included a live praise-and-worship music performance. Music was provided by Catholic musicians who serve in parishes and dioceses throughout the United States.
“It was a very enthusiastic start to the congress,” Sister Margaret Therese said. “It was also a call to recognize God’s love. … It’s an important message that we need for our time, and I think it was a beautiful way to start the congress, to put everyone in the mindset to be able to receive all of the graces that we need.”
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who serves as the apostolic nuncio to the United States, was one of the opening speakers at the congress.
The apostolic nuncio, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016, told those gathered that he was happy to be with them and that being at the National Eucharistic Congress is a “gift.”
Cardinal Pierre noted that the Eucharist is an immense gift for unity. He recalled the prayer that Christ prayed the night that He instituted the Eucharist: “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).
He said Eucharistic revival consists of sacrament and devotion, but it also opens up God’s people to an encounter with Him for the rest of their lives. This encounter takes place in interactions with people, he said, particularly with individuals who people might considered being divided from or who have different thoughts or beliefs.
Sister Margaret Therese echoed the cardinal’s words, hoping the congress will bring unity.
“There was a large number of people in the stadium last night, but I think those other efforts – the (National Eucharistic) Pilgrimage and the online coverage – helps even more people than that to participate,” she said.