“It does not require much time to make us saints; it requires only much love.” – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
MUNSTER – Met with beautiful spiritual music, approximately 300 Catholics from around the Diocese of Gary came together to fill the Carmelite Monastery, each presented with a carnation as they entered to set in front of the altar for Jesus during an evening of praise, benediction and adoration.
The Holy Hour on Oct. 11 formally completed a Eucharistic Adoration Passport initiative organized by the diocese, promoting prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament in eight participating parishes throughout Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties during the summer months.
Silvia Tobar, a parishioner of Sacred Heart in Whiting, said she enjoys spending time in adoration and visited St. Mary and Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Chicago as well as Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine in Merrillville to pray over the past several months.
“It’s the best time we can spend talking with Jesus,” she said. “For me, in the silence, you can hear and feel His voice and His words better.”
Judy Kujawa, of Valparaiso, said she couldn’t get to all the adoration sites, praying at those in Michigan City and LaPorte, but she still felt drawn to the culmination service. She added that it was nice to visit the Carmelite Monastery for the first time.
“In the troubled world, life itself is messy and it’s very comforting and puts you at peace when you are there to give thanks and praise for all that He’s blessed us with,” she said, speaking about her adoration experience.
Kujawa referenced the adoration passport initiative as part of the larger Eucharistic Revival by the Catholic Church, explaining there were four members of her parish, Our Lady of Sorrows, who supported each other and attended the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis together in July.
Vickie Hathaway of the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization said that it was both amazing and fun witnessing people participate in the diocesan adoration passport initiative, which was offered as part of the diocese’s Summer of Eucharistic Revival after the conclusion of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the National Eucharistic Congress.
“It’s been a wonderful journey to go on this summer,” she said. “A lot of young adults participated and a lot of youth. Some ministries even made it part of their programming. To see people celebrating the Eucharist has been really amazing.”
After the Eucharistic exposition, opening hymn and gospel reading, those in attendance were invited to come to the front of the church to receive a unique stamp on their adoration passport booklets. Many people were visibly moved as they paused in reverence before the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling and making the Sign of the Cross before placing their flower in one of the vases on the altar and opening their books to collect the newest stamp.
Father Steven Caraher, associate pastor of Holy Martyrs Parish and Our Lady of Consolation, gave a reflection on the Catholic faith’s love of the Eucharist. During his talk, he said it was “good to be here” to mark the end of the diocesan adoration passport program and to reflect on the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis, whose feast day followed on Oct. 12.
Father Caraher shared that Acutis, who is scheduled to become the first canonized millennial saint in the Church, is an example of what it means to make a Eucharistic pilgrimage part of one’s life.
“From a very young age he had a deep devotion to the Eucharist,” he said, “And he had this deep devotion to the Eucharistic even though his parents were lukewarm Catholics.”
Father Caraher pointed out that Blessed Carlo also had a deep love for evangelization and the poor, often sharing his faith with housekeepers, friends and others he met. Later, as he suffered from leukemia, he told his mother, “I die peacefully because I have not wasted a minute of my life on things that God does not like.”
Father Caraher encouraged the faithful to uncover their hearts as Blessed Carlo did.
“Our Lord wants to receive our full self,” he said. “He wants to receive not just the good things we've done, he wants to receive our wounds; what makes us sad, what distresses us, what makes us afraid. He desires to receive our accounts, our deepest insecurities. If we're willing to bring that into the life of the Eucharist, we can receive what Carlo did – holiness and citizenship in heaven.
“Carlo shows us that it doesn’t take long,” he added. “He became a great saint in only 15 years.”
Bishop Robert J. McClory, who presided over the evening service, shared that the Diocese of Gary was entrusted with a first-class relic of Blessed Carlo, a piece of hair, which was present and made available for veneration at the end of the Holy Hour.
“This is a time of great renewal in the Church,” said the bishop. “It’s not a time to slow down but a time to speed up.”
Rosanne Kouris, another member of the diocesan Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization, said the culmination event was a nice way to close to the summer of adoration, even going as far as to say she felt it was one of the best programs organized by the diocese.
“I hope it creates a reawakening in the desire to be with Christ and the Blessed Sacrament and how important the sacraments are, and is a renewal of faith for people,” she said.
Caption: Following a service on Oct. 11 at the Carmelite Monastery in Munster which marked the end of a Eucharistic Adoration Passport initiative within the Diocese of Gary, faithful were invited to venerate a first-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Reflecting on Blessed Carlo's love of the Eucharist, Father Steven Caraher said, "Carlo knew that he wasn't looking at a what, he was looking at a who." (Erin Ciszczon photo)