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For a professional photographer to miss a key shot is understandably disappointing. But when veteran Catholic photojournalist Jeffrey Bruno missed an opportunity to capture the kickoff of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in what was planned as a photogenic setting in San Francisco, he learned an important lesson for his own spiritual life.
Following a Mass on Sunday in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, six young “Perpetual Pilgrims” who had committed to accompanying the Blessed Sacrament from San Francisco to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis were due to form a Eucharistic procession across the Golden Gate Bridge. Bruno and other journalists were being transported from the cathedral to the foot of the bridge, at a spot where Pope John Paul II had stood during a 1987 visit.
But when the bus arrived, apparently, the procession had begun early, and Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, the pilgrims, their chaplain, and about 1,000 of the faithful were already on the bridge. Though the photographers had missed a good shot, there was still a chance to catch up.
But with hordes of Catholics and tourists flooding the span’s walkway, it was going to be tough.
“Somehow, the archbishop and the entourage he was traveling with got there 10-15 minutes earlier, and they just started without anybody,” Bruno told Aleteia. “That was the shot everybody wanted – the Golden Gate Bridge. … We just start walking faster, and then all of a sudden we’re sprinting, and then we’re just running and plowing through this crowd of people.”
All of a sudden ...
Halfway across the bridge, Bruno said, “all of a sudden you could see the monstrance,” which Bruno recalled as a “breathtaking moment.”
“First there was all of this panic, and then just an incredible peace,” he said. “When I saw it, I was like ‘Why was I worried?’ He’s come through for me every single time and every single circumstance. Why would this be any different?”
In a post on his Substack, Bruno, Aleteia’s former art director, wrote that “we were pursuing Him, but in reality, in the great scheme of things, we don’t have to pursue Him; He pursues us. And in that understanding that He’s pursuing us we just have to kind of pump the brakes, stop what we’re doing, stop with our busy lives and turn to Him and embrace that love. He’s waiting for us.”
North, East, South and West
About the same time the Serra Route kicked off, three other routes were commencing, with all of them scheduled to meet up around the middle of July in Indiana for the Congress.
A bilingual Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Brownsville, Texas, launching the National Pilgrimage’s Juan Diego Route. Bishop Daniel E. Flores celebrated the Mass and then, followed by parishioners and pilgrims, carried the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance to begin a procession to other churches in Brownsville. From Texas, the pilgrims will continue to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.
In New Haven, Connecticut, Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne of Hartford celebrated an extended Pentecost Vigil Mass at St. Mary’s Church, where the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Blessed Michael McGivney, is buried. After processions in New Haven, the perpetual pilgrims of the Seton Route and their chaplain, Fr. Roger Landry, boarded a boat to take them down the coast to the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. This week, they are expected to visit the shrine of their route’s patroness, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, in lower Manhattan, before proceeding to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana.
Up north, the Marian Route began its journey when Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, blessed the headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Minnesota’s Lake Itasca. Earlier, Bishop Cozzens, who is chairman of the National Eucharistic Revival, celebrated Mass in a nearby field, with some 2,500 people present.
The Marian Route will get to Indianapolis through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.
Each route is accompanied by a specially-outfitted van in which a monstrance can be placed on a makeshift altar, and pilgrims can ride part of the way – especially for the Serra Route, which is so long that it would be impossible for the pilgrims to arrive in Indianapolis on time if they walked the whole way. The route goes through Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana.
The four routes cover a total of some 6,500 miles and traverse 27 states. Locals will have a variety of opportunities to walk with pilgrims for part of the route and attend Masses and Eucharistic adoration.
