This blog was originally published by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity.
During this week that begins the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sr. Mary Teresa Bettag reflects on the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at the Catholic Ecological Center. It was a Bethlehem moment.
One of the most beautiful things that I love about Jesus is that the very first name ever given to Him is not Jesus, “God saves,” but Emmanuel, “God with us.”
The idea that before we are a problem to solve, we are first the beloved of God, the object of His desire, is both captivating and bewildering. Nowhere do I find God’s desire to be with us on greater display than in the Eucharist, particularly in this year’s Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which shows us that God does not even wait for us to come to Him; he comes to us. He walks our streets, past our homes, our places of work, our places of worship to find us here — in the Bethlehem mangers of our own lives — right in the midst of it all.
Perhaps none of the legs of the pilgrimage I participated in captured that Bethlehem sense quite like the Catholic Ecology Center stop in Neosho, WI. I had been invited to participate by my sister, Regina, who works there.
There were over 200 participants — people of all ages, including many, many children — who walked from their brand new chapel down to an outdoor amphitheater amidst all the glories of nature.
It seemed everything was in bloom; the earth was alive after the previous night’s rainfall. But more than that, we were alive. There were children running and jumping on the bench seats of the amphitheater, older couples helping one another along the uneven surfaces, babies crying, altar servers sneezing at the incense, birds and butterflies flying through.
To some it could seem distracting, but it seemed to me an experience of life. So many of us don’t have the luxury that we enjoy in religious life to be able to put life on pause for sustained prayer time — most of us play more the Martha than the Mary role.
And yet, my experience of adoration at the Catholic Ecological Center showed me that Jesus is in the hum of life as surely and beautifully as He is in the silence of contemplation. My experience of the Eucharistic Pilgrimage was not only Jesus coming to be with us, but joining in the mess of the manger to bring us life, and life in all its fullness.
I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. – John 10:10
