Walking with Jesus: The Transformative Eucharistic Pilgrimage Across America

Ever wondered how a pilgrimage could transform your life? Meet Danielle Schmitz and Matthew Heidenreich, two inspiring young adults who embarked on the Eucharistic Revival's National Eucharistic Pilgrimage across the United States. This episode of In Via uncovers their emotional and spiritual journey, starting from the initial application process through the summer of their walk with Jesus. Travel with them along the Marian route, from the headwaters of the Mississippi in Minnesota to Indianapolis, and discover how this pilgrimage deeply impacted their faith and lives.

Experience the unpredictable yet spiritually fulfilling daily life of a pilgrim through Danielle and Matthew’s eyes. From walking long distances to engaging in parish events, visiting schools, and nursing homes, they encountered a diverse range of communities and traditions. Listen as they share the beauty of these experiences and the joy found in both the simplicity of walking and the dynamic nature of days filled with multiple activities. They highlight the profound beauty of the universal church’s rich tapestry, woven through their encounters with different communities.

Join us as Danielle and Matthew delve into the powerful intersection of service and Eucharistic Adoration. Through their service at food pantries and moments of Eucharistic Adoration, they found Jesus in both the Eucharist and the poor. They discuss the challenges and blessings of surrendering to God’s plan, the emotional conclusion of their pilgrimage, and the ongoing transformation of their faith and mission. This episode is a testament to the power of Jesus in the Eucharist to transform and unify the Church in America, emphasizing the importance of trust, surrender, and embracing God’s will.

Episode Transcript

Joan Watson (00:01):
Welcome to In Via, the podcast where we're
navigating the pilgrimage oflife.
We are all in via on the wayand we are learning a lot as we
go.
I'm your host, joan Watson.
Join me as we listen to stories, discover travel tips and learn
more about our Catholic faith.
Along the way, we'll see thatif God seeks to meet us in

(00:21):
Jerusalem, rome or Santiago, healso wants to encounter you
right there in your car, on yourrun or in the middle of your
workday.
You don't want to miss thisepisode.
I really think this is one ofthe most powerful episodes of
Envia we've recorded so far.
We talked to Matthew andDanielle, who are both perpetual

(00:43):
pilgrims from this pastsummer's Eucharistic pilgrimage
across the country, and theyhave powerful, powerful words to
share.
So thank you both for joiningus on In Via to tell the story
of your wonderful summer.
I'm really excited to hearthese stories about the
pilgrimage and I'd like to juststart by asking you guys to

(01:04):
introduce yourself.
Danielle, do you want to start?
Just tell us where you're fromand maybe what route you walked.

Danielle Schmitz (01:11):
Yeah my name is Danielle Schmitz.
I'm originally from Santa Clara, California, and I'm currently
a senior at the CatholicUniversity of America out in
Washington DC, and I was on theMarion route this summer.

Joan Watson (01:23):
Great and Matthew .

Matthew (01:26):
Yeah, my name is Matthew Heidenreich.
I'm originally from Columbus,ohio.
I live in Tuscaloosa, alabama,where I'm a junior at the
University of Alabama, and I wasalso on the Marion route, so
Danielle and I were walkingtogether.

Joan Watson (01:38):
Oh nice, so you have our.
So the Marion route was the onethat started at the headwaters
of the Mississippi in Minnesota,correct, and then, of course,
ended in Indianapolis.
That was actually the routethat I got to participate in as
well because I'm in South Bend,and so when you all came through
and went to Notre Dame, thosewere the events I was at.
So it's a little Marion routereunion.

(02:00):
That's exciting.
So I have lots of questions andand I actually got questions
from people who followed alongon social media, who were at the
revival, so we're all veryexcited to hear kind of the
insider experience of thisEucharistic pilgrimage.
We actually talked to WillPeterson from Modern Catholic
Pilgrim.
So, listeners, if you haven'tlistened to that episode, we

(02:20):
talked to him before it evenstarted.
So he kind of gave us the hopesand the dreams and the fears of
what was going to happen.
So it's fun to kind of wrap itup and talk about now afterwards
.
Danielle, could you just talk alittle bit about what prompted
you to even apply for this andwhat the process was like to be
chosen as a perpetual pilgrim?

Danielle Schmitz (02:42):
Yeah.
So I heard about the pilgrimagefrom my campus, from my college
campus ministry and from somework that I was able to
participate in at the USCCB, andI was handed the application
like a physical flyer to applytwice in the same day.
And so I was like maybe Ishould actually look into this
and not just brush it off.

(03:03):
And it was one of thosesituations where I saw the
opportunity, you know, walk withJesus for two months, travel
across the country, be onpilgrimage, be on mission in
such a unique way.
And I was like, wow, this isamazing, this is something I've
dreamed about.
Like so many people dream aboutjust being able to walk with
Jesus like that.
But there's no way I'm evergoing to get it.

(03:25):
I knew that lots of people wereapplying.
I knew the people that were waymore qualified than me on paper
were applying, people that hadworked for pilgrimage companies,
people that had high positionsin different missionary
apostolates, and so I was likewhat's the point of applying if
I know there's no way I'm goingto get it?
And it was actually my parents,that I was on the phone with
them talking about thisopportunity and my parents just

(03:49):
said Danielle, there's not goingto be another opportunity where
you're a young adult in theCatholic Church in America,
where the Catholic Church inAmerica is asking young adults
to walk with Jesus, like youhave to give it a chance.
And so I filled out theapplication and it was a pretty
lengthy written application andthen you got an email inviting
you to start the interviewrounds.

(04:10):
And so when I got the firstemail asking me to interview, I
was like there's no way, this isreal.
Like what?
Especially because everyone Iknew didn't get an interview.
And so I went through the firstround and I was like okay,
that's for sure it nothing'sgoing to happen after this.
And then I got um another emailthat said we want to interview

(04:36):
you again and I was likesomeone's pranking me right now.
There's no way this is actuallyhappening.
And I went through the secondround of interviews and I walked
out of it and I was like, yeah,definitely not getting this job
.
And then on January 21st, I gotan email that said welcome to
the Marian route.
And I could not believe it.
It was a situation where Idesired it so greatly.

(04:56):
I, as I was filling out theapplication, as I was
interviewing, I just came torealize that all of my desires
for being on mission in thechurch, everything I desired to
see happening in the Americanchurch on the revival I just was
interceding for before I waseven applying perfectly aligned
with the mission of the revivaland the pilgrimage.

(05:17):
And it was a situation where Iwas asking Jesus.
I was like Jesus, I really wantto be a part of this and, if
it's your will, I'd really lovefor you to make it happen.
And I'm just so grateful thathe allowed me to be a part of a
mission that I had been prayingfor and desiring to participate
in before I even knew it existed.

Joan Watson (05:38):
I love that.
I love how the Holy Spiritfirst of all works, chooses
those of us who might feelunworthy or not qualified, but
that the Holy Spirit has thisbeautiful plan for us and that
you, like, acutely, knew whatyou were, what you were
interceding for, in that I meanthere were some people who had
never even heard of the revivalof the, of the pilgrimages, and

(06:00):
so for you to be interceding andpraying for it and then get to
be a part of it, I think is justa beautiful way the Lord works
in our life.
He doesn't always pick thepeople that, on paper, look like
they should be picked, but hehas a plan and you clearly
needed to be part of this.
So you have the kickoff and youstarted at the head.

(06:24):
Both of you started at theheadwaters of the Mississippi.
Matthew, can you talk a littlebit about what that was like?
What was going through yourmind as you begin this adventure
?
And there's this big kickoffcelebration to actually that all
of this you were planning andwaiting for actually was about
to happen.
What was that like?

Matthew (06:42):
I think I can speak for both Danielle and I when I say
that first week is kind ofburned into our minds because it
was just so special.
Everything was unfolding forthe first time right in front of
our eyes.
And I think that Pentecost Masswe started at Lake Itasca, like
you just said.
We had this massive outdoorMass and this big green space

(07:07):
and it was kind of just thisfeeling of everything being
unknown and watching it unfoldin front of our eyes.
Like as we pulled up we had noidea how many people would be
there.
People said anywhere from likeyou know nobody, to like 5,000
people are going to show up atthe headwaters.
And even then we didn't knowhow many people were going to
follow us for that firstprocession.
So we started at one spot wherethere was like this large space

(07:29):
for mass and then we had aprocession about a mile long
down to the parking lot for theheadwaters of the Mississippi
and then there was a benedictionand then a shorter procession
continued on to the actualheadwaters, and so we had no
idea how many people were justgoing to like stay at the
parking lot and just watch us go, and how many would actually
follow us and I remember, likeour pilgrim team was in the

(07:51):
beginning of the procession, inthe front we were kind of like
Jesus was here and there were abunch of sisters, and then it
was us and then everybody elseand we had no idea if there
would be an everybody else.
We didn't know if it would justbe us walking.
So I remember getting likehalfway down the hill and
turning around and seeing justlike so so many people behind us

(08:11):
, the entire road filled withpeople, from like shoulder to
median, just people everywhereand just being moved.
I think in that moment it was arealization that people are
actually excited about this.
I was excited about it,danielle was excited about it.
Like we've been thinking aboutthis for months but realizing
like wow, the church is hungryfor this, the church is hungry

(08:34):
to follow our Eucharistic Lord,and that realization that the
church was open to what Jesuswanted to give through the
revival was very, very powerfulfor us.
And then actually getting downto the headwaters and starting
that journey.
It's just every step you knewthat something was happening,
that something was changing, andI remember realizing that the

(08:56):
person I was at the headwaterswas a very different person than
I would be, and am now twomonths later that so much has
changed.
And it was that feeling ofknowing you're going to be
transformed to the next 60 days.
It's wild.

Joan Watson (09:08):
Yeah, wow, that's a gift, because a lot of times
you don't know whentransformation's happening until
you look back.
But to know like this issomething happening, like this
is something happening in mylife, this is something
happening in the church, to havethat like realization that I'm
on the brink of something,because a lot of times the Lord
brings us someplace and then welook back and we're like, oh,

(09:30):
that's what you were doing, oh,that's funny.
But you all were part of thismoment where you actually could
probably count the days of likeokay, this is where it starts
and then where Indianapolis iswhere it ends, but it doesn't
really end, of course, and sowe'll talk about that, of course
.
Danielle, could you talk aboutyour average day, you know,

(09:51):
because I think a lot of us wesaw you, maybe at certain points
of the journey, but are youwalking the whole time?
Did you start at the headwatersand never stop walking?
What was your average day like,or was there an average day?

Danielle Schmitz (10:06):
You know, on the Marion route we created a
ninth beatitude which is blessedare the flexible?
Because there really was.
There was really pretty muchlike no consistency in schedule,
which turned out to be a reallybeautiful thing that every day
you woke up and you look intothe schedule or we had our

(10:26):
debrief and you're like this iscompletely different than what
we did before.
Um, I would say, if I had tosort of categorize it, there
were pretty much three differentoptions of what could happen
throughout an average day.
Um, saturdays, just so peopleknow, looked normally different,
because on Saturdays we woulddo our service time and then

(10:49):
we'd normally have a few hoursof rest and sort of reset of
like the van, any logisticalthings we needed to take care of
, and then normally a fewevening events, so a holy hour
or a potluck or a social eventwith a parish or diocese.
But Sunday through Friday, thereare basically three different
ways a day could go.

(11:11):
Normally.
It pretty much always startswith mass first thing in the
morning, and then we wouldeither go like from mass just
straight into walking and youjust walk for like 14 miles and
then get to the next parish andthen that's the day.
In a sense that was like thequote unquote ideal day on
pilgrimage, of just sort of likeyou were walking and those

(11:35):
normally would be days withsmaller crowds.
But we did have one day when wewere in St Cloud, minnesota,
where we had like 300 peoplewith us for a 12 mile procession
, so sometimes it would be 25.
Sometimes it'd be 300, 400 onthose long days.
Um, the next option of day wouldbe we'd have mass in the
morning and then we'd haveseveral short walking

(11:58):
processions and we'd sort of bebouncing from church to church,
either walking fully to the nextchurch or having a stopping
point and then getting in thevan, driving and then doing
another short procession to hitmore parishes within the diocese
.
And then the third option of theday would be mass and then
several events at differentparishes which could be holy

(12:19):
hours.
They could be talks, they couldbe more masses, a holy hour and
a really short processionaround the grounds.
And it was on those days we hadreally unique opportunities of
getting to go and talk to littlekids in the school and bring
them Jesus and explain to themlike this is Jesus, everyone,
say hi to Jesus.
Or we get to go visit nursinghomes, we get to do driving

(12:42):
processions and actually go tocloistered religious communities
and bring them our Lord.
So there was very littleconsistency from day to day what
our schedule looked like, but Ican say that every day we'd
have mass, we'd spend a lot oftime with Jesus, we'd walk and
we'd probably drive a lot too.
We covered a lot of ground.

Joan Watson (13:03):
That's incredible, because I think part of me can't
imagine like the walking 14miles, whereas I think that's
probably what people thought youwere doing.
You were just starting andwalking Right, Um, but that's a
long time to walk.
But at the same time, I think Iwould like those days where I
didn't have to be on and I couldjust walk and pray and like the
activities seemed like theywould be hard logistically, even

(13:25):
Like we have to get to thisplace at this certain amount of
time and there's all theseevents and was, I guess Matthew,
I'll ask you, was that hardsometimes Like to be with all
these different places and allthese different times?
And were there ever days whereyou're just like can I just walk
?

Matthew (13:39):
No, you nailed it.
Those days like I think we hada.
We had a.
One of our last long processionswas like this 14, 15 mile
procession in Gary, Indiana, andat a certain point I found
myself like really lookingforward to those days because
it's just a chance to likereally enter in and pray and
there's a very there's a,there's a very deep consistency

(14:01):
to what you're doing in a way.
Right, I mean, walking is alwaysunpredictable, You're always in
new environments, but it's kindof that same heart posture of
entering it with the Lord.
But when you're doing kind ofthese spontaneous events, every
event's a little different andyou're not entirely sure what
the parish needs or what theparish is doing or where the

(14:22):
people are at, and sometimes youdon't even know what the event
is.
You pull up and you're like,okay, they need a testimony,
they need two testimonies, theywant our preacher to get up
there and do his thing andpreach, you know.
And so you almost have to haveeven more flexibility on those
days with like lots of differentevents, because you're just
kind of hopping in into asituation you may or may not

(14:44):
have a full awareness of whichin a way, is beautiful too.
All of our events wereincredible and I'm super blessed
we got to be there.
But, yeah, definitely thewalking after a while was like
okay, we know how to do this.

Joan Watson (14:58):
Yes, yeah, and just incredible amount of the
variety of experiences you hadin the different communities
that welcomed you in their ownway and had their own traditions
and their own customs, and justto see the universal church in
that way, that you're walking asmall part of the United States
but there's the melting pot ofthe United States that you were

(15:19):
able to experience and just thedifferent communities and their
traditions I'm sure was reallybeautiful and you were able to
serve in those communities.
So, danielle, could you talk alittle bit about what you
mentioned on Saturdays?
It sounds like you all neverrested Like.
You even worked on Saturdaywhen you did service work.
Did you ever think I just wantto sit on the couch?
So what was the Saturday?

(15:42):
The service opportunities, whatwere those like?

Danielle Schmitz (15:45):
At the beginning of the summer, like
you said, they were actuallyreally hard.
I had a couple conversationswith our route coordinator of
just having this internalconflict of service, especially
service to the poor, somethingthat's really important to me
and something I normallyparticipate in outside of the
pilgrimage, and so I wanted tobe really excited about going to

(16:06):
serve these communities.
But I was like Maria our routecoordinator.
I told her I was like Maria, Ijust need like four hours off, I
just need a little bit of abreak.
And it was hard because, in asense, like the thing that was
standing between me and my breakwas the service.

(16:28):
And, um, about two or threeweeks into the summer, our team
lead actually told us, like youknow, um, she had talked to the
national team and if we neededto take Saturday mornings off,
we could, like we could ask forSaturday mornings off and take
them.
And it was that week that wewere in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
and we were going to serve at afood pantry and I had this

(16:49):
moment of interior conflict, ofI was.
I was really like physically,mentally, spiritually exhausted
and I was like, okay, I can takethis morning off or I can go
serve, and it was just a momentwhere I really felt the Lord
inviting me to like go and andserve, even though I really
didn't want to go, I reallywanted to just rest.

(17:10):
And we got to this food pantryand it was such a beautiful
opportunity because, as we weregoing, we mostly served uh, at
least I did.
Normally we'd have a coupleoptions, but I ended up serving
mostly at places helping peoplewith food insecurity.
And as I was standing in thisfood pantry, it was set up like
a grocery store, which was sobeautiful in preserving the

(17:31):
dignity of the people that wereshopping there.
Of that, it wasn't just beinghanded a box of food, but they
actually had choice over whatthey were receiving.
And my job in the food pantrywas to check off people's marker
to make sure they hadn't comethrough more than once and just
help them if they neededanything.
And where they had me standing,I was staring directly at an

(17:54):
image of the sacred heart andunderneath it just said come to
me all you who are weary andheavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
And it was this moment in myheart of truly connecting for
the first time that actually apart of my resting in the Lord,

(18:14):
that I receive in receiving himthrough the Eucharist, is to
rest in him in the poor.
That, like his sacred heart inthe poor, in those that are
needy and hungry and needing ourshelter and our support as
Catholics, is that same idea ofme going to prayer in the
tabernacle with and resting withhim in the tabernacle, or when

(18:36):
I receive him in the Eucharistand resting with him there, that
my heart could find rest in hissacred heart in the poor.
And every single person that Iencountered as we stayed there
for a couple hours I was able todefinitively look at them and
be like this is Jesus in frontof me and this is an encounter
with Jesus where he not onlywants me to give but he wants me

(19:00):
to receive.
And that completely changed thetrajectory of the summer, of how
I viewed those service timesand they became my one of my
favorite parts of every weekthat I was able to not only give
of myself in such a profoundway but to also just receive so
much from the people we servedthat I was able to truly

(19:23):
encounter Christ in them in away I never had before, and I
was able to understand that theonly reason I was able to see
Christ in them was because Jesuswas giving me the opportunity
to be so intimately united withhim in the Eucharist through
just the way the summer workedand us being with him all the
time.
I know that if he hadn't givenme that grace of being with him

(19:45):
in the Eucharist, I never wouldhave been able to actually see
him in the people we wereserving this summer.

Joan Watson (19:51):
Yeah, that's so powerful.
And so it reminds me of MotherTeresa, who was only able to do
what she was able to do becausethey spent hours of adoration.
And when she thought she wasrunning out of time to serve the
poor, she said we have to doanother adoration, we have to do
another holy hour.
Right, if we're running out oftime to serve the poor, we need

(20:11):
to spend more time in adoration,which the world would say was
crazy.
But she knew that's where shewas finding her strength.
And I think there's people thatwant it to pit finding Jesus in
the poor and finding Jesus inthe Eucharist against each other
.
But it sounds like you had theexact opposite, that no, it's
both, and, as the church lovesthe both and right.
And so you know, you were bothbringing Jesus to the poor, but

(20:35):
then also receiving Jesusthrough the poor, just as you
were bringing Christ in theEucharist to all these cities,
but then he was also coming toyou, and it's that giving and
receiving, it's just.
I just kind of stand in awe ofwhat you just said and that
beauty of it's not either or,but it's the both, and it's the

(20:56):
giving and the receiving, andit's in the Eucharist and in the
poor, and they don't have to bein conflict at all.
In fact, they have to be united.
They have to be united.
I think I can think of lots ofdifficulties that must have
faced you this summer, but,matthew, could you kind of speak
about one maybe unexpecteddifficulty that you may be

(21:17):
experienced on the route?

Matthew (21:20):
Yeah, I think a big unexpected difficulty for me was
entering into the surrender ofthe schedule.
You know, every diocese we wentto we were handed a schedule
that had been created months inadvance and and oftentimes those
schedules were rather packed totry and get us to lots of

(21:41):
different places and lots ofdifferent parishes.
And I think a lot of us, as youkind of already talked about,
had expectations of what thispilgrimage would be.
I personally expected walkingfrom the headwaters all the way
to Indianapolis and in the firstcouple of weeks of kind of
formation and learning about thepilgrimage, it was clear that's
not what we're going to do.

(22:05):
And so there was kind of thisin the first couple of weeks,
this tension for me of wantingto do specific things like oh, I
want to walk this much or Ireally want to visit these
places or spend this amount oftime here, and oftentimes that
just wasn't the schedule for theday and I would be kind of
frustrated or I'd be likedigging my heels in to try and
get what I wanted from thepilgrimage and I don't remember

(22:26):
exactly where this startedhappening.
I think probably like halfwayin, probably a similar spot to
where Danielle had thatexperience that she just shared
with us.
I just started to enter intolike little acts of surrender
and started to realize that theschedule that the Lord had given
and prepared and that ourpilgrimage team had discerned
right, that was exactly where hewanted us to be, and the reason

(22:51):
that we weren't doing so muchwalking was simply because he
didn't want us to.
He wanted us to be at theseparishes, he wanted to enter
into these places.
And I found myself saying,throughout the whole pilgrimage,
I want to be where he is, justwherever he is Right.
And I realized that in someways I was, I was being untrue
because I wanted to be walkingbut he didn't.

(23:11):
He wanted to be at this parish,and so I had to kind of enter
into that surrender of beinglike no Lord, I'm just going to
follow you.
Wherever you're going, I'll go,and I don't know.
I personally think Iexperienced a lot more grace
just being with our Lord.
There were experiences that Ihad at certain parishes that I
never would have had otherwise,and I'm very grateful that the

(23:32):
Lord gave that grace to be ableto kind of enter into that.
Even in places where theschedule was very different or
challenging or unpredictable,there was definitely a level of
grace or something that the Lordwanted to give to each of us in
those days, but it wasdefinitely challenging to enter
into that.

Joan Watson (23:49):
Yeah, you know, the purpose of this podcast is to
talk about the pilgrimage oflife and to see little
pilgrimages as reflective oflife, our big pilgrimage that
we're on, and isn't that thelesson that we have to learn
every day in our lives?
But I love that like to stepinto the surrender of the
schedule, to really step intothat surrender of the Lord that

(24:10):
we want to be in charge.
We think we know it's right,like that's my daily life right,
like I think I know where Ishould be and what I should be
doing and what the Lord shouldbe doing Right.
And to learn that, oh, it'ssupposed to be flipped, like I'm
, I'm supposed to be listeningto him and be where he wants me
to be, and, um, it's really easyto talk about but it's really

(24:32):
hard to, uh, to step into thesurrender Right, and so to learn
that in that, that not solittle way this summer, um, and
then to try to take it into okay, how do I live my life like
that, um, when I I might nothave a schedule given to me by a
committee the rest of this year, but, um, I definitely have a
schedule that I want to want tolive by and what is?

(24:54):
Where does the Lord want me?
Um, and so there were so manythings that you said that
resonated with me, um, even thatidea of expectations and to get
what you want out of thepilgrimage.
What does the Lord want you toget out of that pilgrimage?
And that can be a really hardlesson.
Let's not just talk about thedifficulties, let's also talk

(25:14):
about the joys.
Danielle, can you share maybeone of your favorite cities or
one of your favorite places, orone of your favorite experiences
along the way?

Danielle Schmitz (25:48):
I would have to say that one of my favorite
I'm going to say diocese.
I loved all the diocese, justin case any of them are
listening, I loved, I genuinelyloved, every single diocese we
went to and every.
At the end of them I was like,yeah, I can move here, like I
can just just spend the rest ofmy life here.
But I want to talk about theArchdiocese of Milwaukee because

(26:10):
it was absolutely insane.
Um, we visited 62 parishes ineight days and they had us
walking 10 plus miles every dayand they had just created this
absolutely insane logisticalschedule that somehow worked
every single day, even thoughyou look at the doc and you're

(26:32):
like, oh my gosh, this is sixhours of scheduling and it's
four pages long.
But they made everything workand it was just I.
I loved it so much because itwas so hard.
But every single person fromthe archdiocese that we
encountered was so excited thatwe were there.
Like these parishes pulled outevery single stop to make sure

(26:57):
that, like, as many people fromthe parish were there as
possible, even if it was justfor us literally being at their
parish for 15 minutes.
Like in those 15 minutes they'dhave a full choir and they'd
have snacks waiting for us andthey the church would already be
filled.
And it was when we were in thearchdiocese of milwaukee that I
I just had this realization oflike, oh, this is like, this is

(27:21):
important to me, but this islike so important to these
people, like this isn't just anopportunity for them, like this
isn't just a fun thing to be apart of, but they see this as a
necessary part of revival in thearchdiocese.
And Matthew's actually wearinga shirt right now from the

(27:43):
archdiocese in Milwaukee thatthey made and they just said
revival.
And the entire time we were inthe Archdiocese we kept hearing
that phrase over and over againOf people not just being excited
to be part of the NationalEucharistic Revival and the
pilgrimage, but people that wereso genuinely convicted that us

(28:03):
coming to them, jesus coming tothem, was going to be a moment
of radical shift in thearchdiocese, and so they were
willing to put put on thisinsane schedule and go to 62
parishes in eight days and haveovernight adoration and every
night and just sort of had this.
Like it felt like boot camp,like it was the most intense

(28:26):
week of the entire pilgrimagefor me and, I know, for a lot of
the other team members, but itwas so worth it because it felt
like we were actually seeing thefruits in real time that Jesus
was coming through, and italmost felt like that moment of
when Jesus encounters the womanat the well of the Samaritan
woman, like immediately runningoff and being like I have to

(28:47):
bring people to Jesus, becauseyou'd have people that came the
first day and then they'd bringfriends back the next day and we
kept seeing in real time.
The Gospels lived out in themost literal way of the entire
summer summer, and so Milwaukeewill always just have a really

(29:07):
special place in my heart ofgetting to see revival happen in
real time, which is a privilegeI never thought I would have on
this side of heaven.

Joan Watson (29:14):
Wow, just to think of the joy, the hunger, the
reaction of, I mean think abouthow many individuals were
touched personally this summerand stories you'll never know.
You won't know till heaven,right, somebody will come up to
you and say, like I was inMilwaukee and that's why I'm in
heaven today.
Right, like just that, um, justthe way the Lord can touch so

(29:35):
many.
And, yeah, you had a glimpse of, like the public ministry of
Christ who, when crowds camerunning to him and and the word
spread and people were hungryand the sheep without the
shepherd, right, like your heartwas probably moved with the
compassion, like Jesus and justthe unique vision you had of the
body of Christ, so hungry forrevival.

(29:56):
Just talking to you gives mehope for the church that so many
were hungry.
Matthew, could you share also,like maybe just one unexpected
joy of the summer?
We know your unexpecteddifficulty, but what was one of
the joys of this adventure?

Matthew (30:13):
So I should preface this by saying that this was my
first pilgrimage.
I did like a service pilgrimageto Guadalupe in March, but
really this is my firstexperience of pilgrimage, and so
I think what I'm going to shareis kind of like a common
experience for a lot of people,but it was something that caught
me totally off guard.
I'm very much so a relationshipperson I think my teammates

(30:37):
could attest to that.
I love meeting people, I'm anextrovert, and so I think the
unexpected joy for me was all ofthe relationships I was able to
form across the country.
Um, I was very much so expectingus to be like in and out, like,
you know, we drop into a parishand we do our thing, and like
Jesus shows up and like heblesses everybody and then we're

(30:59):
out, you know, and then wenever see anybody again.
Um, and that just wasn't thecase.
In a lot of places we wouldhave people who, for a specific
diocese or a specific state,would just keep showing up.
Even in the first week therewas a group of I think four, I
think three sisters and then oneof their husbands, who had an
RV and would follow us from townto town and just keep showing

(31:22):
up for these processions.
And they were a hood and a half.
They were so funny I was ableto befriend them.
There was a family of eightthat actually followed us the
whole way.
Holy cow, yeah, literallyuprooted everything for the
summer, went in their minivanand drove with the whole
pilgrimage.

Danielle Schmitz (31:39):
So relationships like that were
incredible.

Matthew (31:42):
But even just the people that I met for an hour or
for maybe like an afternoon,and those relationships that I
formed there were very shockingto me.
I remember there was aprocession where it was actually
Milwaukee.
It was one of our biggerprocessions and so I was in the
very back, which is kind of adifferent atmosphere than being

(32:03):
in the front, which is veryreverent.
The back is kind of the spacethat's more open for those
Emmaus moments and holyconversations.
And I met someone who was fromColombia and we had this kind of
hour-long conversation,entirely in Spanish, about just
Colombia and her home and whyshe was here.
And it was a very touchingmoment, a very good friendship,

(32:24):
and it was also actually veryprovidential because it was a
moment that helped me preparefor some of the testimonies that
I would give later and help mefeel more comfortable in my
Spanish.
But really, just I was shockedby the relationships that I was
able to form and I think evennow, looking back, I have these
clumps of people across theMidwest who, like my heart, just

(32:45):
is like burning with his sacredheart, for, like I feel like
the Lord has allowed me toreceive a piece of his heart for
so many of his people acrossthe country and to receive that
gift of his heart, for people toreceive his love, is something
that I'm going to treasure for along time.
And, yeah, I feel like Paul ina lot of ways of I earnestly
desire to return thesecommunities and to visit the

(33:06):
people that I'm going totreasure for a long time.
And, yeah, I feel like Paul ina lot of ways.
I earnestly desire to returnthese communities and to visit
the people that I love.
And, yeah, it was just such agift to be able to meet all the
people that we did.

Joan Watson (33:15):
Wow, I feel like this podcast is just me saying
that's beautiful, that'sincredible, that's powerful,
because it's just such astunning.
And I love the comparison toPaul who, you know, ends his
letters.
So often we overlook Paul, theend of Paul's letters where he
addresses all his friends inthose places and we just kind of
skip over the names.
But to think of that, thoserelationships in the body of

(33:36):
Christ, that we don't dopilgrimage by ourselves and you
knew you were going to be doingpilgrimage with the perpetual
pilgrims but to see the body ofChrist pilgrimaging with you,
and it's kind of like we weretalking about seeing Christ in
the Eucharist, seeing Christ inthe poor, also seeing Christ in
each other, and that doesn'tdiminish seeing Christ in His

(33:56):
real presence in the Eucharist.
It helps us, it's necessary,all of these things are
necessary, and so to see Christin the body of Christ in the
communities that you walkedthrough and that you met is
really powerful.
I'm picturing you guys beinglike little celebrities.
I don't know how it was likewith you.
No one probably, I guess, knewyou were the Perpetual Pilgrims,

(34:18):
but I was just like when I sawyou walking in the procession at
Indianapolis I was like thoseare the perpetual pilgrims, like
your celebrities in our eyes.
When we came to Notre Dame, wehad to see the bus, we wanted to
see what we had experienced,and when the monstrance came
into the church I know my mom,who had been following really

(34:38):
closely on social media my momjust started weeping because she
was like I've seen him across,like walking across the country,
and now he's here and it wasagain one of those public
ministry moments that I think islike so powerful, and so you
were like the cool disciplesthat got to be along the ride
for all of it.
I'm I'm really so, danielle,could you kind of talk about

(34:59):
what it was like when youarrived in Indianapolis and your
pilgrimage in pilgrimage in onesense, was over as you arrived
and you all arrived.
What was that like?

Danielle Schmitz (35:10):
That day of July 16th of us actually getting
to Indianapolis is one I willnever forget.
The like first level of it wasthat it was my 21st birthday.
So it was like, oh my gosh,it's my birthday and it's the
feast of our lady of mountcarmel, um.
And then, on top of that, it'slike the pilgrimage is ending

(35:31):
and I was afraid that it wasn'tgonna hit me, that I wasn't
gonna be able to like fully bepresent in the day, but
thankfully, like that morning, Iwas able to just be like, yeah,
like this is the end ofpilgrimage, of like the, the
Marian route.
And it was such a gift becausewe had that six mile procession.

(35:53):
And for the last three, one ofmy jobs when we were on route
was to lead prayer and song aswe walked.
And so for the last three miles, myself and our chaplain for
that week, father Maliki, wewere switching off leading
worship because the nationalteam had decided they wanted
worship the whole last threemiles.
And in the Marian route we werereally privileged in that we

(36:15):
were the last route to get to StJohn the Evangelist in
Indianapolis.
So we were the ending of thebenediction of Jesus blessing
our country, and the last mile,we as a team had decided to take
our shoes off as we walked, forseveral different reasons.

(36:37):
Some of us was to stand insolidarity with homeless people
that we had met throughout yearsof service.
For myself, I really just wantedto fully enter into pilgrimage
the way that it would have beenum in the medieval times, when
pilgrimages became reallypopular.
I'm just that have have thatexperience, in a sense of of the

(36:58):
physical poverty of having noshoes, showing just like the
spiritual poverty of like Jesus,this is all for you and we have
nothing but you.
So we're just going to walk assimply as possible with you.
Um.
But that experience of leadingworship as we're getting to St
John's and um to be playing andsinging with these people who
are worshiping you so freely andso beautifully, and entering in

(37:21):
and to see people that don'tnormally enter into worship,
like entering in with handsraised, just like being like
this is Jesus, jesus, we loveyou, like we worship you, and to
be walking down the street andsee the crowd of people and we
were worshiping with a songcalled Yeshua, which is Jesus's
name in Aramaic, and just theintimacy of knowing that, like

(37:45):
Jesus only allows those peoplethat he is closest with to call
him by you, only allow someonethat you're closest with to call
, call by your name, like that,um, and that Jesus was allowing
us to call him Yeshua and tospeak in intimacy with him in
that way and just be likestanding on the steps of St
John's and to have, like I lookover and like it's Bishop

(38:10):
Cousins who, in a very specialway, was a spiritual father to
the Marian route, because hewalked the first week with us
and not only our route, butreally spiritual father to the
whole pilgrimage, and the nextto him was Cardinal Tagli, and
they're just worshiping and I'mlike oh, oh, my gosh, this

(38:32):
moment is insane.
Jesus, what is going on?
And as we walked into St John's, I literally like I couldn't
feel my body, and a religioussister friend of mine said that
my guardian angel kept playingguitar for me because I just
like I don't even have words todescribe what it felt like to
walk in as we were singing justthe phrase Jesus, we love you.
You are the one our heartsadore over and over again.
And to hear the church filledwith music and just be kneeling

(38:54):
on the front step of thesanctuary where all the other
pilgrims and just knowing wemade it, and it was really a
moment of I love the image ofour mortal life as a time of
pilgrimage towards eternity.
And when we got to St John'sit's so profoundly felt like an

(39:15):
image of what going into heavenis going to feel like.
It was like you could hear thesaints and angels worshiping
with us in that moment and I, we, after we had benediction and
we got to greet all the otherpilgrims, I was kneeling in the
pew, um, before mass started andI and I I said to Jesus I was

(39:36):
like Jesus, you can take meright now, like this is, this is
good, this is amazing.
And what was so beautiful wasthat moment of getting to
Indianapolis.
It was just so clear, especiallythose hours afterwards, that,
like, this was just the start ofour work as pilgrims, that our
time on pilgrimage was, in asense, living the gospels.

(39:57):
But it became so clear that nowthe Lord was calling us into our
acts that this is the time togo out and to share and it was
definitely just an opportunityto enter into that.
As we got to indianapolis, um,I was surprised that people knew
who we were.
I was walking, I was walking tochick-fil-a and a woman stopped
me and she's like you're one ofthe marion route pilgrims.

(40:18):
And I was like yeah, I am.
I can't believe you.
You know what I look like, thatI'm walking down the street and
you can find me.
But the opportunity of meetingpeople and getting to share with
them little glimpses of whatpilgrimage was and really start
to share the good news of whatthe Lord did, that in a sense,

(40:38):
the apostles went out and sharedthe kerygma with the nations
during Acts of the Apostles, andit feels like we now get to go
and share the kerygma of whatthe Lord did, of living out the
gospels in our country with therest of the nation that wasn't
there to experience it.

Joan Watson (40:53):
Wow, thank you for sharing that, matthew.
You want to add something aboutIndianapolis too in that
experience?

Matthew (40:58):
Yeah, I think, danielle , I want to expand about
something you said.
You mentioned the end, like wewere the last part of the
benediction, and I wanted toexplain that a little bit more.
It's kind of hard to see, butif you squint your eyes and look
at the pilgrimage routes theykind of make a cross over the
nation, and that's beendescribed in a couple of

(41:19):
different ways as a benediction,as a solemn benediction of our
nation, that actually, in thistime of, you know, political
turmoil in a lot of ways,division, this time, where a lot
of people have, you know,questions about the future of
our country, that Jesus wouldactually come and would bless
everything.
He would bless our nation.

(41:40):
And so what Daniel said isbeing the end of that
benediction, we were the lastpart of the cross.
We were the last part of thecross to be completed, to come
into St John's, where all of theother routes had already
completed their section, and soas we entered into St John's, it
was this moment of realizingthe Father's will, of seeing it

(42:03):
completed.
The Lord had a plan for thispilgrimage and he had something
that he desired to give ournation through it, and so, as we
walked into St John's andfollowed Jesus.
On that last leg, there wasthis feeling of just like Lord.
This is what you earnestlydesire to give us, and even
though I want this pilgrimage togo on, you want to give this

(42:25):
blessing, and I'm just going tolay everything down and just
worship you as you do it, as youcomplete your will, and I think
that was just a beautiful imagethat I wanted to expand upon
from Danielle's point that shegave.

Joan Watson (42:39):
That's beautiful.
There's so much more we couldtalk about and I could ask.
I do kind of want to like gooutward and kind of look at this
experience as a whole, andthere have been pessimists who
have said like oh, this was likewhy are you doing this?
And this is a waste of time,like the Congress is a waste of
time and the pilgrimage is likewhat's the point Right?

(43:05):
Now.
I think anybody who's listenedto this episode can see how
dramatically this has affectedthe United States, the church
and you all.
But, matthew, I'll start withyou.
What would you say, what wouldyou respond to someone who maybe
had a pessimistic view of thiswhole endeavor of the
pilgrimages or the revival ingeneral?

Matthew (43:22):
There were a couple of points along the route where
this question kind of came up indifferent ways of is this kind
of the best use of money or time?
And just reflecting upon thatkind of a question, I was
brought.
The Lord brought me to thestory of Mary of Bethany, where
she anoints the feet of Jesusand she takes this expensive jar
of perfume and pours it out onhis feet and there's people who

(43:45):
say like, okay, this could havebeen sold for 300 days wages
given to the poor.
But Jesus actually honors herand he honors the sacrifice that
she made because of the praise,because of the adoration.
It's just something that isbeautiful and poured out on his
feet.
And I think, looking back, thatwas so much of the experience
of the pilgrimage.
It was this opportunity for ournation to have that moment of

(44:10):
Bethany where we can pour outour praise, our adoration and do
something just for his glory,that this is a sacrifice that we
can give him and pour out uponhis feet.
And I mean, at countless pointsthroughout the route, some of
which Danielle and I havealready shared, we saw those
people who would come with theirown offering, with their own

(44:33):
jar of oil and pour it in thefeet of Jesus.
I'm brought back to,specifically one community in
Sparta, wisconsin.
It was this Hispanic communitywho made these altar stops
around a baseball field of allplaces where Jesus would stop
and they would say a prayer andthen they continue on the
procession.
But these altars were justdecorated to the nines.

(44:57):
There were intricate curtainsand fruits and flowers and just
anything you could imagine wascreated on these.
It took probably hours andhours of time and it was all for
his glory.
It was just a place for him torest, and I think that time and
time again that came up on thepilgrimage, because the truth is

(45:18):
that those moments, thoseBethany moments, are far more
important for us than they arefor him.
He doesn't need those Bethanymoments that we do.
We need to have that experienceof being poured out at his feet
, and that was a gift that wegave to him, but that really he
gave to us, to have thatexperience, yeah.

Joan Watson (45:40):
That's beautiful.
How can we be, bethany, and howcan we?
Yeah, I love that we need thosemoments more.
He doesn't need them, but weneed them.
Danielle, what would you say tosomeone who maybe said this was
a waste of time or money, orwhy are we doing this?

Danielle Schmitz (45:56):
I have two different responses.
The first is on a very practicallevel, with all of the
logistics and impossibilitiesthat we came, we overcame in the
national team planning this andin the pilgrims executing this
pilgrimage this summer, there'sno way this would have happened

(46:17):
if it wasn't the Lord's will.
Like there's no, there's.
On a very practical level.
There's no way this would havehappened if it wasn't a
legitimate movement of the holyspirit, because every single day
there were at least five or tendifferent logistical things
that you know.
If it wasn't the lord moving,like it just wouldn't have
happened.
And even when you look at thefact that everyone told bishop

(46:40):
cousins that this pilgrimagepilgrimage was impossible and it
was a team of five people fromModern Catholic Pilgrim that
made it happen, like it's justso clear that this was the
Lord's will.
So that's sort of my practicalresponse.
But I think, on a on just amore personal level of my
experience walking this summer,I don't think anything is a

(47:04):
waste of money or time if itmeans even a single soul was
saved and I think we have torecognize that someone's eternal
soul, being permanently in thebeatific vision versus being
completely separated from Godfor the rest of eternity is more

(47:25):
important than any money thatwe have on this earth.
It's more important than anytime being spent in service to
the church, even if we thinkit's frivolous.
And this summer we saw everysingle day souls being saved.
We saw every single day peoplegiving their lives to Jesus.

(47:48):
And this summer was the hardesttwo months of my life.
This was the hardest thing I'veever done, and the thing that
kept me going was that everysingle day, I watched people
look Jesus in the eyes and, forthe first or the millionth time,
realized he was there and falldeeply and profoundly in love
with him.

(48:08):
And that's why we walked.
We walked because Jesus wantedto encounter people and Jesus
wanted to bring conversion tocommunities and Jesus wanted
people to fall in love with him.
And so I think we have to askourselves like is it a waste of
time and money to allow peopleto fall in love with Jesus?

(48:29):
Is it a waste of time and moneyto bring people to conversion?
Is it a waste of time and moneyto remind the church that the
only thing that matters isJesus' Eucharistic presence,
because everything flows to thatand everything flows from it,
and I think if we actually tookthe time to pray about that and
reflect on Jesus's Eucharisticpresence and the ways he's

(48:54):
guided us in our own lives andthe ways that we see his
Eucharistic presence move inothers.
I think anyone who has beenpushing back against the
pilgrimage would come to agreethat any time and money is worth
people coming to know and loveand serve him.

Joan Watson (49:10):
Amen, amen.
You know, so often we try tomake programs and initiatives
and mission statements and weask why people aren't coming to
church.
And we, and it's like, just putJesus on the altar.
Like, put Jesus on the altarLike we don.
We don't have vocations.
Put Jesus on the altar.

(49:30):
You don't have money for yourchurch.
Put Jesus on the altar.
And so I think we saw so clearlythis summer that Jesus just
wants to meet people.
And who are we to stand in theway of Jesus meeting people and
bringing people to the Eucharist?
Um, I was going to end,danielle, by asking how you
thought the the pilgrimages willimpact the faith of the United
States, and I think you justtold us in that answer, um to do

(49:53):
, and I also want to talk bothof to both of you about how it
has impacted your life.
But, um, I think we we knowthat how the faith will be
impacted the United States.
Is there anything you want toadd to that?
I don't know what you could add.

Danielle Schmitz (50:08):
I don't think so.
I think just yeah.
How will it impact the faith inthe United States?
I think we are on the edge of arevival that is not only
Eucharistic in people coming toknow His true presence, not only
Eucharistic in people coming toknow his true presence, but in
that we're going to see thechurch in America become a

(50:29):
Eucharistic community, thatwe're going to see people coming
fully into their identity.
I love that image of that.
To be a Eucharistic community,we have to be given, blessed,
broken and shared and in a senseof the pilgrim Jesus gave
himself to us and we were givento him in such a profound way of

(50:50):
him coming to us and we uscoming to meet him.
And now we get to understandthat we've been blessed by him
and that we have gifts to share.
And there's going to be anaspect of of brokenness, that
there is a, there's a necessarysuffering involved with the
sanctification of ourselves andthe sanctification of our
country, of the church, that wehave to allow ourselves to break

(51:12):
, that we have to allowourselves to just surrender
those things that we might notwant to to, but ultimately that
allows us to be shared and togive to others, to share with
the poor, to share with thosewho don't know our Lord, to
really enter into mission andevangelization.
And so I think in all thoseways the pilgrimage will impact

(51:36):
the United States faith, and Itruly believe that we are going
to see a new, profound unity ofthe church in America after the
Eucharistic revival and afterthe Eucharistic pilgrimage, that
church politics and liturgicalpreferences will no longer be
something that comes to divide,but we realize that Jesus'
Eucharistic presence is whatunites all of that, and so that

(52:01):
we can all come together in him,through him and with him in the
Eucharist and be the one holyCatholic church that we profess
every single day.

Joan Watson (52:08):
Amen.
So I can tell that both of youhave prayed a lot this summer
and have thought about our Lordand have had times of silence
with our Lord, and I think it'sso evident from your answers
that you have spent time withhim, have spent time in silence
with him, and that this hasreally changed your lives.

(52:30):
Matthew, you said you knew thathow you started at the
Headwaters would be you knowyou'd be a different person.
I'd love to just kind of wrapup by asking you and I'll start
with you, matthew what's one waythis pilgrimage impacted you,
or how are you different thanyou were when you started at the
headwaters of the Mississippi?

Matthew (52:50):
There's been a lot, right, like you said.
There's been so many moments, alot of which I think the Lord
is still revealing in his owntime and in his own way, some of
which relates to vocations,some of which relates to things
I've learned about myself and myown desires.
I think what I want to share isspecifically just this growth

(53:10):
and trust that I've experiencedthroughout the summer.
I kind of already alluded to itearlier when I talked about
that surrender to the schedule,but I think it was a deep
movement of my heart that theLord gave throughout the summer
was to see all the places that Ididn't trust the Lord, all
those places, like in theschedule or in my identity a lot

(53:31):
of times where he had spokenand where I, for whatever reason
, didn't listen or I didn'tbelieve.
And when you're in front of theEucharist for that long, when
you're with our Eucharistic Lord, things start to get exposed
and revealed.
I'm sorry there's somethingthat's going to activate the
corner over there and be reallyloud, so I'm going to go kick

(53:52):
that.
That's a Roomba.

Joan Watson (53:55):
I know that sound well, yeah, right.

Matthew (53:57):
Okay, where was I?
Thank you, lord, for theinterruptions.
Right, that there's somethingthat I didn't trust him in, and
that time with him kind ofbrings that to the surface.
It highlights those momentsthat maybe I don't trust him
here, and I think there was alot of healing of that that took
place this summer, even just inmy identity of like, okay,

(54:18):
there's this transition that'shappening from being a pilgrim
to now not being a pilgrim, orfrom, you know, never doing a
pilgrimage before to doing apilgrimage.
What's my identity in all ofthis?
Who am I?
I'm his beloved and that's allthat matters.
Or in these situations wheremaybe I don't feel confident to
go and speak my testimony in thelanguage that I didn't grow up
speaking, you know, or I don'tknow what I'm doing leading song

(54:41):
and prayer in front ofthousands of people with a
speaker.
What am I going to do here?
I can trust him.
I can trust that he, that he'splaced me here for a reason, um,
and that his call is good andhis call is loving, and I think
that that's, um, something thatwill hopefully continue to shape

(55:01):
me for the rest of my life anda milestone of realizing that.
Okay, lord, trust you moredeeply.
You're the one who giveseverything.
I just have to listen amen.

Joan Watson (55:14):
How about you, danielle?
How would you say you'redifferent today, other than
being a year older because ofyour birthday?
How are you different todaythan you were when you started
this adventure?

Danielle Schmitz (55:27):
Just to go off of what Matthew was saying like
I'm a completely differentperson than when I started this,
in so many ways that I I don'teven have words to articulate
yet.
It's just.
I know that there's adifference and that there's a
profound difference that theLord has brought in my own life
and in my own heart of just himbeing able to purify me and

(55:49):
shape me the way that he wantsme to look.
And I know, even as I've justspent the last few weeks
beginning to process thepilgrimage, that I've only hit
the very tip of the iceberg ofthe graces that he's poured out,
in all the time I spent withhim.
And I think the most profoundthing that I've come to realize

(56:12):
um so far has been that thissummer he really gave me the
grace of just um, totalabandonment to divine providence
and total abandonment to hiswill.
I remember very specifically,like the moment I stepped into
it, when we were at we were atMundelein seminary and the
archdiocese of Chicago, when Iwas sitting in their chapel, and

(56:35):
it was this, this moment of thegrace of saying, jesus, I don't
.
I don't want to move if you'renot moving and I don't want to
step if you're not stepping infront of me and really meaning
it.
I sort of felt like a toddler,but I was like I'm going to sit
down right here and I'm notgoing to move until you tell me
to move and just being able tonow live my life like that of

(56:59):
just trusting wherever the Lordis asking me to step with total
peace, of not worrying about,like Jesus, I don't necessarily
want this, this isn't what Iwant to be happening, but he's
stepping in front of me and soand I want to be wherever he is.
And I think that was somethingthat I just was so profoundly

(57:22):
lived out in the pilgrimage ofthe amount of days where I would
have no idea geographicallywhere I was.
All I know is that I'm here andhe's here right in front of me,
and so I'm just going to keepwalking behind him.
And so, now that we're out ofpilgrimage of the, the national
pilgrimage, but still pilgrimingon our way to heaven,

(57:43):
pilgriming in this new seasonthat he has us all in, just
really saying, father, your willbe done, in all things, um, in
a sense trying to find the waythat when we'd be in a large
procession and you'd be sort oflike looking over the crowd,
when you're in the middle or theback, like trying to see jesus,
like trying to see jesus, Jesus, jesus and the monstrance and

(58:04):
all things being at the grocerystore, jesus, where are you?
Um, and so I all I know now isI know that I've been changed
and I can't articulate exactlyhow that is yet, but I know that
I want his will to be done inall things and I want to
completely lay down my life andservice to Him in the church in

(58:25):
whatever ways he asks of me.
That's beautiful.

Joan Watson (58:29):
Thank you both for sharing.
I know, after being on a lot ofpilgrimages and leading
pilgrimages, coming off ofpilgrimages can be hard to talk
about because you're like youdidn't experience this.
How do I even begin to explainto you how I've been changed?
And it can be frustrating toexplain to you how I've been
changed.
And it can be frustrating totalk to people they just want to
be like oh, how was your summer?
You're like I can't even beginto talk about how my summer was,

(58:50):
and so I'm grateful that again,you've clearly thought about
and prayed about these things,but that you were able to share
with us.
We will never fully understandwhat you experienced, but you
were able to share with us.
And I think of the disciples.
There's that great line in Actsof the Apostles where they said
we can't but speak of whatwe've seen and heard.
And so thank you for havingthat zeal and that joy and

(59:13):
speaking so beautifully aboutwhat the Lord has done in our
country this summer and know ofour prayers, because you said so
beautifully, this is Acts foryou.
Right Like now, you're going togo out and I can't wait to see
what the Lord is going to doindividually in your lives.
So is there anything else youwould like to finish up saying
that you maybe missed or Ididn't ask you about?

(59:35):
As we wrap up?

Matthew (59:36):
I just want to express a profound gratitude for being
able to be here.
You know, I really think thatthe stories the Lord has
entrusted to us are stories thatare meant to be shared, and I
think too a word ofencouragement that the
pilgrimage, for this year atleast, is over.
There is another pilgrimagebeing planned in the works for

(59:58):
the future, which is exciting,and the Congress is over for a
little while.
Right, we have nine years towait for the next Congress, but
our Eucharistic Lord is stillwaiting, and he's waiting in
every single tabernacle acrossthe country that he's still
there and we're still in themidst of this Eucharistic
revival.
There's still so much that'shappening, and so maybe, if any

(01:00:19):
of the listeners didn't get achance to actually participate
in the National EucharisticPilgrimage of the Congress, I
would just encourage you go toyour church, go and spend time
with our Lord.
This revival is still happeningand our Eucharistic Lord is
still waiting.
The same Jesus who walkedacross the country, the same
Jesus who, for that matter, dideverything in the gospels 2000
years ago, is in your church andhe wants to see you.

(01:00:40):
So don't be afraid to come tohim and run to that place of
intimacy and that rest thatDanielle talked about with him.

Danielle Schmitz (01:00:48):
Matthew stole my line.
I was going to say if youhaven't spent time with Jesus
yet today, just go spend, evenif it's five minutes in the
parking lot of the church, justgo be with him.
And I also just want to add ifthere's anyone listening who's
afraid to step into whatever youfeel like the Lord is asking of

(01:01:09):
you, whether it be vocationallyor on mission, or just even if
it's the smallest thing, ifthere's any um fear in what the
Lord is asking of you, I justencourage you to just jump in
today and give a full andcomplete fiat, like Our Lady,
just a complete, unconditionalyes to the Lord, because he will

(01:01:30):
transform your life and changeeverything and use you to do
great things.
So if you're waiting for yourmoment to say yes to the Lord,
this is the sign Say yes todaytoday.

Joan Watson (01:01:45):
Well, I can't add anything to those two things, so
I'm just going to say thank youso much, danielle and Matthew,
for sharing your time, andlisteners, please share.
I really think this is one ofthe most powerful episodes we've
ever done, and so please sharethis with a friend, but, most of
all, go find Jesus in theBlessed Sacrament.
He's waiting for you, god bless.