During the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21, Archbishop Bernard Hebda had the opportunity to be a confessor during a period in which large lines of attendees formed for reconciliation. The Lord’s presence was palpable, he said.
“I was just seeing the lines of people that wanted to come and encounter the Lord in that way,” Archbishop Hebda told “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley during an interview that debuts at 9 p.m. July 26 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. “There was an indulgence for people who were attending the congress and who would make a good confession and receive holy Eucharist and pray for the Holy Father. … It was just such a beautiful opportunity, as a priest, to be able to be part of that process and to be able to communicate the Lord’s forgiveness and absolution.”
More than 600 parishioners from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis attended Archbishop Hebda’s diocesan Mass on July 19, the largest of the diocesan Masses held during the congress.
“We weren’t really aware of how many people from our archdiocese had registered and were present,” the archbishop said. “It really made me think, Patrick, about how blessed we’ve been here in the archdiocese. We had very powerful experience(s) during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, as the Blessed Sacrament was here for just about a week in our archdiocese. … I think that really helped engage people and might have inspired them to come to the congress as well. But I was so proud as an archbishop just to see how many of our faithful from our archdiocese were involved with that process.”
Archbishop Hebda noticed the impact of the congress when he was on the plane home from Indianapolis and heard people talking about the congress and sharing their passion for it.
“They were passionate about being together and about dreaming about how we can give flesh to the bones of the experience that we had,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I see that it really is a microcosm of what we can do in the United States. I think that we’re particularly blessed, in many ways, as we see there’s already a strong tradition here of Eucharistic adoration. We have strong leadership, people that are encouraging people to be faithful to their vocational calls but recognizing that not every part of our country has those same bedrocks, and that the hope would be that as people saw how this was played out on a national context that is going to give them great hope.”
To hear more about the National Eucharistic Congress from Archbishop Hebda’s perspective, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. July 27 and 2 p.m. July 28.
The program also includes a discussion with Catholic Charities of the Twin Cities director of culture and belonging, Mike Rios-Keating, on ways people can minister to others through the corporal works of mercy, and Connor Flanagan and Abe Gross on the new Dayton Ave. Music Festival.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program can also be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
