For Year of Eucharist, a Different
Sort of Field Trip
National Catholic Register
May 8-14, 2005
NATIONAL NEWS
by TIM DRAKE
Register Staff Writer
ST. PAUL, Minn. — School field trips
to museums, zoos and orchards are common, but come October
children around the world will be taking a field trip
of a different type — to meet Jesus Christ in the Blessed
Sacrament. It’s all part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis’
efforts to end the Year of the Eucharist with a bang.
Not only do the Minnesota bishops plan
to issue a pastoral letter on the Eucharist, but they
will also be hosting an unprecedented Eucharistic Congress
for adults, teens and children.
Pope John Paul II “has given us this great gift of the
Year of the Eucharist,” said Father Joseph Johnson, assistant
chancellor and spiritual director for the event. “How
will we receive this gift?”
Father Johnson said that the late Pope outlined ways that
the local Church might celebrate the year so that “the
Eucharist becomes something fruitful in the life of the
Church for the world.”
“The danger was that we would be complacent,” said Father
Johnson. The archdiocese has one of the most vibrant Eucharistic
adoration programs in the country, with more than 30 parishes
holding perpetual Eucharistic adoration. But the archdiocese
wants to go farther. “We want to make this the source
and summit of each and every Christian,” the priest said.
So, a committee set to work last September to build upon
things that the archdiocese was already doing.
“We wanted to take everything that we
were already doing and deepen it and give it a Eucharistic
focus,” explained Father Johnson.
The Eucharistic Congress, to be held
Oct. 7-8, will include a rosary procession commonly held
in the diocese. Over the past few years Catholic schoolchildren
have traveled to the Cathedral of St. Paul on Oct. 7,
the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, to pray the
rosary at the cathedral. Because the cathedral can only
hold 3,000 children, the diocese has had to turn some
schools away.
To accommodate additional children and families, the diocese
is planning an evening rosary procession from St. Paul’s
Capitol up the hill to the cathedral. According to Father
Johnson, those gathered will recite the Luminous Mysteries.
The procession will end at the cathedral with Benediction,
meditations written by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and
adoration until midnight. Organizers have invited Blessed
Teresa’s successor, Sister Nirmala, to attend.
The procession will serve as the kickoff for the congress,
which will begin the following day at St. Paul’s RiverCentre.
The event will feature separate tracks for adults, teens,
and children.
Contest
Connie Schneider, a special event coordinator
with the World Apostolate of Fatima, which is co-hosting
the children’s events, is excited about what they have
planned. In St. Paul, Father Antoine Thomas will lead
children in a Holy Hour. The French priest is a member
of the Congregation of St. John and the founder of Children
of Hope, a child-centered Eucharistic adoration program.
Children who cannot attend are encouraged to take part
in adoration at their home parishes.
The congress lands on the Holy Childhood
Association’s “World Day of Prayer.” The association is
a pontifical society dedicated to promoting missionary
awareness among elementary school-age children.
Other dioceses around the world will
also be participating. The cathedral in Peoria, Ill.,
will serve as one of the sites, and cathedrals in four
to five additional dioceses are also being considered
to serve as locations for prayer, procession, and adoration
to close the Year of the Eucharist.
In addition, children have been invited to enter a contest
by writing a prayer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The winning prayer will receive a $5,000 prize and be
set to music by the Irish singer Dana. She will sing it
at the Eucharistic Congress and on a CD. Schools can register
online at www.mostholyrosary.org.
“Children have a tremendous openness
and awareness to God,” Dana said. “They make up hymns,
prayers and songs almost as naturally as they breathe.
I think the song will be an incredibly powerful prayer
tool within the Church.
“One of the most exciting things I’ve
participated in is World Youth Day and young adult prayer
groups, but to take what is such a natural thing — a child
speaking to God — and see what can be done with that is
an incredibly powerful thing,” added Dana.
The World Apostolate of Fatima is encouraging
children at the event and around the world to engage in
a Holy Hour. Letters were sent to every U.S. bishop and
Catholic school principal inviting them to participate.
The apostolate has already received
thousands of responses from Catholic schools across the
country. Sister of St. Joseph Sara Kane, superintendent
of Catholic schools in San Bernardino, Calif., sent the
notice for the lyric contest to all diocesan schools.
Junior high school religion teacher Jeannie Horton teaches
at St. Mary School in Goldsboro, N.C. She said that 26
6th-grade students are taking part in the contest. Horton
feels the contest is important for two reasons.
“First, it is important for our children
who are segregated from other Catholic schools by distance
to understand that they are part of a universal Church,”
Horton said. “Second, I am working with our children to
understand the significance of prayer in their lives.”
Horton hopes to attend the event in St. Paul in October.
Schneider hopes that the power of the
children’s prayers will prevail.
“Just imagine all those children going before the Lord
on one day,” said Schneider. “Perhaps a grace would be
given to a broken-hearted world through the hearts of
our little ones.”
Tim Drake writes from
St. Joseph, Minnesota.
INFORMATION
To learn more, visit:
www.theheartofjesus.org
www.mostholyrosary.org
Submit “Prayers of Petition” to:
World Apostolate of Fatima
1678 Oakdale Ave. West
St. Paul, MN 55118 |
