In his 1962 book Travels with Charley: In Search of America, John Steinbeck describes his experience driving across the country in a camper van, reflecting on the changing American landscape and its people. In that spirit, for the past two years, I have crisscrossed the country, searching for and exploring the spirit of the American Catholic Church today.
I am a national preacher for the National Eucharistic Revival. As one of 50 priests preaching about the revival, I have traveled the country to offer retreats, parish missions and reflections on the Eucharist. The revival will culminate in the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress from July 17-21, the first to be held in the United States in almost 50 years.
Steinbeck brought his poodle, Charley; God went with me and showed me some of the graces and challenges of the U.S. church. My experiences have been spiritually rich and incredibly diverse. I’ve been to booming sunbelt parishes, humble rural churches, suburban auditoriums packed with young families, and struggling rustbelt towns.
Like Steinbeck, I offer snapshots, conversations and meditations. As I reflect on my journeys before the congress convenes, I hope that these glimpses of the church in our country capture something of the church as a whole.
A Blooming Parish in Georgia
When I was in Peachtree Corners, Ga., a perfectly named suburb outside of Atlanta, I went for a run on a bright spring day. I kept an eye on the street names, so as to not get lost, but eventually discovered they were all some version of “Peachtree”: court, avenue, street, etc. And, in typical suburban fashion, the endless roads twisted and turned in every direction. After 45 minutes, I found a police car and asked for directions back to the parish where I was to preach that afternoon. The cops were friendly, if amused. “So, you’re not from around here?”
The parish, Mary Our Queen, was founded in the early 2000s. Their stunning stained glass windows were purchased from a parish that was closing in Buffalo, N.Y. The congregation at Mary Our Queen is robust and multicultural, with Vietnamese, Filipino, Latino, African and African-American worshippers. Like me, many of them are “not from around here.” Unlike me, they’re not lost; they’re making their spiritual home in a new place. Some of the parishioners shared that they may open a Catholic grade school in the area due to the increased number of Catholics in this historically Protestant state. Their parish’s experience and growth may be the story of many American Catholics in the 21st century.
Women Religious in Central Minnesota
I was preaching in the diocese of New Ulm, Minn., during Lent. While I was there I visited a community of the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus; a woman who worked in my office at the Apostleship of Prayer joined the order last year. When I went to their community, I saw more than 20 habited women, all of them in their 20s and 30s, praying in their chapel. These women live in a Catholic grade school that has been turned into a convent. Many of them played sports in high school or college (I was told their community basketball games can be quite competitive); and most are from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota or the Dakotas. The sisters work in Catholic schools and parishes in Minnesota and North Dakota, and they are looking to expand to other Northern dioceses.
Watching the sisters interact with parishioners was striking: They are always smiling, faithful and attentive to kids and young adults alike. I asked if they considered setting up a community in a larger city such as Chicago or New York. “We like it out here, Father,” they said. The feeling in their community is mutual. The events in New Ulm were well advertised, well organized and well attended, with some people driving an hour or more to attend the parish event that was a part of the Eucharistic Revival.
A Good Church Leader
“Father, we love our pastor!” Or, “Have you met our bishop? He’s amazing!” Or, “You’re a Jesuit? Have you met Pope Francis?”
These sentiments are a welcome refrain when visiting parishes across the country. Generally, I have visited parishes and dioceses whose pastors are ministering in big parishes with many young families in medium-sized dioceses. A good church leader, from Pope Francis to a small-town priest, leads his people into a deeper relationship with Christ through prayer, sacraments and community. He knows that he is not the center; Christ is. From my conversations with parishioners, I saw that these shepherds are not the center of their faith but act as guides into a deeper faith in Jesus.
From my travels, I’ve noticed that places like Milwaukee, Wis. (where I am based), Lafayette, Ind., Joliette, Ill., and Columbus, Ohio, among others, seem to be the “sweet spot” of vibrant parish life today.
Packed Parishes
On that note, I visited parishes in Illinois, Texas, Indiana and Missouri that boast, and rightfully so, that they are the “biggest in the state.” Often these parishes are in suburbs that are home to young families and growing schools. For instance, St. Mary Immaculate in Plainfield, Ill., is an hour’s drive from Chicago. Masses in Polish, Spanish and English fill their enormous church all weekend. I preached at seven weekend Masses in two languages at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Carmel, Ind., outside of Indianapolis, and all seven Masses were packed with 700-1,000 people, mostly young families with multiple young children.
It seems as though the successes and challenges of the American church are very regional. Dioceses that are merging and closing parishes may presume that all cities are going through this, and while many are, that does not mean there are no longer stories of successful, devoted parishes in other areas. Our Catholic population in the United States is certainly moving geographically and changing demographically, but it is not disappearing.
Lessons on the Road
For those who are interested, incredible spiritual resources and supports are available that are provided by the National Eucharistic Revival: retreats, online events, podcasts, eucharistic adoration, in-person Bible studies and more. Often, the people who tend to use these resources are Catholics who are committed to their faith, but one of the hopes of the Eucharistic Revival is to draw those who no longer practice back to the faith. These folks are tough to reach; in a sense, many of them have been inoculated with just enough familiarity to be uninterested in learning more. Yet, while preaching over the past two years, I visited places and engaged with Catholics who needed me the least. Why?
The planning and organizing of the Eucharistic Revival was decentralized, with parishes and dioceses, bishops and pastors and lay leaders deciding if and how they wanted to engage this experience. Active parishes with dynamic pastors and lay leaders had the time and energy to organize and promote events for the revival—inviting a speaker like me, offering a retreat or setting up eucharistic adoration. In the parable of the sower, Jesus says, “To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich” (Mt 13:12). This can be a confusing and uncomfortable passage, but in a spiritual sense, I found that it rings true. These communities were certainly made spiritually richer by partaking in events for the revival.
As I said while preaching to a dozen parishes in the United States:
In partaking in the Eucharistic Revival, we’re praying to unite our own hearts more closely with the heart of Jesus in the heart of the church. As we grow closer to Christ, we’re asking the Lord to reach out through us to touch the hearts of those who have separated themselves from the church. Christ may want to reach someone through your prayers, your example, and your invitation—your neighbor, your brother-in-law, the mom who has a kid on your kid’s soccer team.
For cities and parishes that engaged in the revival, I think there was a positive impact, with faith-filled practices that can continue such as improved music at Masses, more thoughtful preaching, opportunities for eucharistic adoration and communal conversations. The congress is expected to draw more than 50,000 people from around the country. I wonder if the Eucharistic Pilgrimage may touch even more minds and hearts than the Congress, with eucharistic processions visiting hundreds of cities and churches as they wind their way toward Indianapolis.
Jesus draws people through relationships, through invitation and through attraction. Many people are seeking deeper meaning and purpose in life. Catholics who engage with the faith propose Christ, we don’t impose. The Eucharistic Revival is a prayer, a hope, an opportunity for an encounter with Christ. We desire to grow closer to Christ; we trust that he desires this more than we do.
