God Stirring Up the Hearts of His People

Hello Friends,
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On this feast day of Corpus Christi, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will conclude
in Los Angeles. I am reminded of a chance encounter I had with the Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Last summer, I made a trip to Missouri to help my daughter with some heavy yard work. After our weekend together, she left early Monday morning for work. I had time before my flight home to attend Mass at the nearby parish. To my surprise, the church parking lot was full for a Monday morning Mass. Walking through the parking lot, I spotted a van wrapped like a billboard announcing the Eucharistic Pilgrimage. I had stumbled onto the Serra route of the Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which was making a stop in this little town of Warrensburg, MO, on the way to the Eucharistic Congress.

What a special blessing it was to come across this caravan of pilgrims from California. After Mass and adoration, I joined the Eucharistic procession as we walked the surrounding neighborhood in light rain. The source and summit of our faith was being carefully sheltered in a canopy by the faithful leading the procession. The graces one receives from attending Mass are not always immediately evident. But in this case, the grace of being able to join this solemn and sacred Eucharistic procession on what started as an ordinary day was an absolute joy.

What was it that moved thousands of people to join the caravan as it traversed the country? Jesus is the focus of the Eucharistic Revival currently underway. It was a blessing for me to be able to join the faithful accompanying the Real Presence of Christ for this short segment. The blessings from this encounter continued when I returned home. The headline on the Eucharist Revival home page is, “Revival is not something we do, it’s God stirring up the hearts of his people”. It was the stirring that led me to explore the eucharistic revival.org website, where I found encouragement in the spirit of Peter, who encouraged early Christians to, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15).

I was familiar with a famous quote from the writer Flannery O’Connor about her defense of the Blessed Sacrament: “Well, if it’s just a symbol, to hell with it.” Thepithy quote holds much more significance in the context of her life story. There is an excellent article by Fr. Damian Ference on the eucharisticrevival.org website about Flannery O’Connor that adds more color to the quote. In that article, he describes how when Flannery was later reflecting on the scene at the party where she made the statement, she said, “That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the true center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable." 

On this feast of Corpus Christi, let us make this gift of Christ’s Presence the center of our existence and renew our love for the mysterious gift of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ that is the Eucharist.


Siempre Adelante
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Manuel Leon
Business Manager 

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