Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis was packed each night of the National Eucharistic Congress as the Eucharist, illuminated by spotlights, was displayed for adoration. (Courtesy Lani Wong)
By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
As the 10th National Eucharistic Congress came to a close, its 60,000 participants were told they had to go.
Not in the sense of “leave this place” — Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana and site of the monumental five-day event — but “go and share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace,” as Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said in his homily during the congress’s sending-forth Mass on July 21 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“A Eucharistic people is a missionary and evangelizing people,” said Cardinal Tagle, who was Pope Francis’ special envoy to the congress, which took place July 17-21. “We should not keep Jesus to ourselves.”
That won’t be a problem for the congress attendees, who hailed from all 50 states as well as 17 countries, and represented churches in both Eastern and Western rites.
Participants from Hawaii said they were revitalized in their faith and fired up to spread Christ’s love to others.
They knew they were attending a life-changing event, but didn’t realize just how impactful the five days of adoration, liturgies, exhibits, breakout sessions and revival nights would be.
Lani Wong, a parishioner at St. Jude Church in Kapolei who is a member of both St. Jude’s pastoral council and the Diocese of Honolulu’s pastoral council, said she first learned of the congress in 2022 while she and her husband, Derek, were in the deacon formation program.
The congress was planned within the multiyear National Eucharistic Revival launched by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022. As Wong participated in planning revival-related events as well as deacon formation classes and Eucharistic adoration and benediction, she knew that she and her husband, now Deacon Wong, were being called to attend the congress — “and I am glad we did.”
Lani Wong said it was “refreshing to be with fellow brothers and sisters journeying in the faith together” and that the congress exceeded her expectations.
“The NEC had a profound impact on me spiritually and emotionally,” she said. “I can’t really explain it, but something in me is transformed and I am deeply thankful for the gift Jesus Christ has given and I am revived and ready to go.”
The congress was the largest Catholic event Wong has been to, a sentiment reflected by other attendees.
Deacon Marlowe Sabater of Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio said he has attended scientific conferences on a similar scale, but never a religious event as big as the congress.
Despite its size, Deacon Sabater (he and Deacon Wong were in the same formation class and were ordained as permanent deacons earlier this year) said there was still a profound feeling of peace and unity amid the sea of pilgrims who filled the stadium every day.
“At Mass, when we received Christ in the Holy Eucharist, there was a renewed sense of belonging to the one church that he established,” he said.
Deacon Sabater also said the congress surpassed his expectations ahead of flying to Indianapolis.
“I thought I would just listen to talks and learn more about the Eucharist,” he said, and listen to testimonies and be inspired. “I thought I would rack up my steps at the procession.”
All of that occurred, but the congress also provided “more than what I could ever have expected.”
The first day of the congress began with an evening revival as the 30 perpetual pilgrims, who had walked the four National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes, took their final official steps of their eight-week journey into 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 — that were put around the altar where the Blessed Sacrament was placed.
Every day of the congress began with most participants joining in Eucharistic liturgies in the stadium. Additional morning and evening Masses were celebrated at nearby sites in different languages, such as Spanish or Vietnamese, or in different forms, such as the Byzantine rite or the older usage of the Roman rite.
Tens of thousands of congress-goers at the nighttime revival sessions joined their voices in singing hymns and chants, both traditional and contemporary, in English, Spanish, Latin and other languages. Keynote speakers and testimonies, meanwhile, helped keep people’s eyes fixed on Jesus’ personal love for them and his desire to be close to them.
Throughout the congress, the historic St. John’s Catholic Church across from the Indiana Convention Center’s main entrance fulfilled its role as a spiritual hub. A steady flow of pilgrims came and went from the main church during 24-hour adoration throughout the congress.
Perhaps the highlight of the congress came July 20 as tens of thousands of Catholics followed behind a truck-pulled, flower-rimmed float carrying the Blessed Sacrament accompanied by Bishop Andew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., and Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson. They walked 10 blocks from the convention center through downtown Indianapolis to the Indiana War Memorial Plaza for what Bishop Cozzens said “might be the largest Eucharistic procession in the country in decades,” according to OSV News.
Participants left Indianapolis fired up and ready to deliver Jesus’ love and message to the world.
“Once your heart is burning, you cannot wait to spread that flame to others. It is like one burning coal that needs more coal to spread the flame,” Deacon Sabater said.
“The NEC is not the end. It is the start of the revival mission,” he added. “The (National) Eucharistic Revival is now a movement … to bring people closer to Christ and reinforce our faith in the real presence.”
Among Wong’s many takeaways were: “Be good, don’t be selfish, go out and spread the good news; if you know one person that may be thinking about coming back to the faith or is thinking of conversion, then take that one person and walk the faith with them.”
Bishop Larry Silva spoke during the Asian and Pacific Island National Encounter, which took place before the National Eucharistic Congress. (Courtesy Christopher D. Malano, CSP)
Bishop Larry Silva, who was among the scores of bishops who attended the congress, said he hoped that the congress’s emphasis of going out into the world would remain with attendees.
“I definitely know that people at the NEC experienced a profound renewal for themselves,” he said. “Only time will tell if the missionary thrust of the Congress will take hold.”
Bishop Silva also played a key role in a meeting before the congress — the Asian and Pacific Island National Encounter, at which Cardinal Tagle was the keynote speaker. Bishop Silva, who is chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs, spoke twice: In his homily on the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, he spoke of Hawaii’s Carmelite sisters and the power of their “hidden ministry” of prayer and sacrifice, and in a final reflection alongside other bishops.
In his final talk, he focused on the Hawaiian ahupuaa, the land division that brought people together to share their goods and gifts. The “ahu,” or “altar,” was where they sacrificed something valuable — in this case, a pig, “puaa” in Hawaiian.
“So it is with us,” Bishop Silva said. “We gather to share our various cultures and gifts with each other, and we are all enriched when we do so. But we gather now around the ‘altar of the Lamb,’ the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life and unity.”
With reporting by OSV News.
