Young women won’t ‘ever be the same’ after cross-country pilgrimage with Christ

The young adult pilgrims who recently made the 3,300-mile National Eucharistic Pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles show their joy for the journey. In the front row are Leslie Reyes-Hernandez, left, Ace Acuña, Cheyenne Johnson and Johnathan Silvino Hernandez. In the back row are Stephen Fuhrmann, left, Charlie McCullough, Rachel Levy and Frances Webber. (Photo contributed by the National Eucharistic Congress)

By John Shaughnessy

An odd combination of heartbreak and hope filled Cheyenne Johnson and Rachel Levy on a recent day in June as they stood amid the devastation caused by the wildfires that swept through parts of southern California earlier this year.

The two women from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis were in their last days among the group of eight young adults who had been selected nationally to take part in the 3,300-mile National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that began at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis on May 18.

Now before them were the charred remains of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Pacific Palisades, part of the devastation in the area that killed 30 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes and structures.

“The church was burned down and in shambles,” recalls Johnson, the 26-year-old director of Catholic campus ministry at Butler University in Indianapolis.

“It was heartbreaking to see how the wildfires have impacted this community,” says Levy, the 27-year-old coordinator of young adult ministry in the archdiocese.

Yet both have a look of joy and even awe as they share the hope-filled discovery that a firefighter made amid the church in ruins.

“The only thing that survived was the tabernacle,” Johnson says. “And the Blessed Sacrament was intact inside. It was like a miracle it survived. And the fact that it was at a church called Corpus Christi [Latin for “body of Christ”].

“I think it was a sign of the hope that Jesus Christ brings. Just a further emphasis of the gift of the Eucharist. That Jesus comes to protect us and comfort us and save us.”

That sign of hope was among the defining moments that Levy and Johnson experienced during the pilgrimage that ended with a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on June 22—a Mass during which the rescued tabernacle was prominently displayed.

Moments of beauty, peace and grace

As Johnson and Levy rode in a van with the other pilgrims during the cross-country journey, the group often stopped at parishes and churches along the way for eucharistic adoration and processions—one more highlight in the three-year National Eucharistic Revival’s effort to share with people that the Eucharist is the real body and blood of Jesus.

The eucharistic processions during the pilgrimage always had an impact on Levy and Johnson, leading to special memories for each of them.

“The first thing that stands out is a procession we had in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” says Levy, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis. “It showed the universality of the Church in such a beautiful way. You saw so many different cultures and different groups come together for this procession. There were around 800 people processing through the streets.

“It was powerful to see people in the neighborhoods coming out of their houses because they were really curious about what was going on. I had the opportunity to talk to a few people along the way. They were captivated by it. They had never seen this many people before coming together to process through the streets and, by their silent witness, proclaim our belief in the Eucharist. People were really in awe.”

Levy still smiles thinking about the conversation she had with some people who came out of their home to see the procession.

“They weren’t Catholic, but they knew a little about the Church,” she says. “This one woman said she really had wanted for a parade to come through town. And then this procession came through. She was in awe. Just her openness to hear about the Eucharist and what the Church believes.”

Johnson had a similar defining experience during a eucharistic procession in El Paso, Texas.

“We would try to evangelize during processions. We’d talk to people who were there but also to people who were on the streets,” says Johnson, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.

“I was partnered with somebody, and we were walking, and this woman came up. The guy she was with started pushing her, and she started crying. They were speaking Spanish, so I wasn’t sure what was happening. But I got to pray with her, and there was peace in that moment. Just being able to bring Jesus to her and to help her have that peace was really beautiful.”

Johnson’s face and eyes glow as she adds, “It was beautiful, too, just being able to approach anybody. I was talking to these two women, and they were sharing their story. And how happy they were to be there. They told me, ‘You’re like our daughter now.’

“There was the beauty of seeing the universality of the Church in that.”

Johnson and Levy also found beauty in a visit to a place touched by a fragile, tough time of life.

‘A really powerful experience’

The pilgrimage included a stop at a Catholic Charities hospice facility in Tulsa called Porta Caeli House. “Porta Caeli” is Latin for “Gate of Heaven.”

“We had an opportunity to sit with, be present with and pray with these individuals who are at the end of their life,” Levy recalls. “It was a really powerful experience to be with them—and just reflect on the beauty of life, and the beauty and sanctity of every person regardless of where they are in their life. Just being reminded that their life and every life matters to God.”

The visit also led to an opportunity to pray with the families of the people in hospice.

“They were thanking us at the end, and I’m thinking, ‘I’m just a random girl,’ ” Johnson says. “I think people really saw Christ in us.

“They were able to share with us. And there was a grace to be able to receive that, and to offer it to the Lord. A lot of it was what Our Lady does, just listening to what other people are sharing and then offering it to our Lord, which is a really powerful experience.”

So was traveling across the country in a van that had a tabernacle and the Eucharist in it.

‘I hope I never take it for granted’

“I remember when we were first going out of St. John’s, I was like, ‘What’s happening?!’—Jesus was exposed right in front of me. I didn’t know what to do,” Johnson says. “But it was a beautiful way of learning to see Jesus in everything I was doing throughout the day. He was always there with us. When we were eating lunch, when we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom, someone stayed in the van to be with him.

“Really, just to experience life with Jesus was just an incredible experience. I hope I never take it for granted.”

Both women view the cross-country journey with Jesus as a modern-day opportunity similar to the one the Apostles had.

“Obviously they were walking, and we were riding in a van across the country,” Levy says. “Our whole mission was to bring Jesus to people, to bring him to different communities.

“It was really beautiful to see how the team came together. Even in moments of frustration or little challenges that would come up, it was so prevalent throughout the entire pilgrimage that we were so focused on our mission of, ‘We’re here to follow Jesus, and we’re here to help to spread the belief that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist.’ That unified us.”

Johnson says the young adult pilgrims became “like family” during the pilgrimage.

“I’m so grateful for them,” she says. “You spend so much time together. After four weeks, someone said, ‘Every day for the past month, we’ve woken up and seen each other.’ It was great to have other people understand what was happening—and them wanting the best for you. You’re experiencing this transformative experience with them. That was beautiful.”

The transformation includes the pilgrimage’s influence on their personal relationships with God and others.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be the same’

“I was struggling at the beginning of the pilgrimage,” Johnson says. “People would just come up and start talking and sharing their lives and their heavy burdens. I’m like, ‘Why are you saying this to me?’

“Now, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. The gift of Jesus’ mercy and the gift of his love that have come from the pilgrimage will continue to impact me. So will getting to experience the universality of the Church. I have never been to Mass in so many different languages. And I encountered Christ in a new way.

“Encountering him through other people and seeing the faith of people will continue to shape me. Just really living out that call to be a missionary disciple, to get to share Jesus with others. Sometimes, you just see a demeanor change in them. You see people who are confused or on-guard, and you see that melt away. You invite them to come and pray, and they join the procession. That’s really powerful.”

The joy in her voice grows as she notes, “One of the big graces I received was growing in my relationship, like in love with God the Father, and just the desire to be a daughter, to just receive him.”

For Levy, the essence of the pilgrimage was partly captured in what she describes as a “very small” moment. It happened as she was leaving a church, and she passed a woman who was entering it.

“She asked about the pilgrimage, and we had a very brief conversation. I asked her, ‘Is there any way we can be praying for you?’ That very simple act moved her to tears. She shared a couple things I could be praying for her. That interaction reminded me of the power of prayer, and also the importance of asking people how we can be praying for them. Because everyone has something they need prayers for.”

Levy also shares one of the best gifts she received from being part of the pilgrimage.

“Being so close to Jesus in the Eucharist for so much of our days was a powerful reminder that he is really always with us,” she says. “That’s something I’m trying to bring into my life now. That even though I’m not spending hours in a van every day or walking in a procession every day with Jesus in the Eucharist, that for each of us Christ is always with us. It’s been a helpful reminder for me as I go back into my regular daily life.”

She and Johnson have embraced that feeling as they return to their ministries in the archdiocese.

Advice for the ages

“I wish everyone could have experienced some part of the pilgrimage,” Johnson says. “I think college students sometimes think they’re alone in their faith. Seeing the excitement of other people toward you—young people, old people and everyone in between—I have a renewed sense of confidence to be able to be present and to talk with people.

“That’s really what we were doing—talking to people about Jesus. I’m excited to continue to talk with students and meet new people and invite them to different things. I hope it can create a new culture of being a missionary on the college campus, throughout the archdiocese and throughout the world. Being able to confidently proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Not in an overbearing way but just that this great thing has happened to me, and I want to be able to share it with others.”

So does Levy.

“If the pilgrimage showed me anything, it’s the hunger that people have for the Eucharist,” she says. “Whether people realize it or not, I think everyone has a deep desire to know God, to know Jesus Christ. That’s something I’m keeping in mind coming back to the young adult community here. Just to continue to allow more and more encounters with Jesus really present in the Eucharist.”

Johnson offers one more thought about the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a succinct piece of advice she shares for people of all ages.

“Just spend time with Jesus. He’s waiting there for you. He has mercy in abundance, and he wants to just love you.” †