It is understandably disappointing for professional photographers to miss important shots. But when veteran Catholic photojournalist Jeffrey Bruno passed up the opportunity to photograph the planned kickoff of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in a photogenic location in San Francisco, he learned an important lesson for his own spiritual life. .
After Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the Assumption, six young “perpetual pilgrims” who have pledged to accompany the Eucharist from San Francisco to the National Eucharistic Conference in Indianapolis form a Eucharistic procession across the Golden River. I was planning to. gate bridge. Bruno and other journalists had been taken from the cathedral to the foot of the bridge, where Pope John Paul II had stood during his 1987 visit.
But when the bus arrived, the procession had apparently started early, with San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordione, pilgrims, pastors, and about 1,000 believers already on the bridge. The photographers missed a good shot, but there was still a chance to catch up.
But that would be difficult as hordes of Catholics and tourists crowded onto the bridge walkway.
“For some reason, the archbishop and his entourage who were with him arrived 10 to 15 minutes early and just left without anyone there,” Bruno said. Aletheia. “It was the shot that everyone wanted, the Golden Gate Bridge. … We just started walking fast, and then all of a sudden we started sprinting, and then we just ran and weaved our way through this crowd.”
suddenly…
As they crossed the bridge, Bruno said, “suddenly, the colossus came into view,” and Bruno recalled it as a “breath-taking moment.”
“There was panic at first, but then there was an incredible peace,” he said. “When I saw that, I thought, ‘Why was I worried?'” He was there for me through thick and thin. Why is this different? ”
In Bruno’s post on Substack, Aletheia The former art director writes: he follows us. And in the understanding that God is chasing us, we just need to put on the brakes, stop what we’re doing, stop our busy lives and turn to Him and embrace His love. He is waiting for us. ”
north, east, south, west
At about the same time as the start of the Serra route, three other routes were started, all scheduled to meet in Indiana around mid-July for Congress.
A bilingual Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Brownsville, Texas, marking the beginning of the national pilgrimage Juan Diego Route. After Bishop Daniel E. Flores celebrated Mass, parishioners and pilgrims followed, carrying the Eucharist in it and beginning its procession to other churches in Brownsville. Pilgrims continue from Texas to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.
In New Haven, Connecticut, Archbishop of Hartford Christopher J. Coyne celebrated an extended Pentecost vigil at St. Mary’s Church, where Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, is buried. After the procession in New Haven, Seton Route’s constant pilgrims and pastoral Fr. Roger Landry boarded a boat to take them along the coast to Bridgeport Parish, Connecticut. This week they will visit St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the route’s patron saint, in Lower Manhattan before heading to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. We are planning to visit the cathedral.
The Marian Route’s journey north began when Bishop Andrew H. Cozens of Crookston, Minnesota, blessed the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. Prior to this, Bishop Cozens, president of the National Eucharistic Revival, celebrated Mass in a nearby field with about 2,500 people in attendance.
The Marian route passes through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana before arriving at Indianapolis.
Each route is accompanied by a specially equipped van that can place the Eucharist on a makeshift altar, and pilgrims can ride along the way. Particularly in the case of the Serra route, that distance is impossible for pilgrims to travel. If you walk all the way, you’ll arrive at Indianapolis on time. The route passes through Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana.
The four routes cover a total of approximately 6,500 miles and cross 27 states. Local residents will have various opportunities to walk part of the pilgrimage with the pilgrims and attend Mass and Eucharistic adoration.
