HOBART – Just short of 20 years since the late Pope John Paul II blessed six special monstrances for use during the Year of the Eucharist, the Diocese of Gary will host one of the monstrances for a 12-day tour of the diocese.
The monstrances were commissioned for people to pray for an increase in vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life. The Year of the Eucharist began Oct. 17, 2005 and concluded in October 2006 with a Synod of Bishops featuring the Eucharist as its theme.
With the blessing of Bishop Robert J. McClory, the monstrance will be in the Diocese of Gary for the first time ever from Oct. 28 through Nov. 8, during the National Eucharistic Revival and National Vocation Week. Members of Serra Club of Northwest Indiana “are charged with transporting the monstrance throughout the diocese as part of our pledge to foster and support vocations,” said NWI club president John Vidal. “This is a powerful and great opportunity, and it is our honor to be responsible for transporting the monstrance while it is here.”
“I have been a member of the Serra Club since 2017 and a past president for five years, so vocations are very important to me,” said Susan Gryfakis. “We need vocations for priests, and we need priests for the Eucharist. Without the Eucharist, we are dead in the water as a Catholic Church.
“When I heard about this monstrance, I couldn't wait to contact Serra International and bring it into the Diocese of Gary for the very first time since it was blessed in 2004,” she added. “I am just ecstatic that we got it during National Vocation Week to inspire prayers for vocations. I truly believe the Holy Spirit is helping us.”
Arriving on Monday, Oct. 28, the Traveling Monstrance for Vocations will open its visit at St. James the Less in Highland, hosted by Father Gregory Bim-Merle, administrator. Eucharistic Adoration will continue from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Eucharistic Adoration times will vary at each parish, from Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake to St. John Bosco in Hammond, and from St. Paul in Valparaiso to St. Edward in Lowell on All Saints Day.
The visit continues at Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Chicago, the Carmelite Shrine in Munster, St. Bridget in Hobart and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Valparaiso.
The only school hosting the monstrance, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, is Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, which will restrict the visit to students only.
The final stops will be Holy Martyrs Parish in Merrillville on Nov. 7 and, both on the final day, St. Matthias in Crown Point, overnight from 6 p.m. Nov. 7 to 6 a.m. Nov. 8 and St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Michigan City from 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. to close out the visit.
The six monstrances were designated for Eucharistic Adoration for vocations for each major continent or geographical area around the world as a symbol of the connection between the Eucharist and priestly vocations. The six regions given a monstrance are North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific.
The Holy Father John Paul II presented the North American Continent Monstrance to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for this purpose. In turn, the USCCB gave the monstrance to Serra Clubs with the instruction to fulfill the pope’s request: to ensure that this monstrance be used in local parishes so that all Catholics would come together and pray for vocations.
Serra International, a worldwide organization, has 300-plus clubs and almost 13,000 members in the U.S. In 1935, the founding Serrans, a small group of laymen in Seattle, Wash., chose as their patron Blessed Junipero Serra, now St. Junipero Serra, the 18th Century Franciscan missionary priest.
The very first diocese to receive the North America monstrance was Portland, Maine in February 2005. A year later, the monstrance had traveled to more than 45 dioceses throughout the U.S. and Canada. Due to the overwhelming volume of requests for the monstrance, the Bishops' Committee on Vocations decided to prolong the availability of the monstrance beyond the end of the Year of the Eucharist, as long as interest continues. There have now been return visits to certain dioceses and many new inquiries.
Caption: The traveling Monstrance for Vocations commissioned for North America by St. Pope John Paul II will visit the Diocese of Gary for the first time Oct. 28-Nov. 8. (Provided photo)