Pilgrims listen to speakers during the July 18, 2024, second revival night of the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)INDIANAPOLIS — On the second night of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 18, close to 50,000 Catholics prayed together, listened to touching personal testimonies and were invited to reflect on how to turn away from those obstacles dampening the fire of their love for Jesus Christ.
But while Father Mike Schmitz and Mother Mary Olga of the Sacred Heart moved participants with their inspiring keynote exhortations -- the last word was given to the Eucharistic Lord. In the darkness of the stadium, with only beams of white light illuminating the Blessed Sacrament, people prayed and contemplated before Jesus, while the air resonated with Latin chants set to Eastern-styled melodies.
The keynotes given by Father Schmitz and Mother Mary Olga helped prepare congress-goers for this transcendent night of revival centered around Eucharistic adoration.
"Knowledge can make us great, but only love can make a saint," Father Schmitz said. Father Schmitz, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, who also hosts chart-topping podcasts "The Bible in a Year" and "The Catechism in a Year," was a much-anticipated speaker, with several attendees telling OSV News earlier in the week that they were especially eager to see him in person. As Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, introduced him the audience stood and cheered.
"You know this love story already, but what if you didn't?" asked Father Schmitz, as he began what can only be called a Scripture studies class. Opening a worn Bible, he read from Luke 24 about the two travelers on the road to Emmaus who did not recognize Jesus and were mourning his loss in Jerusalem. He recounted how Jesus explained the ways Scripture pointed to him as the Messiah, beginning with God making the world good, and human beings breaking their bond with God through sin, and their need to somehow restore that relationship.
Jesus' sacrifice on the cross reconciled humankind and God, Father Schmitz said, and at Mass, Catholics participate in that moment on Calvary.
While one aim of the National Eucharistic Revival is to bring people from ignorance to knowledge, Father Schmitz suggested that the deeper problem is indifference -- and the remedy required repentance.
"Too often we say, 'We have the real presence,' but our hearts are far from him. Too often, we just don't care," Father Schmitz said, speaking rapidly and with characteristic energy.
The remedy to indifference is love, he said, and the road to love is repentance.
For her part, Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, the founder and servant mother of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth in the Archdiocese of Boston, moved people to tears with her touching keynote as she shared stories of Eucharistic miracles of love and healing amid suffering.
She began by sharing her own experience of being healed by Jesus in her own suffering as a survivor of four wars in the Middle East. She experienced abuse in her home and recalled as a teenager having to bury people slain by war.
"All these years of suffering led me to the foot of the cross, because I thought the one who had suffered so much will understand my suffering," she said. "As I was kneeling at the foot of the cross, crying my heart to Jesus to help me bear the crosses of my own life, I encountered the pierced heart of Jesus -- and that's what I heard in my heart on that day: That even on the cross and through the cross, we can still choose to love."
Mother Olga shared the story of a little boy named Quinn who was fighting cancer when she met him in her ministry at age 4. She felt Jesus say to her "give me to him" with such intensity that she received special permission for Quinn to receive his first holy Communion despite his young age. The doctors were surprised when he suffered few side effects during his radiation treatment, but Mother Olga knew that the Lord was with Quinn amid the treatment.
"His whole life became around the Eucharist," she said, adding today he is free from cancer.
She concluded by reminding those gathered that Jesus is always with them "whether in big processions like we have encountered here" or "in hospitals, NICUs, nursing homes, prisons, recovery centers."
The two keynote speakers were preceded by two testimonials, the first from pro-life activist Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, who shared how her life was transformed after an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. After becoming Catholic and asking the Lord for him to "use (her) to do something to save lives," Rose started the pro-life organization Live Action at age 15, which reaches millions of people each month, according to its website.
After marrying her husband six years ago and having three children -- one of whom was sleeping backstage -- the mission of life has become her family mission, Rose said.
"We pray together, not just for an end to abortion, but we pray for our children, that they may grow big and strong and healthy, that they may become saints, and that they may help lead many souls to heaven," she said.
Also present were Ken and Mary Ann Duppong, who raised six children with faith as the core of their lives.
They shared their love story with the audience, explaining how they felt called to move back to their home state of North Dakota for the sake of their family and began deepening their faith. Mary Ann Duppong talked about how they started praying the family rosary when Ken Duppong's mother got sick, developed a devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and consecrated their family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The love for Jesus they instilled in their children had a great impact on their daughter, Michelle Christine Duppong, who loved the Eucharist immensely and became a FOCUS missionary. Before passing away in 2014 amid a battle with cancer, she "consecrated her suffering to those who needed to encounter the love in the Eucharist," shared emcee Montse Alvarado of EWTN. In June 2022, Bishop David Kagan of Bismark, North Dakota, announced his intention to formally open the diocesan phase of investigation into Michelle Duppong's life, a preliminary step toward her potential canonization.
When asked for advice for families who want to raise their children in the faith, Ken and Mary Ann Duppong encouraged them to pray a lot and remember that children watch everything their parents do.
"I tell people that your example for your children is a real big influence," Ken Duppong said. "If you use bad language, they will use bad language. If you go to Mass, they see you do that. They will do that in the future. ... And that is probably the best thing you can do is give them a good example of what to do."
The words certainly resonated with the many parents in the stadium that night, who were recognized that night for the sacrifice and dedication it took to bring their families to the congress in Indianapolis.
Daniel Cabrera of Camby, Indiana, told OSV News the revival evening's speakers were good -- but the experience of Eucharistic adoration was "totally awesome." So much so, he said, that he wept.
"I'm not even considering myself worthy of being here," he said. "It's totally a privilege to be here."
Cabrera and his wife, Maria Hernandez, are attending the July 17-21 congress with their six children, ages 3 to 17.
Cabrera said he experienced "that silence that only allows you to be with God on a personal level, like no other silence in the world."
He said, "That silence says a lot, because it's a direct communication to your soul."
— OSV News
National congress delves into the Eucharist as 'the greatest love story ever told'
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New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan celebrates morning Mass at Lucas Oil Stadium July 18, 2024, during the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. At left is Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of priests, around 100 bishops and several cardinals concelebrated the morning Mass in Lucas Oil Stadium July 18 -- a liturgy that kicked off the first full day of National Eucharistic Congress that had officially opened the evening prior with a revival centered around a beautiful Holy Hour."To recover the centrality of Sunday Mass as God's people are fed with the Bread of Life has to be the resolve of this grand Eucharistic congress," Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, the principal celebrant, said in the homily reflecting on Jesus' "Bread of Life Discourse" in John 6.
"As Pope Francis has repeated: 'no Eucharist, no church,'" the cardinal continued.
Following the liturgy, the morning's seven "impact sessions" -- specific tracks offered for three mornings during the congress -- took that message to heart as speakers encouraged the tens of thousands of Congress-goers to enter more deeply into the day's theme of understanding the Eucharist as "the greatest love story."
Following music from the Sarah Kroger Band, Catholic radio personality Katie Prejean McGrady emceed the morning's Encounter impact session in Lucas Oil Stadium. She interviewed two Sisters of Life, Sister Marie Veritas and Sister Mary Grace Langrell, who shared their love of the Eucharist, how Jesus' real presence in the Eucharist impacted their religious vocations and how encounters with the Eucharist have healed the people they serve.
"In the Eucharist, we find the greatest measure of our worth," Sister Mary Grace said. "The Eucharistic heart of Jesus is for every human heart."
Msgr. James Shea, president of the University of Mary and author of the book "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission," spoke about satisfaction and the Eucharist. "God has made us so that we are incomplete unless we are feeding on him," he said. "We are famished for God."
Dramatically tracing the story of salvation history, Msgr. Shea spoke about the failure, violence and division experienced by "humanity in a state of malnutrition" following Adam and Eve's partaking in the forbidden fruit. Amid their disobedience, God taught his people to trust him again, until he did something "beyond imagination," sending his Son Jesus to eat and drink among them, and to be their food.
"We will either feed on God or on something else, and whatever that something else is, it will always leave us hungry," Msgr. Shea said, inviting them to "eat and drink" of the Eucharist and then "rush out into a starving world and tell everybody we meet, 'Starving people, listen! We found where the food is!'"
At the same time as Mass was celebrated at the stadium, two other liturgies took place at the congress, including a Mass celebrated in Spanish by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston and concelebrated by multiple bishops and many priests. Following the Spanish Mass, hundreds of Latino Catholics participated in the Spanish-language impact session: Encuentro.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Mabel Suarez, the Charismatic Renewal Representative Region 8 of the U.S. and Canada, focused their presentations on Jesus as the summit of encounter and the source of love. Bishop Flores spoke of the call to renew the spirit of mission and participation in today's world by living in the Lord's way.
"Jesus gave himself in his poverty to show that our poverty is the wealth of the church," he said. "The Lord asks us to be accessible to the most vulnerable and not to hide so that no one will touch us. The Lord saved us through his being vulnerable and accessible."
Following the bishop's teaching, Suarez, a psychologist specializing in pastoral care, urged people to let themselves be loved by Jesus, who "is in the Eucharist waiting to pour himself out in all his fullness."
To the Eucharist, she said, "we come with troubles … (and) desolations" yet "the Lord restores strength and encourages in mission." She reminded them they are all called to make known the living God in their lives so that more brothers and sisters "may encounter the Christ we have encountered."
At the Renewal impact session -- geared toward people who volunteer in ministries or serve as staff members -- speakers emphasized the importance of receiving first from Jesus Christ before trying to give.
"It's about you filling your cup. We want to give, give and give and don't take enough time to receive," emcee Mari Pablo of Evangelical Catholic and a presenter for Ascension Press on theology of the body and Catholic social teaching, told some 4,000 attendees.
"For the next few days, just receive and say to the Lord, 'Fill me up,'" she continued. "Give from your excess, not from your depletion."
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston reflected on what the Eucharist meant to the early church -- particularly the martyrs -- and noted that the dialogue prayed at the start of the Mass's Eucharistic prayer goes back to the church's earliest days.
"They took the Eucharist very seriously and very realistically because they knew they could die as martyrs," Cardinal DiNardo said. "The reality of the body and blood of Christ runs through the early days of the church. The next time you go to Mass and say, 'We lift up our hearts,' think of these martyrs, since we live in an age when there are still martyrs."
The day's Awaken impact session for youth began with a wake-up call, courtesy of the pulsating rock music that resounded through a hall of the Indiana Convention Center, which led hundreds of teens to rise to their feet, jumping, stomping and clapping to the lyrics that focused on a deeper relationship with Christ.
"If you're here for a hype Jesus concert then you've wasted your time," said emcee Oscar Rivera. "But if you're here to find Jesus -- Jesus the one who set the blind to see -- then you're in the right place."
"Our bodies and our souls long for something more than what the world has given us, and that something more is Jesus Christ," he added, calling on them to let the Holy Spirit work with them and be "the spark that ignites Lucas Oil Stadium."
That message was echoed by the main speaker of the youth session, Paul J. Kim, who emphasized the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus.
"Do you know things about Jesus or do you actually know Jesus, because there is a difference," Kim said. "Who is Jesus to you? Do you have a personal relationship with him?"
That's the goal the congress should have, Kim told the youth, reminding them to focus on getting to heaven with Jesus.
Father Leo Patalinghug, an award-winning chef and TV host who is a member of the Voluntas Dei (The Will of God) community of consecrated life, engaged children and parents in the first morning of the Cultivate impact session for families by talking about superheroes, what to do when drowning, and the four first moves of a ninja, and tying them all to the Eucharist and living lives of faith.
"My favorite superheroes are Yoda and hobbits -- because they're small, like me," he joked, referencing characters from Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. But Jesus also makes himself small in the Eucharist, the priest noted.
"He became small so he could enter into our busy lives, into our hearts," he said. "He puts himself into us so we can be saved from the inside out and live supernatural lives."
Father Patalinghug next shared that while the rescue holds that lifeguards use to save people from drowning are not comfortable, they do help get the person to safety.
"And that's what Jesus does," he said. "If we don't fight him, if we trust him, if we let him guide us, he will get us to the shore to safety, and that shore is heaven."
Last, the martial-arts-expert priest compared the four first moves he learned and compared them to prayer: First, come to attention -- put yourself in God's presence; next, bow -- give honor and praise to God; third, cross your arms and take a deep breath -- open your heart to God; and finally, stand in a relaxed stance -- rest in God.
With most of the congress's 1,200 registered bishops and priests in attendance at the Abide impact session for priests, speakers aimed to offer a retreat-like experience for the men in black.
The session emcee, Mother Gloria Therese, superior of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, expressed her sincere gratitude for how the clergy has supported the National Eucharistic Revival, saying, "What's happening in this nation is profoundly beautiful."
Scott Hahn, founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, provided a detailed reflection on the disciples' encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and he challenged attendees to renew an understanding of the close bond between Scripture and the Eucharist as Christ's presence in the church.
"What we need to do in these times is to rekindle Eucharistic amazement," he said.
Father Brian Welter, director of the Institute for the Institute for Priestly Formation, reflected on how the depth of prayer for priests allows Christ to live more fully in them and their own ministry. By offering their lives in prayer for their flock, Christ is in their midst. Father Welter held up St. John Paul II as an example of this, using the words of the late Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, who said that whenever he met the holy pope "there was always another person in the room."
Finally, the day's Empower track, focusing on practical tools for evangelization, began with words of welcome and encouragement from Deacon Larry and Andi Oney, and a powerful keynote from Father John Burns, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and founder of Friends of the Bridegroom, an apostolate dedicated to the renewal of the church through the renewal of women's religious life.
Following the theme of the Congress that day, looking at salvation history as "the greatest love story," Father Burns presented the image from Scripture of the church as a bride and Christ as the bridegroom.
In Revelation, he said, God gives them "the image of the wedding feast of the Lamb toward which all of creation is pointed."
He also referenced the Old Testament's presentation of God in search of a bride and John's Gospel calling Christ the Divine Bridegroom.
In Jewish custom of the time, Father Burns said, "when the bridegroom would go away, he would leave the bride in the care of his best friend" who would "help to remind the bride that she is promised" protecting her from false suitors, forgetfulness and engaging in worldly ways.
"All of the church has that role," he said, "being friends of the bridegroom, awakening the bride to her nature."
Another ancient Jewish custom, he continued, was a repetition of the betrothal feast, "in order to allow a stirring of love, an increase of fervor."
He called the Eucharist "the betrothal feast repeated across time" and "the ongoing memorial of Christ's sacrifice and the price he paid to win this bride."
Every Mass, he said, Christ's followers "look with love to the wedding feast."
More liturgies and breakout sessions were planned for the afternoon, with the nightly revival session, keynoted by well-known podcaster Father Mike Schmitz and Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, set to begin at 7 p.m.
— OSV News
'Jesus, I trust in you': National Eucharistic Congress opens with a powerful holy hour
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A pilgrim becomes emotional during Eucharistic adoration at the opening revival night July 17, 2024, of the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)INDIANAPOLIS — Absolute silence filled Lucas Oil Stadium as tens of thousands of people dropped to their knees to adore Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as the long-anticipated National Eucharistic Congress officially got underway on the evening of July 17 in Indianapolis. More than 100 spotlights trained on a large, golden monstrance on an altar in the center of the stadium as a powerful holy hour -- which took place before any talks, music or greeting by the evening's three emcees -- began the congress's first revival night filled with prayer, powerful speakers and praise-and-worship music.
Just before Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota -- the driving episcopal force behind the congress -- walked onto the floor carrying the monstrance, the 30 perpetual pilgrims who had walked the four National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes entered the stadium. Carrying icons of each route's respective patron saints -- St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, St. Junipero Serra, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Blessed Virgin Mary -- the pilgrims took the final steps that officially completed their eight-week journey from points north, south, east and west across the U.S. to the July 17-21 congress in Indiana's capital city.
After a time of silent prayer and praise and worship, Bishop Cozzens knelt for a second time in front of the monstrance.
"Lord, we wanted to give you the first words of our National Eucharistic Congress," he said. Kneeling before Jesus in the Eucharist, Bishop Cozzens recounted how the National Eucharistic Revival -- launched in 2022 -- has led Catholics to gather to study, teach and pray with the Eucharist, spending countless hours in adoration and small groups, and in parish and diocesan initiatives.
"Lord, we made a National Eucharistic Pilgrimage for you," he prayed. "For the last 65 days we brought your living presence across this land, across the East, West, North and South. We visited large churches and small churches. We had large processions in cities and small processions in prisons. We visited nursing homes and homeless shelters. Lord, we tried to share with everyone we met along the way your unspeakable love."
He said the pilgrimage prayed for the country and the church and brought those prayers to the congress. He thanked Jesus for the miracles the pilgrims saw along the way: conversion, people return to the faith, physical and spiritual healings.
"We hope to see more," he said.
He told Jesus that the tens of thousands of Catholics in the stadium had gathered there to give him thanks and praise and to be changed into "missionary disciples, people filled with the joy of the Gospel, people so grateful for the salvation you purchased for us."
He prayed for deeper conversion for individuals, peace in wartorn countries, those affected by abuse, and unity in both the country and the church. Bishop Cozzens invited attendees to share in silence their own desires with Jesus, and then asked them to pray that the Lord would also reveal his desires for them.
"Jesus, I trust in you," he prayed, and the stadium resounded as people echoed his prayer.
"Lord, we have come here because we want a revival, a Eucharistic revival, and we want every Catholic to realize that you are alive in the Eucharist, and to encounter your love," he said. "And Lord, we know that this revival, it has to begin with us."
After the holy hour concluded and Bishop Cozzens processed out with the Eucharist, the revival's emcees then took the stage: Father Joshua Johnson, vocations director for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Montse Alvarado, president of EWTN News -- who greeted the attendees in Spanish and English -- and Sister Miriam James Heidland, a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. The three talked about their own personal experiences with the Eucharist and what the congress meant to them before introducing the other speakers that evening.
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S., was the night's keynote speaker. He opened with the reflection that "perhaps our main prayer for this Eucharistic congress should be this: that we as a church may grow in our unity so that we become more fruitful in our mission."
He invited those present to reflect on the basic question of "what is Eucharistic revival?" and "how will we know that we are experiencing Eucharistic revival?"
Revival is "always accompanied by sacramental devotion," he said, but it "must extend beyond devotional practices as well."
"When we are truly revived by the Eucharist," he said, "then our encounter with Christ's real presence in the sacrament opens us to an encounter with him in the rest of our life. This means seeing him everywhere we go."
He reminded those gathered that Christ "is also present in our encounters with people from whom we would otherwise consider ourselves divided" including "people from a different economic class or race, people who challenge our way of thinking."
Living "a truly Eucharistic life," he emphasized, means that adoration "spills over in our daily life, a life of relating to others, our way of seeing others."
He encouraged those gathered to use their time in adoration over the week of the Eucharistic Congress to ask the Lord to reveal the places where they are resistant to surrendering to his will.
"He is the only one who can lead us to new life," he concluded, "by following him, we can become true apostles of his Kingdom."
Sister Bethany Madonna, local superior of the new Phoenix mission of the Sisters of Life, talked about how Jesus, crucified and risen, "wants to reveal himself" and bring his grace because of his love for each person.
"God knows you. God loves you. And chooses you ... He has entrusted you with a mission that he has entrusted to no one else," she said.
She said that Jesus "knows that we are hungry for love, and he chooses to give himself to us as food and drink."
"We have this unquenchable thirst to be loved that no one and nothing can ever satisfy" but God, she explained.
Sister Bethany Madonna reminded people that when fear or failure can prevent them from drawing close to God's love, "Jesus redeems everything."
She shared the testimony of a woman who was terrified to go to confession because of two abortions she had when she was younger. She lived in shame and silence for 29 years, and when she made the appointment for the sacrament of reconciliation and drove to see the priest, she heard a whisper saying, "You don't have to do it," and, "This is too difficult ... turn back."
Praying Hail Marys all the way, she got to confession in tears; and after listening to her, the priest made the motion of picking up a lamb and said, "All of heaven rejoices ... welcome home."
Sister Bethany Madonna said that when the woman received Communion the next day, she said that "my life would be a 'yes' to God."
The opening revival night of the National Eucharistic Congress already had a profound effect on participants who spoke with OSV News.
Belen Munoz, 18, of Rosa Park, New Jersey, said it was "encouraging" to see so many Catholics gathered for the congress.
"Growing up in a secular community, it's a totally different experience," she said. "Getting just a taste of what we're encountering here is amazing, and I can't wait for the rest of the week."
"Tonight just showed me that Jesus is just so alive in the Eucharist and that it's just so obvious that he's working through so many people," said Molly Quinn, 18, from Naperville, Illinois. She added the experience "just made me realize that we're not alone in this world and there are so many people who are searching for Christ like I am."
"I've been having a rough patch in my life and so coming here to this and seeing how God can work through everyone is truly inspiring and powerful and makes me feel revived personally," added 18-year-old Michelle Jurec, also from Naperville. "I can't wait for the rest of the days."
Lotty Cantrelle, 63, a nurse from Lockport, Louisiana, stood and sang to a praise and worship song near the end of the evening. She said her pastor "volun-told" her to come to the congress -- but after experiencing the opening revival session, "I know that my priest knew I needed this," she said.
"A person's heart would have to be made of stone not to be changed by that," she said, noting Sister Bethany Madonna's words about trusting Jesus.
"That gave me a lot of comfort," she said. "I think this is a journey to my healing and to becoming my former self, who used to be more joyful. So I am ready."
OSV News Editor-in-Chief Gretchen R. Crowe, National News Editor Peter Jesserer Smith, Senior Writer Maria Wiering, Culture Editor Lauretta Brown and Spanish Editor Maria Pia Negro Chin contributed to this report.
Excitement, expectation build ahead of National Eucharistic Congress
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Dominican Father Patrick Briscoe, editor of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, and Dominican Sister Maria Fatima use bullhorns as thousands of pilgrims wait in line to pick up their credentials outside the Indiana Convention Center during the opening of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17, 2024. Also pictured with the ukulele is Catherine Kluempers, director of student activities at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)INDIANAPOLIS — The streets outside Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis were abuzz with excitement July 17 as Catholics of all ages and walks of life gathered for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, the first such congress in 83 years.
Dominicans sang into bullhorns and volunteers passed out water as thousands waited in line that stretched out blocks to pick up their congress registration.
Across the street from the convention center, religious sisters handed out rosaries and welcomed congress-goers into the cool and silence of the historic St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church for perpetual adoration. Next door, parish volunteers sold charcuterie boards, beer and ice cream under a spacious tent, in view of a 22-foot-high bronze sculpture commissioned for the National Eucharistic Congress depicting Jesus Christ's crucified body and blood pouring out for the salvation of the world.
"Jesus comes to us yet today in His Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist to fortify, strengthen and heal His people and our nation!" read a sign explaining the statue, "This Is My Body" by Timothy Paul Schmalz.
Love for the Eucharist and a desire to be part of the nationwide "Catholic family" were frequently cited reasons that attendees shared for why they made the trip to Indianapolis for the July 17-21 congress, held at the Indiana Convention Center and the adjacent Lucas Oil Stadium.
Speaking with OSV News outside of St. John the Evangelist July 16, Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., described the event as a "family reunion" with more than 50,000 passes sold. According to the NEC, registered attendees speak more than 19 languages, and include well over 1,000 priests and more than 200 bishops and cardinals. Around 8,000 of the attendees are under 25, with 5,000 of them under 18.
The event -- scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. July 17 with a procession and revival session featuring prominent Catholic speakers and Eucharistic adoration -- saw the surrounding blocks buzzing with final preparations and pre-congress excitement all day, starting with a standing-room-only 8 a.m. Mass at St. John the Evangelist celebrated by its pastor, Father Rick Nagel.
Father Nagel said his own life was transformed after attending World Youth Day in Denver in 1993.
"I hadn't been to Mass in some time. I hadn't been in confession in 13 years at that point in my life. But God loved me," he said. "And there (at World Youth Day), I heard the words of St. John Paul II, St. John Paul the Great: 'Open wide the doors to Christ,' he proclaimed. ... My heart began to open. ... I began to live my life to seek to be a reflection of Christ in the world."
"I know some are already on fire and just wanted to dive deeper into love of the Lord in his holy church," he said of those attending the congress. "And there'll be some that got here because the Spirit called them here, like he did me to Denver.
"No matter what the case is and where anybody's at," he continued, "I pray that all the pilgrims that come here for this week ahead have this same divine intimacy experience with the Lord. And our lives are changed. Our churches are changed. Our city is changed. Our nation is changed. Our world is changed so that we can be Christ's love in the world."
As he waited in line to claim his registration, Deacon Jim Reinhardt, 63, from the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, also pointed to World Youth Day as a model of what could come from the congress.
"You see the numbers of the people who don't believe in the Real Presence and that kind of thing, and it's heartbreaking," he said. "I'm thinking about what John Paul II did for Denver, and it just revived that city. ... Maybe this is the next spot -- that the Lord is going to do incredible work in Indianapolis that will spread out to the wider United States."
Father Gonzalo Siller-Ramirez, 37, of the Diocese of Fresno, California, who was traveling with 10 members of his parish, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Dinuba, expressed similar expectations while in line and holding wooden rosary beads alongside his water bottle.
"My hope is that it impacts many generations," he said, including new vocations to priesthood and religious life and holy matrimony.
For Joan Hiel, a parishioner of St. John Vianney in Kailua, Hawaii, that impact is especially important for the youngest Catholics, whom she was preparing to serve during the congress in family spaces dedicated to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
A longtime teacher of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a hands-on approach for children learning the faith, Hiel said she hopes the congress will "reinflame, especially in the youth, a fervor for the faith, for the Catholic faith in particular."
"Quite a few of our young Catholics have left the church," said Hiel, 60, "and I'm hopeful that they come and see, or even witness it online -- 'Look, all these young people. I don't need to go to another church to feel connected with youth and young adults.'"
Deeply instilling the Catholic faith in their three children -- ages 7, 10 and 12 -- played a major role in inspiring Brenda and Matt Almaguer of Kansas City, Kansas, to head to the congress.
"As a family, it begins in the home," said Brenda Almaguer, 46. "We're so grateful that we have the opportunity to get together (as a church) after 80-plus years. It's also a good example for them to see all these faith-filled people here."
Her 10-year-old son, Luke Almaguer, said he felt "excited and blessed" to be at the congress.
"There's so many Catholics," he said. "We get a bunch of adoration and we get to spend more time with Jesus, the king of the universe, which is kinda cool and big."
Asked what he was most looking forward to at the congress, he grinned and said, "Father Mike Schmitz." His dad gave him an approving fist bump.
Father Schmitz, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, known especially for "The Bible in a Year" podcast, is scheduled to speak in Lucas Oil Stadium during the evening revival session July 18. Other keynote speakers include Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; and Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the miniseries "The Chosen."
The July 17 evening revival session was scheduled to include Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc.; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; and Sister Bethany Madonna, the Sisters of Life's local superior and mission coordinator in Phoenix. The event was expected to open with a "major" Eucharistic procession and conclude with adoration, with worship music from Dave and Lauren Moore, founders of Catholic Music Initiative.
While attendees waited for upwards of two hours to check in, the congress's exhibit hall opened at noon with a carnival-type feel. Families played lawn games on artificial turf while children colored on large pillars with black-and-white artwork of symbols of the Gospel writers. Someone dressed as a Legoman priest hurried past exhibitors, while Benedictine College's mascot, Rocky the Raven, ambled throughout the hall.
The hall also offered places for prayer and reflection. After writing a petition on a prayer wall at the Knights of Columbus exhibit, Gracie Díaz from the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said she came to the congress for "healing" and "to be a witness of what God has done."
"Encountering that love that we had for our Lord. Everything he's done for us. Seeing everyone here come together as a family -- (a) big family that we are all united," she said, standing with her sister Sandra.
Díaz and her sister look forward to sharing the congress's testimonies "to those that are in need of his love, that don't know about him. Just bring out that word and spread it out," she said.
Exhibitors ranged from Catholic publishers, booksellers and software developers to rosary-makers, sacred art purveyors and a company that sells candles fragranced like the oils used to anoint Jesus after the crucifixion. Stickers, bottle openers and miniature Jesus figurines were among the freebies passersby snagged while visiting with the array of exhibitors and vendors.
Employees of the men's ministry Exodus 90 filled carts attached to bicycles with cold water bottles and towels to distribute to those in line outside, parked alongside an orange and white Exodus 90-branded race car "because it's Indianapolis," explained Adam Minihan, the organization's head of marketing, in an apparent nod to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's famous NASCAR races.
"There's a lot of smiles, a lot of joy out here," he said of the crowd in the exhibitors hall. Even outside in the 85 degree Fahrenheit heat and humidity, "there's nothing but excitement, joy -- they're eager to talk, which is pretty fun," he said.
Across the street, that's also what Olivia Fugate, 19, experienced in the first 20 minutes of her shift at St. John the Evangelist's hospitality tent billed as a "Eucharistic Village." Seeing masses of Catholics inspires her with "pure joy because you know you're not alone," she said.
"When you're (worshipping) with a group, it just feels like family," she said. "It feels like what heaven is going to feel like one day."
— Maria Wiering, OSV News
