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INDIANAPOLIS - - God is omnipresent, but in a particular way, He’s also been present in the Eucharist aboard the International Space Station. That’s what Space Force Colonel and former NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins told a packed stadium on the final day of the National Eucharistic Congress. In September of 2013, Hopkins was getting ready to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He found comfort knowing that his wife and two sons were watching from an observation area.  

INDIANAPOLIS - - A five-day, epic gathering of Catholics at the National Eucharistic Congress ended July 21, but the mission continues. “Let us go and proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world!” Cardinal Luis Tagle, the papal envoy, told the 60,000 people from across the U.S. packed into Lucas Oil Stadium for the closing Mass. “Go and share Jesus’ tender love with the weary, the hungry and the suffering,” Cardinal Tagle told the crowd.

They came in droves from across the U.S. for five days packed with inspiration, and on day four of the National Eucharistic Congress, Catholics took to the streets for a colorful eucharistic procession that stretched more than a mile. Pilgrims lined the streets as hundreds of religious sisters, priests, deacons and seminarians marched past. Wave upon wave of youthful seminarians in white surplices poured by onlookers.

There’s a lot to see here at the National Eucharistic Congress, so I thought I’d take a break from the usual reporting and provide a taste of what it’s been like through this pilgrim’s eyes. Between liturgies, speakers, exhibits, breakout sessions, small-group discussions and working your way through massive crowds, to say it’s been busy would be an understatement. Actually, it’s been exhilarating. I shouldn’t be able to function on this little sleep and basically a steady diet of turkey sandwiches and chips. A heady combination of adrenaline and grace are driving me, that’s for sure.

The first full day of the National Eucharistic Congress saw participants pouring into the Indianapolis Convention Center for morning and afternoon sessions on evangelization, a biblical walk through the Mass and answering Fundamentalist objections to the Eucharist by well-known apologist Trent Horn. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, spoke to several thousand attendees about the early Church Fathers and their devotion to the Eucharist. He highlighted Ignatius of Antioch who was condemned to death and taken to Rome to be thrown as food to wild beasts for his faith in Christ.

In early June, the Legacy Foundation Christine Stamper Center for Help & Hope, a Catholic Charities operated shelter that provides emergency housing for families, individuals and veterans in Bullhead City, Ariz., welcomed six young Diocese of Phoenix seminarians for a three-week poverty immersion experience. The young men arrived eager and ready to live among and walk in the footsteps of some of Bullhead City’s most vulnerable community members. Each seminarian was allowed limited resources: $50 to last the entire three weeks, a backpack with clothes and a cell phone. No other electronic devices were permitted during this experience.

A crowd of pilgrims from across Arizona, including priests, religious sisters and laity, packed into Sky Harbor Airport early Wednesday morning to head to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. The mood was festive as the gates filled up with travelers bound for the Midwest city known as The Crossroads of America.

More than 50,000 Catholics from across the U.S are descending on Indianapolis, Ind., for the National Eucharistic Congress, part of the three-year Eucharistic Revival grassroots effort.The five-day conference is being held July 17-21 in Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis and features well-known speakers such as Bishop Robert Baron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries; Fr. Mike Schmitz, famous for his Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcasts; and Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in the blockbuster television series, The Chosen.

“I just want you to know we are here, and you are always welcome.” These were the words of Fr. Matt Lowry, parochial administrator and 16-year pastor of Northern Arizona University’s Holy Trinity Newman Center in Flagstaff, Ariz. He was speaking to a freshman who was walking by the Catholic Newman Center table at a college fair for new students. Fr. Lowry didn’t say these words because the young woman seemed interested in the ministry and couldn’t wait to get involved – quite the opposite. 

Below are the comments from Bishop Dolan on Saturday following the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally: “My heart goes out to those who suffered during today’s act of violence that took place in Pennsylvania during President Donald Trump’s campaign rally, including the former president himself. I am praying for those who were injured and lost their lives.