By Elena Macias
On their journey from Indianapolis to Los Angeles for the close of the National Eucharistic Revival, eight young adult “Perpetual Pilgrims” experienced the hospitality of the Diocese of San Bernardino during their two-day stop here.
The Revival, a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) initiative, launched in 2022 with a vision to “inspire a movement of Catholics across the United States who are healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist- and who are then sent out on mission “for the life of the world.” The concluding eight-week pilgrimage crossed through 24 dioceses and was met with cheering crowds, hot weather and even some unexpected protests.
Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist:
The Perpetual Pilgrims arrive at Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage St. Katharine Drexel Route caravan arrived in the diocese on the evening of June 15 at Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert just as the parish’s Vigil Mass was concluding.
The eight perpetual pilgrims – Arthur “Ace” Acuna of Nevada; Rachel Levy of Indiana; Charlie McCullough of Texas; Leslie Reyes-Hernandez of Illinois; Frances Webber of Virginia; Stephen Furhmann of Texas; Cheyenne Johnson of Florida; and Johnathan “Johnny” Silvino Hernandez of Indiana – arrived at the parish and processed in with Jesus in the Eucharist for a Holy Hour with Adoration.
Of Sacred Heart’s decision to host the pilgrims, Operations Manager Betty Fernandez said, “It was a communal ‘want,’ Part of the pilgrim experience is the welcoming, really experiencing Christ’s hospitality.”
The following morning, Bishop Alberto Rojas celebrated Mass and welcomed the pilgrims to the diocese. Immediately after Mass, Bishop Rojas led a one-mile Eucharistic Procession from the church to nearby Civic Center Park for a Father’s Day picnic. Temperatures had soared above 110 degrees but that didn’t stop more than 700 faithful Catholics from joining the procession and encountering Jesus in the Eucharist.
“It’s just a joy to see how many people are coming out to walk with the Lord, even though it’s triple-digit heat, I said ‘wow,’ I don’t know how they did it, I can barely do it,” said Ace. “But just seeing the love in people’s faces, having a fellowship picnic in the park and Adoration, that was just so beautiful.”
Sacred Heart parishioner Kathleen Pape was aware of the national pilgrimage and heard it would be stopping in the desert.
“I was thinking I’d like to link up with them somewhere in the country,” said Pape. “The fact that people are coming out in these great numbers in spite of the heat, it’s out of a deep love for our Savior.”
The Perpetual Pilgrims’ next stop at Christ the Redeemer Church in Grand Terrace.
Next visit to Christ the Redeemer Church in Grand Terrace
After the Father’s Day Picnic, the pilgrims departed Palm Desert for their next visit to Christ the Redeemer Church in Grand Terrace. There they joined the St. Jude Syro-Malabar Catholic Community for Mass celebrated by Father Akhil Thomas, SVD, and concelebrated by two Capuchin Franciscan priests, Father Lawrence Joshua Johnson and Father Michael Herlihey, who were traveling with the pilgrims.
In his homily, Fr. Lawrence spoke about his experience of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and connected it to the journey of Catholics to the Father.
“We are all pilgrims, we are all on the road as Christians, and where are we going? We are going to the Father and Jesus himself is bringing us,” said Fr. Lawrence.
Fr. Lawrence continued to describe our journey to the Father, noting that we may pass many beautiful things, many difficult things along the way, but by encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, we are led to Him.
“The Eucharist, Jesus is the one who comes to our hearts, and he says, ‘come with me, I’m the way to the Father and I will bring you to him,” said Father Lawrence. “He is with me and in me, He is in my heart, He is in the van, and He is traveling with us, we are traveling together.”
Following the Syro-Malabar Mass, Christ the Redeemer Administrator, Father Javier Gonzales, and some diocesan seminarians, along with the pilgrims, went to nearby Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Cemetery where they held a Eucharistic Procession. It was a busy Father’s Day evening at the cemetery.
“There was a good amount of people there and they were happy to see a Eucharistic Procession,” said Fr. Gonzales, who is also the Rector of St. Junipero Serra House of Formation. “A few of them knelt down and blessed themselves as we went by.”
The group closed out their evening with a trip to In ‘N Out Burger, where good conversations and evangelization continued, Fr. Javier said. They had breakfast at Serra House the following morning before departing for their next stops in the Diocese of San Diego.
“I’m happy that they were able to come through our diocese and hopefully bring our blessings to the Diocese of San Diego,” Fr. Gonzales said.
Unified in the Eucharist:
The eight pilgrims began their journey on May 18 in Indianapolis and they visited 16 other dioceses before reaching San Bernardino. During that time, they describe witnessing the vast diverse communities within those dioceses, all being brought together as one in the Eucharist.
“There’s so many different communities and cultures in the United States and to just see how each community has that little different thing about their culture but when they come together there’s this universality that’s really beautiful that Jesus provides, that the Eucharist provides,” Rachel said.
As part of the Pilgrimage, the perpetual pilgrims traveled together in a van with the Blessed Sacrament across ten states and 24 (arch)dioceses and (arch)eparchies, providing numerous opportunities for the local faithful to encounter Jesus, including at daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Eucharistic Processions, witness talks, and fellowship meals with the local faithful. The journey was not without its challenges. The pilgrims encountered anti-Catholic protesters throughout their stops in Oklahoma and Texas. Though they did not follow the Pilgrimage into California, extra security was hired in Palm Desert and Grand Terrace as a precaution.
Still, Cheyenne noted that this once-in-a-lifetime experience of traveling across the U.S., meeting people from big cities to small towns, was a reflection of God’s love.
“Especially as we go through small places, just the gratitude of people [who ask us], ‘how could we come to this small town?’ and it’s really Jesus who is bringing us,” Cheyenne said.
Before the pilgrims departed the diocese, Fr. Akhil offered them a message.
“The Eucharist has brought you here, and God’s love has brought all of us together, although we are from different places, different races, but today, God has brought us all together,” Father Akhil said.
Healed, Converted and Formed:
The Eucharistic Procession and Adoration in Palm Desert took place during a weekend of other regional and national events, including immigration protests and “No Kings” rallies. Local Catholic Denise Ruiz, who attended the procession and Adoration, reflected on the importance of the Eucharist more than ever for the conversion of hearts.
“Out of all the walks and protests and rallies this weekend this was the most important one,” she said. “God is the one who is going to change the hearts and minds of the country.”
In +Pope Francis’ greeting to the National Eucharistic Congress organizing committee on June 19, 2023, the beginning of the Year of Parish Revival, he said, “Indeed, the Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for authentic life, for in the Eucharist Christ himself is truly in our midst, to nourish, console and sustain us on our journey.
This nourishment, consolation and sustainability the Eucharist provides the human heart was also witnessed by the pilgrims while journeying to different communities.
“It’s been such an adventure,” said Ace. “It’s just been surreal seeing all the different communities and to see how many people are touched by our Lord in the Eucharist, even ourselves just seeing how much has changed from day one to where we are now.”
Not only did the pilgrims witness the healing, conversion and formation within the faithful communities they traveled to, but they also felt this conversion in their own hearts.
“I came in with several intentions in my heart, especially for my loved ones… but also I’ve been most pleasantly surprised that there’s places in my heart that He wanted to heal that I didn’t necessarily know that I needed healing in,” said Leslie.
Cheyenne serves as the Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at Butler University in Indianapolis and she experienced a conversion in her own heart and can’t wait to “bring this joy, this excitement around the Gospel, around the Eucharist back to the students, it’s so important,” Cheyenne said.
“My heart has been changed so much that I know going back that I have to do more,” added Cheyenne.
Sent out on Mission “For the Life of the World:”
After visiting the Diocese of San Bernardino, the perpetual pilgrims traveled to the Diocese of San Diego from June 16-18, then to the Diocese of Orange from June 18-20, then finally to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for the conclusion of the National Eucharistic Revival initiative on June 22, Corpus Christi Sunday.
Although the revival initiative has concluded, the mission to now go forth and evangelize “for the life of the world” just begun.
“I don’t think this is the end, I think this is the beginning, not just for myself but for the whole Catholic Church,” Leslie said.
“Visiting different sites across the U.S. from homes of saints from our country it’s just been really encouraging and knowing that we can be Saints too, we can be Holy too, it just takes what’s the next ‘yes’ that the Lord is asking us to take,” Leslie added. “I think if there’s one word that can summarize the whole pilgrimage is, love, because he loves us, we do things out of love.”
Likewise, Rachel reflected that this special experience would not end in Los Angeles, but that she would share it with her own community back home.
“I think you can’t see the church lived out in so many ways and then go back home and forget about it,” Rachel said. “I think it will change the way that I am able to encounter the people in my own community.”
Looking back on his experience, Johnny felt God’s call to be sent out and continue the mission.
“There’s really no words to explain how it’s changed,” Johnny reflected. “It was something and now it’s totally something different and now moving on… it’s hard to put words to it. Now, God’s saying, ‘Go on, it’s your turn, do it, now go out, do it yourself, go out and spread it.’”
Elena Macias is the Managing Editor of the Inland Catholic BYTE.