Along with seven other Daughters of St. Paul, and hundreds of other people, I had the blessing and privilege of participating in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage on its two-and-a-half mile procession that followed the Freedom Trail through the city of Boston.
In other Eucharistic processions that I have been part of, I have walked behind the Blessed Sacrament carried in the monstrance, somewhere in the crowd of people. This time, the religious sisters, brothers, and priests led the procession (we even got to carry the official National Eucharistic Pilgrimage banner part of the way!).
Because we were walking in front of Jesus, we couldn’t see him most of the time. But we could hear the bells ringing every few paces to announce his presence. We could hear the songs that were being sung and the prayers that were being prayed throughout the procession behind us. And we could see dozens and hundreds of onlookers reacting, first to our presence, and then to his.
Instead of walking behind Jesus and looking at him in the monstrance, I was walking ahead of him and looking at his world through his eyes. I saw a man sleeping on a park bench. A family crossing the street in front of us. People sitting in groups outside a café. An old man who took off his cap and, full of emotion, joined the procession for the rest of the way. With Jesus at my back, I saw these people with his eyes, and began to feel his love for them welling up in my own heart.
As I walked, it struck me that this is what our lives as Daughters of St. Paul are meant to be. We are called to give our eyes, our ears, our feet to Jesus so that he can love the world through us. We are called to walk in front of Jesus, secure in the knowledge that he is right behind us, and to tell people everywhere: Jesus is here! We are called to city streets, to digital spaces, to people’s darkest hours and to their greatest joys, with the proclamation that Jesus is coming. He is coming right behind me. Keep looking, and you will see him, and he will never leave you. He is here.