As the second year of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival reaches its zenith, Catholic pilgrims from the Diocese of Trenton and across America will gather in Indianapolis July 17-21 with a common purpose: to revere Jesus and revive devotion to his Real Presence.
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress “is the continuation of a legacy,” states the Congress website. “We now resume the work begun long ago to understand and adore the greatest gift humanity has ever received. A milestone within the National Eucharistic Revival, this will be a generational moment and the beginning of a new chapter for the Church in the United States.”
The last National Eucharistic Congress took place in June 1941, in St. Paul, Minnesota. For the first time the laity were invited to participate in the Congress planning and sessions and programs were held for lay Catholic men and women. When World War II broke out, Eucharistic Congresses across the globe were put on hold. Although International Congresses resumed in 1952, with a historic gathering in Philadelphia in 1976, a National Eucharistic Congress has not been held in the U.S. in 83 years.
As accommodations are quickly filling, pilgrims from the Diocese are already making travel plans to attend the Congress. For those interested in attending, passes can be reserved at www.eucharisticcongress. org/register. EWTN is offering $60 off total registration: www. eucharisticcongress.org/ewtn.
The Congress will include full-group revival sessions and smaller impact sessions with topics for various ministries and stages of life, with talks for adults, youth, ministry leaders and families.
Special sessions will be planned at the Congress for youths ages 12-18. An Expo Hall at the Indiana Convention Center will host apostolates, ministries, religious orders and publishers, giving attendees a taste of what is happening across the Catholic world. Masses will be celebrated in multiple rites and languages, and Eucharistic processions, Adoration and opportunities for Confession will be available daily. For a comprehensive schedule and speaker list, visit www. eucharisticcongress.org/schedule.
“A pilgrimage is ‘the simultaneous movement of the feet and the soul’ – a journey made both externally and internally,” the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage website explains. “The pilgrim travels to a location of spiritual significance, stepping outside of themselves in order to encounter God in places where he has revealed himself. This action mirrors the interior journey of the pilgrim, who uses this experience to draw closer to Our Lord and seek him more intentionally.”
The value of a pilgrimage, the site continues, “is not in the distance traveled but in the disposition of our own hearts and the zeal with which we seek God.
Many saints have had life-changing experiences while on pilgrimage, and the practice has been a part of Christianity from the beginning.”
Planning to attend the National Eucharistic Congress?