UD community inspires and embraces Eucharistic joy at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress
From July 17 to July 21, 2024, students, faculty and alumni of the University of Dallas joined nearly 60,000 other Catholics in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
The Congress centered around the liturgy, with daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration as the primary activity of each day. Additionally, pilgrims received formation and inspiration from renowned Catholic speakers such as Fr. Mike Schmitz, Sr. Miriam James Heidland and Bishop Robert Barron. Hundreds of priests heard thousands of confessions each day, and myriad ministries, resources and universities, including UD, connected with pilgrims in an extensive vendor hall.
UD alumni were among the featured speakers and performers at the Congress, including Katie Prejean McGrady, Deacon Harold Burke Sivers, Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN and Fr. Simon Teller, O.P.
Katie Prejean McGrady is a Catholic speaker, writer and podcaster who graduated from UD in 2011 with a B.A. in Theology.
“UD was the place where I grew in this love of the liturgy, and…this love of Adoration…UD taught me how to pray too, because I had such great professors and such great witnesses. The best thing about UD [is] you’re at daily Mass with your scripture professor, and then you babysit his kids…and then you’re friends with him 20 years later,” said McGrady.
McGrady also credits UD with equipping her for her current work of evangelizing and catechizing many.
“UD is the best school to teach people how to communicate,” McGrady said. “We’ve read all the Great Books, so we know how storytelling should sound and how it should look…[t]o be a good person and to love Jesus and then to just show that authentically, I can think of no better university that sets us up for that.”
Lily Dorris, junior theology major, attended the Congress as a gift from her parents. She prepared for the Congress through personal prayer and intellectual resources from UD such as the Adoro Te lectures held in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Dorris particularly appreciated the opportunity to pray in union with Catholics from across the country at the Congress. “[To] hear how human everyone is and…how much love is needed in the world and how so many people are choosing to look to Jesus for that [love] is really beautiful,” she said.
The Congress dedicated itself to a variety of liturgical preferences for reverent worship of the Eucharist. As all members of the Congress gathered together for Eucharistic Adoration every night, they prayed before Christ in silence, with Gregorian chant and with praise and worship, including music led byMatt Maher on Saturday night of the Congress.
Other musical groups performed in the vendor hall throughout the Congress. Alumnus Fr. Simon Teller, OP performed before an enthusiastic audience alongside other members of The Hillbilly Thomists.
“Death’s in the world and it’s gone viral, everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout a new revival,” they sang in the thematically appropriate “Bourbon, Bluegrass, and the Bible.”
Alumni Ale and Stefania Taliente, who graduated in 2022, also attended the Congress. Ale’s favorite part of the Congress was the gift of seeing so many religious sisters from across the country. “So much joy!” she said.
Religious sisters played a prominent role in a Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis. Miles of religious communities, priests, seminarians and laypersons processed through the streets, singing Eucharistic hymns, praying and witnessing Christ’s true presence.
Both pilgrims and leaders of the Congress left Indianapolis with profound hopes for the Congress’ impact on the American Church. Ale Taliente said, “I hope that love and zeal for the Eucharist instills a greater desire for intimacy with God and one another as Christian brothers and sisters.”
The National Eucharistic Congress was the climax of a three-year period of Eucharistic Revival led by the USCCB. Dorris has been responding to that call for revival by committing herself to consistent Eucharistic Adoration at UD.
“All of the other experiences we have of beauty and joy point so strongly to our Eucharistic Lord,” said Dorris. “There are fewer things that we can do well with our lives than to spend time with our Lord in Mass and in the Eucharist.”
McGrady also encouraged UD students to take advantage of their current schedules and commit themselves to consistent Adoration and weekday Mass. “On college campuses, you have expendable time. You don’t have kids that you’re dealing with, you don’t have a spouse…You have time and…if you can give some of it to Jesus, that could lead to changing people’s hearts in a new way.”