The National Eucharistic Congress has begun! And in conjunction with the commencement of this great week, the Perpetual Pilgrims of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived in Indianapolis yesterday, walking with Jesus. Marking a moment of profound spiritual significance, their journey culminated in a momentous entrance into the NEC, and they graciously hosted a press conference where they shared their experiences, insights, and the deep sense of unity fostered by their pilgrimage.
Q: (WISHTV) Tell us about this pilgrimage. Where did it start? How was it out there? What is this Congress? What’s going to happen here?
A: (Shayla Elm) The National Eucharistic Congress is an initiative by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and it’s part of the 3-year Eucharistic Revival happening in the Catholic Church. This Revival was put in place by the Bishops who saw a need for Catholics to be revived in their Faith, in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, at Mass. So they decided to do this Pilgrimage from the four corners of the United States — the North, the South, the East, and the West — and to process Jesus across the country…We were on the St. Juan Diego route starting from the South.
(Kai Weiss) Matthew and I, we’ve been on the Marian Route. It started on Pentecost Sunday on Lake Itasca, which is the headwaters of the Mississippi up in Northern Minnesota.
(Zoe Dongas) So I am from the Elizabeth Ann Seton route. We started in New Haven, CT. We’re the eastern route and we traveled through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, D.C., and then back through Pennsylvania, then Ohio, and then into Indiana.
(Chas Firestone East) I was on the Western Route, the St. Junipero Serra Route. We had the longest distance to cover, although we still decided to zig-zag a bit, anyway.
Q: (Indianapolis Star) Can you guys talk about the Spiritual journey that you went on over these last 60 days, and if you guys experienced any [special] moments on your journey?
A: (Jack Krebbs) There was a very deep, interior journey as we’ve traveled along. I don’t think you can spend as much time as we did around Jesus Himself or in the communities that we were in without having a spiritual journey as well. 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 and the Universe being such a beautiful place. Just knowing that the Creator of all of it is right in front of me, whom I’m adoring, was a really powerful moment for me.
Jack continued, saying that being among the Catholic communities, especially the smaller ones, inspired a deeper faith because he was experiencing firsthand the universal Church. THe biggest takeaway, he said, was his deeper understanding and belief that Jesus was really and truly present in the Eucharist. He grew up with that belief, but dedicating these past two months to adoration of the Lord has set his heart ablaze.
(Amayrani Higueldo) One of my favorite things was just witnessing how everything, as Jesus was walking by, was being completely transformed. Specifically, there was a moment in Connecticut during the first week, when this man was brought to tears by the presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist. And he was brought to his knees, just crying, experiencing the love of Jesus, maybe for the first time in his life, maybe not. I don’t know. But there were a lot of moments like that, where everything was completely different, once Jesus walked by.
Q: (Relevant Radio) Zoe, back in April, you interviewed with us at Relevant Radio and you said that adventure had been on your heart for awhile when you decided to go on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. In what way was this journey with Christ an adventure for you? What did you discover about yourself as a Catholic, as an actor, and as a young woman?
A: (Zoe Dongas) That’s a great question. This has been the adventure of a lifetime. It’s like an American Camino with Jesus, and that’s never been done before. So we got to experience the real life adventure of things changing on the fly, of getting to walk places with Jesus that had never been done before. Some highlights were blessing the Statue of Liberty with Cardinal Dolan, Bishop Whalen, and a couple other clergy, getting to walk through Beaver County, PA in 95 degree heat for 17 miles, and getting to explore new cities, all through the lens of Jesus being five feet in front of us. So in that way, this will be an adventure that will not be forgotten.
And yeah as a person of Faith, as an actor, as a young woman, this has certainly inspired me to go back to the city with a lot of zeal, a lot of excitement to pour into my parish community, to pour into the young people that I know that aren’t in the Church, to continue to share with them how life-changing this experience has been for me. And hopefully, through my witness, and through the witness of my amazing pilgrims here, we can continue to draw people to the source of adventure and the source of life, Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist.
As Kai Weiss, one of the pilgrims said, if you look at the four routes of the pilgrimage on the map, they all converge on Indianapolis and together, they form a cross. Jesus Christ, through the tireless adoration and accompaniment of these pilgrims, has been sanctifying this country, blessing it with His Holy Cross, at a time when it desperately needs Him.
We hope you can join us and these Perpetual Pilgrims at the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21! And if you can’t join us in person, be sure to tune in LIVE here!
