Utahns relate their experiences at the 10th annual National Eucharistic Congress
Marie Mischel and Laura Vallejo
SALT LAKE CITY — Father Christopher Gray, the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s point person for the National Eucharistic Revival, led a group of Utahns to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Ind. July 17-21. A number of other faithful from the diocese also attended the congress, including a group of 12 youth from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Kearns.
The feeling of unity was palpable throughout the event, said Fr. Gray, who also is pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City. “People definitely had some kind of consensus of ‘This is what we are doing right now in our movement of prayer, in our physical movement, in our expression of … faith, Church, unity.’”
It was wonderful not only to participate in the congress but “also to watch everyone participate and having a good time,” Fr. Gray added. “It was crazy, especially as the days wore on, that people’s ability to stay positive or happy did not wear off. It was uncanny, actually. I was just having a great time.”
As a participant, he appreciated the opportunity not only to hear the speakers in the priests’ track but also to interact with bishops and other priests on a casual level, he said. “There were a number of conversations that I had that were much more vulnerable than usually happens with groups of priests,” he said, saying that at one point a group of them spontaneously prayed for one of their brethren who mentioned some problems he was facing.
While sitting in Adoration with 50,000 other people each night in Lucas Oil Stadium, Fr. Gray felt “the Spirit that is pervading the whole group” and that “this is a wonderful moment to all come together and be with the Lord together, which is not as an island – each one – but together in the beautiful unity of what the Eucharist actually is,” he said.
Having been responsible for the diocesan Eucharistic Rally at Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy last year, Fr. Gray noticed that the production values of the congress were particularly high, he said. “I was impressed by the production design,” such as the panels that decorated space around the altar.
Looking back on the experience and having heard the stories of many who attended, “I wish more people had gone,” he said.
Father Tai Nguyen, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, said he wanted the youth of his parish to experience the universal Church in America; many of them have attended Mass only at their parish, which has a bilingual Vietnamese/English liturgy.
Also, he wanted them to renew their faith, and to “open their minds and their hearts” to “the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, especially the Mass; that it is really true, and that Jesus Christ is truly present, the living God, in that sacrament of Communion,” he said.
The talks and experiences at the congress that were specifically for the youth helped those from Kearns deepen their faith and their knowledge of the Church, Fr. Nguyen said. He thought one of the presenters who shared her own difficulties with family life and her faith was particularly effective in reaching the youth, he said, adding that some of his group told him that they want to attend similar events in the future.
To see so many Catholics, including youth, at the congress was inspiring, he said. “The Church in America is still alive, and God is there,” he said.
For him personally, the closing Mass with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle was a high point. The cardinal was rector of the seminary that Fr. Nguyen attended, and his homily reminded the congregation “that the Eucharistic mission was sent by God the Father” and having received the gifts of the Eucharist, “now we have to bring those gifts to our mission in our daily life” to family, to the Church and to other Catholics, Fr. Nguyen said.
Among the others who attended the congress was Guadalupe Velasquez, a parishioner of Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns, where she ministers as a catechist.
In Indianapolis, “It was amazing to see so many people there that were Catholics. … There were Catholics everywhere. I was just shocked to see how big our Church really is,” she said.
The event was an opportunity to learn how to improve in her catechism classes, she said. “I loved how all the speakers, even though they all have advanced degrees and studies, they all simplified what the Eucharist is in a way that is easy to explain to other people, and so I got a lot of knowledge to be able to share it with my students.”
She also returned with amazing resources, she said. “I was able to get a lot of objects for my students like crosses, and I also got lots of resources to find material for my classes.”
On a personal level, the experience of “being able to see Jesus there and everybody on their knees – now in Adoration I know [Jesus] is really there,” she said, adding that since she has returned home she feels the urge to go to Adoration and to do more for the Church that what she was doing.
As a young adult – Velasquez is 26 – she believes the Church needs to invite and welcome others of her age to the liturgy. “Sometimes for young people to go to Mass is something superficial, something that they just have to do, like a motion, but I think the youth need to know more about the sacrifices of the Mass and how important the Eucharist is,” she said.
Cathedral of the Madeleine parishioner Strom Schiereck, also a young adult Catholic, found being surrounded by tens of thousands of Catholics an amazing experience. “To be surrounded by people, knowing that they believe the same things I believe and were unified in our faith like that – that was incredible,” he said.
Seeing hundreds of vowed women religious every day was “kind of a shock to me,” he said, because they’re not a familiar sight in Utah. “But to have them on the street like that, and to see them, I really felt like they were a healing presence” and that they were a visible role model of feminine virtue, he said. “They’re just doing so much good out there.”
Schiereck was moved by the stories of presenter Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, founder and servant mother of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth in the Archdiocese of Boston, he said, particularly because she did not use a lectern or any other decorations or props. “It was such a powerful sight to see her on stage, talking about all this very heavy stuff on an empty stage in front of like (50,000) people – an entire stadium, just looking at her.”
On the other hand, Mother Adela Galindo’s talk on evangelization “was incredible because of the energy that she brought,” he said; the message he took from her was to move “into the world with determined conviction as a Catholic, and to proclaim that Jesus is Lord.”
One experience he particularly appreciated was when a fellow Utahn suggested they go to Confession to renew their flagging spirits, he said.
In the days since the congress he has felt empowered in his faith and wanting to share it with others, particularly other Catholics, he said.
Also attending the event were Maribel and Mario Colorado, parishioners of Saint Andrew Parish in Riverton.
“To be able to share our Catholic faith with so many people was a blessing,” Maribel Colorado said, explaining that she wanted to go to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis to strengthen her faith so she could become an instrument of Jesus.
“To be able to fill my heart with the presence of God was something very moving,” she said.
The prayer, sharing and all that she experienced during the four days was invigorating, she said.
Before the trip to Indianapolis, she had felt the need to readjust the priorities of her faith, and now “God is in the first place in our lives,” she said. “He really has to be the base; without him there is nothing; if we acknowledge him in our lives everything will be OK.”
While at the congress she felt the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist calling her, and now she wants to share that message with others so the Church can move forward, she said.
“We have to make time to share it with our brothers and sisters. … This is something really great and the new generations need to have this encounter with Jesus through the Eucharist,” she said.
She and her husband are still determining how they will put all that they received at the National Eucharistic Congress in action, she said.
Another couple who attended the event, Jack Wall and Doreen Espinoza, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in Indianapolis. The two are parishioners of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Holladay, where Wall is a lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and a Mass coordinator, while Espinoza is a choir member and takes Communion to the homebound and those who are hospitalized.
Espinoza wanted to go to the congress to learn more about the faith, so the couple attended the Renewal track, which was intended to “refresh the hearts of ministry leaders and equip them to cultivate revival in their parishes, diocese and apostolate organizations,” according to the event catalog.
Once there, “you just got swept up in it,” Wall said. “There was just so much to see, so much to do, so many interesting speakers.”
Though “I’m not one for rallies and that kind of thing,” by the lunchtime of the first day, “I completely transitioned from skepticism to ‘Wow, this is going to be great. I’m looking forward to tomorrow,’” he said. “For me, it was a very profound experience. … Honestly, I think I came back a better person and a better Catholic.”
Similarly, Espinoza said she experienced “so much more than just sitting there and listening to people talk. … It was so absolutely heartfelt. I felt renewed by the Holy Spirit. … It was spiritual, it was emotional, it was educational, it was everything.”
She came back with more confidence to live her faith publicly, not just in private prayer and at church, she said. She has already invited one person as part of the “Walk With One” program, and knows another person she is going to reach out to, she said.
Another highlight of the congress was having Bishop Oscar A. Solis bless their marriage, Wall said, particularly because the bishop “spent time, quite a bit of time [with us]. … You could feel what he was feeling in his heart about marriage, about us as Catholics. I walked out of there – my feet were off the ground,” he said, while his wife wiped tears from her eyes at the memory.
Mark Wendel, a parishioner at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in West Jordan, said he has felt a longing for the Eucharist since he returned to the Church a couple of years ago.
“I felt like I needed to know more … and so when I heard about (the congress) I knew I wanted to go,” he said. “I wanted to be around other people that kind of wanted the same thing that I wanted.”
Like Velasquez, Wendel was “overwhelmed by the number of people there,” he said, and during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the stadium, “It was kind of like the outside world disappeared.”
Among the presenters, Mother Olga “just about had me in tears,” because of stories she told about faith and healing, he said. “Some of her stories were heart-breaking, heart-warming.”
Hearing Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in the television show “The Chosen,” recite the Bread of Life discourse was incredible, he said. “I’ve only heard it read in Mass, never delivered as a dramatic monologue. I want to believe we hear it the way [that Jesus’] followers heard it in Capernaum.”
Since returning, “I think I have a greater willingness to talk to others about my Catholic faith,” Wendel said, and he feels less judgmental of other people. He also has decided to invite two family members to return to the Church as part of the “Walk with One” initiative, the evangelization effort that is the follow up to the congress.
Several of those who participated in the National Eucharistic Congress will share their memories and photos during a panel on Aug. 8 in Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish’s social hall, 1505 White Pine Canyon Road, Park City, at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP at StMarysParkCity.com/Summit.
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