METUCHEN, NJ, May 27 — At the end of a rich day that began with Mass at the Cathedral of St. James in Brooklyn, followed by a 10.5 mile Eucharistic procession in Brooklyn, featuring a boat ride with the Blessed Sacrament to Liberty Island where Cardinal Dolan imparted benediction to those on the island and led prayers for the United States, the Seton Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage finished at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen.
At the beginning of a period of Eucharistic adoration throughout the night, Father Roger Landry, chaplain to the Seton Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, gave a talk entitled, "The Pilgrim Church on Earth: The Christian's Lifetime Procession with the Eucharistic Lord."
In it, he described how all four pillars of the parish phase of the Eucharistic Revival can be understood in terms of a pilgrimage.
He likened the Revival's focus on reinvigorating worship at Mass as a true Emmaus Journey in which Jesus walks with us through the Liturgy of the Word, seeks to make our hearts burn, wants to be see by us in the "Breaking of Bread," and finally hopes that we will leave that encounter with him running to tell others, as we see in Cleopas and the other disciple.
He said that the pillar of "personal encounter" we can similarly see in terms of a pilgrimage, because, he noted, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's conversion is partially attributable to her encounter with Jesus during a Eucharistic procession. It's not enough for us to have Eucharistic adoration in our Churches, Fr. Landry said. Our times require bringing Jesus out into the world he redeemed so that others may have an encounter similar to St. Elizabeth Seton.
The third pillar is charity, shown in concrete deeds of sacrificial love, not to mention the spiritual work of mercy of passing on the faith. We all have to cross the road, as the Good Samaritan did in Jesus' famous parable, to make the effort to care for those in need of material but especially spiritual goods. Robust faith formation is a profound act of love, Landry said.
The fourth pillar is Mission and he said each of us is summoned by the Lord to try to bring others into a life-changing friendship with him. We are all called, like St. Paul, to experience an inner woe if we do not share the Gospel, understood not fundamentally as a message but as the Gospel incarnate, the Word-made-Flesh, God-still-with-us on the altar.
Father Landry likewise emphasized, from the Gospels and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the nature of the Church, and of Christian life, as a pilgrimage and how that pilgrimage is led and accompanied by the Lord Jesus, who keeps his valedictory promise to remain with us always until the end of time most faithfully in his Eucharistic presence.
To watch Father Landry's talk, please click here.
To listen to his reflection, please click here.
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