“Holy God, we praise thy name; Lord of all, we bow before thee.”
These words resounded from the floor to the rafters at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis the night of July 17, as 50,000 Catholics gathered for the first night of the National Eucharistic Congress.
After opening ceremonies, in which the four branches of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived in Indianapolis, the first order of business was time with the Lord in adoration. In the center of the stadium, the Body of Christ pulsed in a massive monstrance on the altar.
Home to the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium more closely resembled a sanctuary. Television screens on the concourses that would normally show the on-field action, or frivolous entertainment between plays, instead showed only the host. Screens above the field that would normally show the score of the game instead displayed the lyrics of hymns like “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the National Eucharistic Congress,” said Father Josh Johnson, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and emcee of the event.
Nearly a dozen employees from the Pastoral Center in Richmond, several priests, and countless parishioners from the Diocese of Richmond were in attendance, as was Bishop Barry C. Knestout.
Christophe Cardinal Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, was the first speaker after adoration concluded. “We have to be possessed by the spirit of God, and go where the spirit leads us,” he told the crowd.
Sister Bethany Madonna followed the cardinal with a personal and uplifting message. “You reflect a facet of God,” she said. “He has entrusted you with a mission he has entrusted to no one else.”
“Our souls are immortal, and they will live forever into eternity,” she continued. “We are destined to live in the eternal exchange of love that is our God in heaven.”
Father Chris Masla, administrator of Christ the King, Abingdon, and St. John, Marion, had a seat on the floor next to Father Cassidy Stinson, administrator of St. Jude, Christiansburg.
“I want to encounter the Lord,” said Father Masla. “I wanted to come here to grow my own relationship with the Lord. You can’t give what you don’t have, and I want more of a relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist so I can share that with my parishioners.”
The first full day of the congress begins July 18 with Family Rosary Across America at Lucas Oil Stadium at 8 a.m., led by Father Rocky Hoffman, followed by 8:30 a.m. Mass.