St. Anthony on the Lake Parishioners Attended the 10th National Eucharistic Congress

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress was a profound moment for the whole Church in the United States as our Catholic family united in prayer. 60,000 Catholics gathered in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024 for this generational event, and countless more across the nation joined via livestream.‍ Here is a glimpse of the meaningful experiences of some of the St. Anthony on the Lake parishioners who attended.

See recordings of sessions from the congress and more at www.eucharisticcongress.org.

Matt and Laurie Ellis:

Every morning started with a Rosary with Fr Rocky from Relevant Radio, followed by Mass. It was awe inspiring to see the love of Jesus in the Eucharist shared by 60,000 people at Lucas Oil Stadium! The days continued with speakers, our favorites were Relevant Radio personalities and Dr. Edward Sri. Each evening we had more speakers (Fr. Mike Schmitz, Bishop Robert Barron, Jonathon Roumie to name a few) then an hour of adoration. 60,000 people were kneeling in concrete and silent! It was beautiful to witness true devotion to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. We are forever changed! 

Jeff and Suzi Ellington

We were blessed to have been invited to the Eucharistic Congress by our adult children. On Wednesday of that week we drove down to attend weekend sessions. Celebrating and witnessing how important the Eucharist is to our children was a true blessing.

A couple experiences stood out to us. We’ve never been to a Catholic Revival before, but the session Saturday night was incredibly moving…really beyond words. First, musician Matt Maher had 50,000+ people singing along with him and dancing to incredible praise music. We got to listen to several speakers including Bishop Robert Baron and Jonathan Roumie. Jonathan’s story of his journey to the Congress and his reading of the Bread of Life discourse from John 6 moved us to tears. Then during Eucharistic Adoration you could have heard a pin drop from across the stadium, it was so quiet. Just an amazing night!

It was also amazing to be at Sunday Mass for more than 50,000 Catholics and to hear from Cardinal Luis Tagle who came from Rome to deliver the homily. At the end of Mass, literally as were we standing up to leave, our son Jack got a call from a friend who told him he was converting to Catholicism. The Power of the Eucharist! 

We encourage everyone to google National Eucharistic Congress speeches and find some time to listen to them. They are inspiring and beautiful messages.