In an oasis of welcome, a volunteer embraces a gift that moves her to tears

The Eucharistic Village on the grounds of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis served as an oasis of welcome and rejuvenation for many of the 50,000 people who came to the National Eucharistic Congress on July 17-21. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

For five sunny days and long dark nights, the grounds of St. John the Evangelist Church in downtown Indianapolis served as an oasis of welcome and rejuvenation for many of the 50,000 people who came for the National Eucharistic Congress.

If you needed a beer, wine or coffee, you could sip your beverage beneath a large tent that provided soothing shade.

If something to eat or a cool ice cream treat called to you, volunteers from the parish served a variety of choices in an area right across the street from the entrance to the Indiana Convention Center—one of the main venues of the congress, along with Lucas Oil Stadium.

Yet the best and most spiritually refreshing welcome that the parish provided occurred within the church where eucharistic adoration was available 24 hours a day during the congress.

During the afternoon of July 18 and at other times in the congress, every pew in the church was filled with people who came to silently praise and to draw strength from Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Priests, religious sisters, older people, young adults, teens, children, Blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians—all knelt, prayed and shared their hearts with God in a moment that showed the Church in all its diversity, in all its wondrous connection.

At the entrance of the church on that afternoon of July 18, Dr. Michelle Lucia greeted people or thanked them for coming. As one of the many volunteers who made the Eucharistic Village and perpetual adoration on the parish grounds so welcoming, she was also one of the volunteers who was moved by the constant flow of people coming to adore Christ in the Eucharist.

“It’s definitely beautiful—all these people coming to Jesus, and Jesus waiting for them in the Eucharist,” said Lucia, a member of the parish who was married to her husband John there in 2016. “We’re doing three-hour shifts, and it’s been a constant flow of people coming in. It brings tears to my eyes.”

Lucia knows the power of eucharistic adoration, having experienced it constantly throughout her life. It’s why she chose to volunteer at the church during the congress.

“I just feel a calling to this because I feel like anytime that I’ve ever come to the Eucharist, Jesus is there waiting for me,” said Lucia, a mom and a specialist in internal medicine at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis. “When I’m struggling, I feel him calling me. And when I come here, I just feel completely changed.

“He softens my heart if I’m angry about something. If I’m sad about something, I can feel his love. I always go away in a better state. My soul feels like it’s in a better state.”

She recalled one particular moment when she felt the presence of God profoundly.

“When I didn’t pass one of my tests for medical school, there was a priest in the adoration chapel who came and sat right next to me,” she said. “I felt a mystical experience of him hugging me even though he didn’t touch me, and I feel like that was Jesus hugging me.”

Now, she is in her 16th year as a doctor, striving to provide healing for people struggling with their physical health. At the same time, she stays focused on the healing that Christ offers people in their struggles.

“There’s nothing Jesus can’t do. And he waits for us in the Eucharist and adoration.” †

 

(See all of our coverage of the National Eucharistic Congress at www.archindy.org/congress.)