A statewide Eucharistic procession and Liturgy will stop in Iowa City Sept. 19.
By Dan Russo
The Catholic Messenger
IOWA CITY — The idea for an Iowa Eucharistic procession through the state’s four Catholic dioceses that sprouted from the mind of a teenager is becoming a reality. Processions have taken place in two locations so far and bishops have begun blessing four diocesan-shaped puzzle pieces representing the dioceses. The next stop covering the Davenport Diocese will be at St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City Sept. 19.
“I think it’s wonderful that someone like that wanted to take the initiative of doing this to glorify our Lord,” said Cheryl Schropp, St. Patrick’s events coordinator. “I think with God’s providence he will go far in life.”
Schropp confirmed that Bishop Dennis Walsh is scheduled to participate with others in the event, which starts at 9:30 a.m. and will involve a liturgy and walk with the Blessed Sacrament.
High school senior Sam Lange of St. Ludmila Parish in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the Archdiocese of Dubuque is a member of the National Youth Advisory Council for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, where he was encouraged to lead a service project, according to Lumen Media, the official media of the Sioux City Diocese. The pieces will be united into the shape of Iowa in Des Moines Sept. 26 and 27.
“At the Christ our Life Conference in September, those four pieces will be assembled in front of the main stage before Eucharistic adoration,” Lange said in a recent Illuminating Catholics podcast, a production of Lumen Media. “The puzzle pieces represent all of Iowa coming together under our Eucharistic Lord as a sign of unity and hope.”
Participants will have the opportunity to sign the back of their diocesan puzzle piece as a record that they attended the event.
“You can say, hey I was there, because this really is an historic event for Iowa,” Lange pointed out.
Participating in a Eucharistic procession is a way to publicly proclaim the faith as opposed to attending Mass where passersby cannot see the activity inside, he explained. There are also spiritual benefits to participating in a public procession.
Four puzzle pieces representing the four Iowa dioceses will be placed on this board next month.
“When you are part of a procession, you are surrounded by a community of people following the same Lord, you are all facing the same direction, you are all adoring the Eucharist as you process through the streets,” Lange said. “In the same way in our spiritual lives when you are going through any spiritual battle, and navigating through life’s circumstances, you are with a community of people who all believe in the same Lord. It’s a profound way to embody that. There are so many spiritual benefits of being devoted to the Eucharist.”
Earlier this month, processions were held at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Waterloo, Iowa, in the Dubuque Archdiocese and St. Joseph Church in Earling, Iowa, in the Des Moines Diocese.
After the stop in Iowa City, Divine Mercy Parish and the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa, are representing the Diocese of Sioux City.
All are invited to the Sept. 20 10 a.m. Mass at the West Bend Ss. Peter and Paul Church of Divine Mercy Parish with Bishop John E. Keehner presiding. After the Mass, participants will make a 0.6 mile procession around the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption. The procession will include prayer and hymns, followed by a meal in the parish hall, according to organizers.
Those interested in attending the procession in Iowa City can contact Schropp at cheryl@stpatsic.com or by calling 319-337-2856.
The Illuminating Catholics Podcast can be heard at: https://lumenmedia.org/illuminating-catholics-podcast
