COMMENTARY: Lessons From the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage
This commentary, written by Seton Route Chaplain, Father Roger Landry, appeared in the National Catholic Register on July 26, 2024
From the vigil of Pentecost through the end of the National Eucharist Congress, I had the privilege of a lifetime: to accompany Jesus together with a small group of intrepid young adults, complemented by women and men religious, along an incredible 65-day pilgrimage from New Haven, Connecticut, to Indianapolis.
We had signed up to give witness to the continuous incarnation of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist — with us until the end of time, guiding us each day as the Good Shepherd, feeding us with the only nourishment worthy of our soul. What we quickly discovered along the journey is that we were similarly being summoned, from this point forward, to give testimony, too, of the response of his grateful Bride.
Along the way, we were eyewitnesses to the best of the Church in the U.S. historically — various magnificent basilicas and cathedrals as well as many beautiful country churches, all erected for the Eucharistic Lord Jesus, who meets us at the altar and in the tabernacle — as well as the best of the Church today, in the crowds of people who enthusiastically came to meet Jesus with faith like he would have once encountered in Gospel times.
There are so many experiences and lessons to share — one of the reasons why my fellow pilgrims and I are now working on more than one book to convey them. But here I would like to summarize some of the most important.
Biblical Pilgrimage
First, we experienced in crystalline form the dynamic nature of the Christian life. Jesus never tells us to stay where we are, but bids us to “come,” to “follow” him, and to “go” to share him with others. The Christian life is ultimately meant to be a Eucharistic pilgrimage, following the Eucharistic Jesus, together with the pilgrim Church on earth, all the way to God the Father’s right side.
One of the things we discovered very quickly was the biblical nature of what we were doing, as we walked with Jesus on streets, sidewalks and bridges. We were doing what the Twelve Apostles, crowds of disciples and lots of seekers did 2,000 years ago, as Jesus journeyed through Galilee, Samaria and Judea, through Nazareth, Jericho and Jerusalem, and even into pagan territories. We journeyed with him up to 19 miles a day in searing sun, through torrential downpours, and even three times on boats. We grasped that, while in life we rarely have the joy to walk with him in solemn procession, he desires to walk humbly with us each day, much like he did with the Holy Family, the disciples and more.
Christian Hospitality
Second, we encountered the evangelizing power of hospitality. When Jesus first sent out the apostles, he told them to wish peace on those households who received them and stay where they were welcomed, eating what was set before them. He would later say that those who received the apostles received him, and received the Father who sent him. One of the most important ways, therefore, that the faith grows is through missionaries being received. In welcoming the messengers, hosts become more fruitful soil to welcome both the message and the Sender.
We experienced that reality in the hospitality given to us in Jesus’ name along the route.
Almost every night we were in a different place, with different families, priests and religious communities opening their doors, guest rooms, refrigerators, washing machines and whole lives to us. Some families weren’t even Catholic. The faith of our hosts affected us, and our faith noticeably influenced many of them, as well as their invited friends and occasionally fallen-away family members.
We similarly experienced extraordinary hospitality from the dioceses, parishes, nursing homes, schools, food pantries and even the prison we visited. Most worked for months before the visit — sometimes a very short one — and received the Eucharistic Jesus when we arrived in big numbers, full of faith and enthusiasm, and also with choirs, musicians and servers. There were so many kind people passing out water and snacks and more, as they lovingly received us, together with Jesus.
The personal reception, care and accompaniment we received from many bishops along the route was unexpected and unforgettable.
Eucharistic Adoration
Third, we tasted more deeply than ever before the transformative power of adoration. Each of us was accustomed before departure to take part in daily Mass and Eucharistic Holy Hours. What we weren’t ready for spiritually was the amount of time we had each day adoring the Lord: after the consecration at Mass, in Holy Hours and extended periods of adoration in parishes; “ambulatory adoration” with Jesus in procession; and especially in our pilgrimage support van, which was specially outfitted with a tabernacle-tabor (monstrance stand) that was able to securely hold the monstrance with Jesus on those occasions — more than we wanted — when we had to drive rather than walk between parishes and dioceses.
We were used to the other forms of adoration. We were not ready for the intensity and the intimacy we had a few feet from Jesus as the van served as his modern donkey. We acclaimed him each time we welcomed him in the van anew. As we drove, we mostly worshipped him in silence, but we would also pray with and to him the Liturgy of the Hours, pray to and with his Mother the Holy Rosary, and sometimes sing hymns and praise-and-worship songs. And at least once a day, we would do an extended spontaneous Prayers of the Faithful, praising him, thanking him, asking for forgiveness and interceding for others, and petitioning him for what we needed.
We were aware of how unique the experience was. On a few occasions when we were on the highway, other cars, seeing Jesus exposed and us adoring him, would intentionally journey alongside the van for miles, worshipping him, too. Many others, when we waited in the van with the Blessed Sacrament before entering or departing a church, would movingly kneel alongside the van in grass and on asphalt.
Once, when I was driving the van during mobile adoration, out of habit, I looked in the rearview mirror as I approached an intersection. Jesus was there in the monstrance, looking right back at me. I’ll never forget that image and how I consolingly interpreted it: that Jesus himself literally had my back. When I was in my normal seat before Jesus, I delighted to see the pilgrim driver and co-pilot occasionally look back in adoration with iconic love.
We will likely never have the experience again of a mobile adoration chapel, but we will never be able to erase the experience of Jesus’ desire to travel with us, even in our vehicles.
Deo Gratias
There’s so much more to share: processing in deluges, being with Jesus on the waters, the conversions along the route; the palpable intercession of our patroness, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; the grace of stamina we received; the religious priests, brothers and sisters who accompanied us; the different cultural and ethnic traditions we experienced; the moral miracles we witnessed; the various hardships we endured and the unforgettable stories of the people we met.
While those will have to wait, for now, we give God thanks for allowing us to participate in something that until 2024 had never taken place in the history of the Church — a nationwide Eucharistic Pilgrimage — and the unmerited privilege we had to make history in testimony that God-with-us is still very much with us.
We thank him for making us witnesses, too, to the receptivity and response of the Church in the U.S., which was a prelude to what everyone saw at the National Eucharistic Congress, with some 60,000 souls coming together to attest to the Real Presence.
And we ask for his help as all of us continue with him on the Eucharistic pilgrimage of Christian life, leading not to Indianapolis, but to the Eucharistic fulfillment of the heavenly Jerusalem.
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Father Roger Landry Father Roger Landry, Catholic chaplain at Columbia University, is ecclesiastical assistant to Aid to the Church in Need USA. Father Landry, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, has been appointed by the U.S. bishops a “National Eucharistic Preacher.”
