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“Our Eyes Were Fixed on Him”
“Our Eyes Were Fixed on Him”
Encountering Jesus and others at the National Eucharistic Congress.
Autumn 2024 | John Romanowsky
Worshipers raise their hands in Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis as they adore the Blessed Sacrament present in a large monstrance during the National Eucharistic Congress on July 17. Northwest Indiana Catholic / Anthony D. Alonzo
“On opening night, the pilgrims came to the stadium after carrying Jesus from the four corners of the United States,” said Franciscan University alumnus Deacon Kevin Hostutler ’90, recalling his most powerful moment at the July 17- 21 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. “Right before they processed in with the Eucharist, without any preamble, one visual went up on the screen: ‘He is here.’ It was brilliant!”
Some 60,000 Catholics, including hundreds of his fellow Franciscan alumni, shared in Deacon Hostutler’s moment of grace. They had participated in two years of intense diocesan- and parish-based renewal. Many had joined in the 60-day National Eucharistic Pilgrimage comprising four routes and covering over 6,500 miles as it passed through their communities. Now, they were at the congress, the culminating event of the three-year U.S. Catholic bishops-sponsored National Eucharistic Revival.
The scale, power, and simplicity of that opening night of adoration made clear this was not just another Catholic conference.
“The congress was an invitation to the Church to put Jesus in the center of what we’re doing again,” explained Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University, who was also a featured speaker at the congress. “That’s why they chose to put the adoration altar in the center of the stadium. Everybody was around him. Our eyes were fixed on him.”
Attendees also participated in morning Rosaries, powerful praise and worship, afternoon breakouts and evening revival sessions with inspirational speakers, and beautiful liturgical celebrations. But Jesus always remained at the center. And every evening, Lucas Oil Stadium was filled with reverent silence as 60,000 pilgrims adored the Lord in the Eucharist.
The Franciscan University alumni, staff, and students who participated in the congress, including those who played leading roles in its planning and execution, enthusiastically embraced the renewed focus on Jesus.
Dr. Mark Ginter MA ’90, strategic partnership liaison fellow at Franciscan’s Catechetical Institute, took a moment from speaking with participants at the University’s booth to say, “This is the fulfillment of a dream I had when I came to my first conference at Franciscan in 1985. I’m ecstatic, and praise and glorify the Lord for what he is doing here!”
Father Jonathan St. André, TOR ’96, vice president for Franciscan Life, and his group of 22 Franciscan students, staff, and friars were equally excited to be there.
“There are so many people from Franciscan University, and there’s this tangible sense of community with everyone. It’s been really powerful!” he said.
Young people kneel as the Eucharist is processed through downtown Indianapolis.
MA theology student Samantha Oswald was among those on pilgrimage with Franciscan.
“Everybody tells us the faith is dying,” she said. “I wanted to see the witness of 60,000 people on fire for the faith and striving for holiness. On the first night, everybody was holding their breath until Jesus came and the Eucharist became present. The moment they put him on the altar and all the lights went straight to the monstrance was just so powerful. That’s what we’ve all been waiting for!”
“This is a very historic moment for the Church,” added fellow pilgrim and Franciscan theology major Dominic DeBlasis. “So many speakers have said God’s love meets you in your deepest, darkest part, the part you don’t think God can heal. I want to take that with me, knowing God’s meeting me in my spiritual struggle, strengthening me, and saying, ‘I’m with you and want you to keep walking with me.’”
Annie Seida, a Franciscan nursing major, could not contain her excitement when asked why she went to the congress.
“My twin sent me a text and was like, ‘This looks epic! We should just go! It’s the Eucharist with a bunch of Catholics, and it’s with Franciscan. Double whammy! Super awesome!’”
Franciscan University’s role in the congress went beyond being a major sponsor. Franciscan alumni also played a leading role in making it happen. Father Dave said he felt like “a proud father” seeing the joy and exemplary service of so many who had been formed at Franciscan.
Most notably, three of the four principal organizers of the congress were Franciscan graduates: Tim Glemkowski ’11, CEO; Sarah Houde ’09, vice president of Events and Operations; and Kris Frank ’08, vice president of Growth and Marketing. In addition, Joel Stepanek, vice president of Programming and Administration, is also a Steubenville Youth Conference speaker.
Frank, a theology and catechetics major who met his wife, Grace (McKnight ’09) at Franciscan, described his work as an “incredible privilege.” He shared how astounded he was by the sense of unity at the congress.
“As the world and our Church seem more fragmented by sub- groups and personalized ideologies, it was remarkably powerful to come together with 60,000 people for the singular purpose of adoring and worshiping our Eucharistic Lord,” he said.
Houde served several years as director of Events at Life Teen before joining the congress leadership team last year.
“A few months before the congress, it seemed impossible to me we would be ready,” she said. “One of my coworkers, who also is a Franciscan alum, disagreed and said, ‘This is going to be our personal ‘loaves and fishes’ story.’ That became our prayer. When I got to Indianapolis, I still felt like we were not ready, and everyone was coming! But God made something so much greater out of it than I could have ever hoped for or imagined!”
Houde also felt thankful for the hundreds of volunteers who served at the congress, including many she knew through Franciscan: “We were basically running seven concurrent conferences every morning: one in the stadium and six in large halls at the Convention Center each with 1,000 to 7,000 people. I needed key people to manage them. Being an alumna, I turned to my Steubenville Conferences network. I ended up with four generations of former conference staff involved!”
Houde saw firsthand how the Holy Spirit guided the entire event and touched the hearts of those who attended.
“During the final Sunday Mass recessional, the number of priests and bishops who looked me in the eye with tears in their eyes and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as they were processing out was more than I could count,” she said. “They were so moved by what happened in Indianapolis. I think our clergy being revived and renewed is huge and will have a ripple effect of good fruit in their dioceses and parishes.”
The culmination of the congress was also the beginning of the third and final year of the National Eucharistic Revival, the Year of Mission. As many speakers emphasized, the congress was not for the participants alone. It is meant to bear the good and lasting fruit of authentic revival in the Church.
“My hope for the fruit of the congress is exactly what we’re doing at the University,” said Father Dave. “That through the National Eucharistic Congress, people encounter Christ, he begins to animate their life, and they experience authentic con- version that leads to deeper community.”
