PENNSVILLE – “This is the welcoming of Jesus Christ into South Jersey.”
With these words, Bishop Joseph Williams received the Blessed Sacrament from the Diocese of Wilmington’s Bishop William Koenig this afternoon, here at Fort Mott State Park.
Hazy skies and tropical heat and humidity didn’t stop the 70 faithful – which included priests and seminarians from both dioceses, laity, and nine perpetual pilgrims – on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
At the park’s dock, Bishop Williams, joined by Father Jon Thomas, Vicar General, and seminarian Theo Deluhery, met Bishop Koenig, who stepped off a ferry with his own delegation of clergy and laity, to hand off the monstrance.
Just as George Washington crossed the Delaware with his continental army in 1776, “our sacramental Lord crossed the Delaware in 2026,” Bishop Williams continued.
Like the father of our country, “I half expected to see Bishop Keonig at the bow of the boat with his knee raised,” Bishop Williams joked.
“We’re so blessed to be Americans,” he then stated.
“What George Washington and the other founders understood, is that all people are created equal, and that we have from the creator, certain inalienable rights – the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
“Life becomes abundant in this world, and eternal in the next,” Bishop Williams told those present. “Liberty is the freedom to hear God’s calling and pursue that in our lives. Happiness is giving ourselves away, and maybe even laying down our lives.”
“What a country (those convictions) have created for us,” he continued, beginning to echo the words of a French Biblical scholar he encountered on his travels, who called America “a melting pit of culture, of ethnicity, of language, of religion” which coexists in harmony.
“We have to fight for that (harmony), don’t we?” Bishop Williams reminded those gathered, next mentioning the immigrants he’s come to love during his time as a priest.
“These faithful,” he stated, “are risking their lives to come into this country and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They are risking their lives, to be among us.”
As Christians in this nation, he concluded, “we get to be the salt and light of the earth to remind people that these inalienable rights are perfected in the heart of Jesus.”
“We bring our people, our diocese, our country into that heart, so that this land can continue to flourish. May freedom ring for another 250 years.”
Upon its arrival, both Bishops led the gathered faithful in a Eucharistic Procession; Liturgy of the Hours; and Benediction.
From far and wide, faithful came to the edge of the state to spend time with the Lord.
“What a peaceful gathering,” said Maureen Baldwin, who ventured with her friend, Patti Adams, from Hainesport, NJ, an hour away.
The two are parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Peace there, part of the Diocese of Trenton.
“We want to be close to Him, to know Him, and to love like Him, and listen and follow where He wants us to be,” continued Baldwin.
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, taking place as the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, with the theme of “One Nation Under God,” began in Florida on May 24, and will end in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over the July 4 weekend for U.S. Semiquincentennial celebrations.
The initiative includes nine “perpetual pilgrims,” young women and men who, when their journey is over, will have traveled more than 2,200 miles, and passed through 18 dioceses and archdioceses, as well as two Easter Catholic eparchies, in 43 days.
“We’re so grateful for the sacrifices you’ve made to the living Jesus,” Bishop Williams told the pilgrims on June 12.
During its weekend stop in the Diocese of Camden, the Eucharistic pilgrimage will make its way to Gloucester City’s Saint Mary’s Parish later this evening, for Holy Mass, and Consecration of the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Bishop Williams; a Eucharistic Procession; and Benediction.
Tomorrow, June 13, the pilgrimage will make its way in the morning to Saint James Church in Ventnor (Holy Trinity Parish), to join Bishop Williams and faithful at VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services’ Intergenerational Walk. In the afternoon that day, the pilgrimage will be a part of the diocese’s multicultural evangelization event at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Shrine in Lindenwold.
On Sunday, June 14, the pilgrimage will conclude its time in the Diocese of Camden with a Mass and Eucharistic procession at Christ the King Parish in Haddonfield, before making its way up the Jersey Turnpike, to the Diocese of Paterson.
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