Pastor: No better place to capture 'unity, renewal, hope' of congress than historic church

Deacon David Bartolowits, left, and Father Rick Nagel elevate the Eucharist during a Feb. 7, 2019, Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. (CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion)

(OSV News) -- When Father Rick Nagel first learned that the 10th National Eucharistic Congress would happen across the street from his parish, he wanted to tell everyone.

"I remember getting chills and kind of welling up with emotion of what God wanted, what he was going to do here in Indianapolis," the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Indianapolis told OSV News. "Total joy and excitement and anticipation."

His parish's involvement in the upcoming congress -- the culmination of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops that seeks to renew the Catholic Church by enkindling a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist -- began when Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis filmed a video from St. John's to announce the event's location. (See our ongoing coverage of the National Eucharistic Congress at www.archindy.org/congress.)

"There is no more fitting backdrop for the National Eucharistic Congress to capture the unity, renewal and hope the Eucharist provides believers," the archbishop says of the historic parish founded in 1837.

St. John's -- the first Catholic parish established in Indianapolis -- aims to have all 2,500 of its parishioners involved in the congress. It plans to welcome, in a variety of ways, the tens of thousands expected to attend the congress taking place at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center July 17-21. Most importantly, the church will serve as the congress's perpetual adoration chapel.

Online, St. John's reveals the breadth of its participation. Volunteer sign-ups encourage parishioners to help with adoration and a "Eucharistic Village" that will offer pilgrims food, drink and a place to rest. The four routes of the cross-country National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will converge there for Mass July 16, Tuesday of Congress week. Father Nagel is hosting a "Eucharistic Revival Podcast" featuring parishioners' stories of conversion and reversion. The parish is even part of an initiative to "paint the city" or spread the message about the congress by selling clothing printed with Latin phrases.

For his part, Father Nagel hoped that those who visit St. John's experience a "deep encounter with our Lord."

"We've been praying hard that the Holy Spirit will descend upon the city and change hearts and minds to continue to grow in love with our Lord and his holy Church," he said.

As CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, Tim Glemkowski commended Father Nagel and said that, in some ways, he "has become like the 'local pastor' of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress."

"St. John's is this beautiful and historic but also lively and vibrant parish that is filled to the brim with young families," he told OSV News in a written statement. "To host perpetual adoration in this warm and inviting 1,000-seat church right across the street from the convention center is a sign of God's providence in choosing Indianapolis for the Congress."

St. John's, which regularly offers more than 40 hours of adoration a week, will remain open for adorers from Wednesday morning, July 17, until the closing Mass on the following Sunday, July 21. During that time, hospitality volunteers will welcome people at the doors. The men's group, Esto Vir ("Be a Man"), will provide security overnight. Religious sisters from orders across the country will invite strangers off the street to meet Jesus inside. Flowers will be available for pilgrims to place before the altar. People can also fill out prayer and petition cards.

The parish hopes to embody the words of Saint John Paul II: "Open wide the doors to Christ."

"I think to be able to offer (adoration) for pilgrims from all over the country is what excites me the most because, other than the holy Mass … this is going to be the most important place, if you will, of the congress," Father Nagel said of being the adoration chapel.

Outside the church, the Eucharistic Village, which Father Nagel described as a "hospitality center," will serve the faithful.

"We'll have all kinds of food and drink and just a place for people to relax and kind of process their experience with each other," Father Nagel said, adding that they'll offer everything from hot dogs and ice cream to coffee and beer and wine at family-friendly prices.

Following a competition, Father Nagel announced the names of two beers that will be available at the village's beer and wine garden: "Laity's Lager" and "Pilgrim Pale Ale."

The church is also dedicated to getting the word out about the congress: A team of creative, young adult parishioners is behind the efforts to "paint the city" and inform people by doing everything from sharing on social media to sending out news releases to the media.

So far, Father Nagel estimated that more than 500 parishioners have signed up to be involved in some capacity. He described St. John's as a vibrant parish begun by German and Irish immigrants coming to build the railroad through the Midwest.

Today, it's "bursting at the seams," he said, with 101 baptisms and about 70 weddings last year. In the heart of the city, he said, the parish attracts a young, diverse congregation. About 50% of the parishioners are between the ages of 18 and 35.

The congregation also includes college students (they have a campus ministry with Father Nagel as chaplain), a large number of visitors and a homeless outreach, where people in need are welcomed into the church and given support.

These parishioners makeup the St. John's community preparing for pilgrims from across the country. Father Nagel called the event "the most important event in the history of America."

"As I prayed about it, I believe it is because America has had tough times since it was formed," he said. "But there's never a time where so many people have walked away from God or walked away from the church, and so I think it's such an important time in our history to really re-embrace this unfathomable gift that Christ gives us, his very body, blood, soul and divinity in the holy Eucharist."