People urged to sign up for, take part in July 1-5 events for Eucharistic Pilgrimage

Having people RSVP, especially for the ‘Worship With Us’ portions of the pilgrimage, is very important for helping to plan for food and other considerations.”

Mary Madelyn Mertes, assistant director of catechetical formation, Diocese of Jefferson City

The full schedule of events planned in the diocese, along with links for registering for each event, can be found online at: diojeffcity.org/eucharisticrevival.

Organizers want hundreds of people to attend the July 1-5, 2024, events to join pilgrims traveling through the diocese as part of a cross-continental Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

They also hope most who come will register ahead of time.

“Having people RSVP, especially for the ‘Worship With Us’ portions of the pilgrimage, is very important for helping to plan for food and other considerations,” said Mary Madelyn Mertes, assistant director of catechetical formation for the Jefferson City diocese.

Also by registering, participants will be able to be informed by email of any changes or cancellations that may take place due to weather or excessive heat.

“It will go a long way toward helping things go smoothly,” added Maureen Quinn, diocesan director of religious education and youth/young adult ministry.

The full schedule of events planned in the diocese, along with links for registering for each event, can be found online at: diojeffcity.org/eucharisticrevival.

From 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday, July 1, St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Sedalia will host a pot-luck dinner and bilingual programming at Sacred Heart School, followed by a solemn Eucharistic Procession to St. Patrick Chapel for Adoration and Confession.

Ss. Peter & Paul Parish in Boonville will host a dinner, talks on the Mass and the Eucharist, and Adoration and Confession from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2.

St. Thomas More Newman Center Parish in Columbia will host Adoration, Confession and lunch from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3.

That evening from 6 to 9 p.m., Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish in Jefferson City will host a dinner, talks in English and Spanish on the Mass and the Eucharist, bilingual Adoration and Confession.

At 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 4, Mass will be celebrated in the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter, near the Capitol in Jefferson City. Adoration with guided prayers on the hour will be held until 6 p.m.

Adoration and lunch, talks on the Mass and the Eucharist, and a pilgrim send-off will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 5 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg.

Monsignor Joseph Malagreca, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Brooklyn, New York, will give the talks in English and in Spanish and will lead the bilingual Holy Hour during the July 3 event in the Cathedral.

He is one of 57 Eucharistic preachers specially commissioned to help bring the Eucharistic Revival to parishes throughout the country.

Other speakers, including Bishop Edward M. Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, and Father Paul Clark, Father Joseph Luzindana and Father Greivin Rodriguez of this diocese, will offer inspiring insights and reminders.

Individuals are also invited to join the 12 perpetual pilgrims as they process with the Eucharist along the Katy Trail from parish to parish:

• July 2 — Mass at 6:30 a.m. in St. Patrick Chapel in Sedalia, followed by a Eucharistic procession to Sacred Heart Chapel in Sedalia. Then, walk from St. Joseph Church in Pilot Grove to Ss. Peter & Paul Church in Boonville along the Katy Trail (about 13 miles).
• July 3 — Mass at 6:30 a.m. in Ss. Peter & Paul Church in Boonville and a Eucharistic procession to the Katy Trail. Then, walk to New Franklin on the trail (about 3.6 miles). A subsequent procession will take place along the Katy Trail from the outskirts of Columbia to the St. Thomas More Newman Center (about 4.7 miles). Finally, a procession will be held in Memorial Park across the street from the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City (about 1 mile).
• July 5 — Mass with Bishop W. Shawn McKnight at 8 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Joseph, followed by a Eucharistic Procession to the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter (about 2 miles).

The ambitious foot pilgrimage (eucharisticpilgrimage.org) is part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative launched in 2022 by the U.S. bishops to inspire a deeper love and reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist.

The group that will pass through Missouri began it’s more-than-2,200-mile evangelizing pilgrimage in San Francisco, led by that city’s archbishop carrying Jesus in the Eucharist, traveling across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The other three routes start in Brownsville, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; and Lake Itasca, Minnesota.