Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

My First Eucharistic Procession

Sharing our faith boldly with those around us can be challenging. You can’t just be chillin by the coffee pot on Monday morning and lead with, “Hey, how was your weekend? I encountered the Risen Christ through the Holy Sacrament of the Altar and now I’m a living tabernacle."

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, more commonly known as Corpus Christi Sunday. An ancient tradition that is starting to find resurgence in the United States is that of having a public Eucharistic procession.

Alison and I have found ourselves in an amazing and vibrant Parish community. Our parish had a procession on Sunday evening. It was magnificent. I’d say there were about 500 people there, walking through the streets, following the Blessed Sacrament. Along with the parishioners, there were about 10 priests. We processed from the Parish 3 blocks to the town square, had a brief exposition, and then processed back.

We live in a country that allows us to make such public displays of our faith. Yet, we still tend to shy away from opportunities to share our faith with people. We have a perception that people won’t want to hear about it, that they’ll be turned off, or will make unfair conclusions about us.

The silly thing is that we rely on our friends for recommendations all the time. When you go to a great restaurant, you tell people. When a movie stinks, you spread the word. When you read a good book, you let your friends know. Evangelization is just that. We’ve had an experience that has transformed our lives for the better, and we want other people to experience the profound joy that we’ve found.

There were many people who were probably confused by our Procession. There were probably some who thought we were nuts. How people react or receive our message is not what’s important. What is important is that they have the right to share in the joy of the Sacramental life, and we have the duty to share it with them.

You don’t have to know everything about our Faith to share it with others. You don’t have to be able to answer all of their questions. All you have to do is share how the life of the Church has made your life that much better.