Eucharistic Procession PWC June 7, 2026

Eucharistic Procession

 PWC June 7, 2026

following the 9:30 am at St. Mary

 

Celebrating 800 Years of St. Francis of Assisi, 250 Years of the United States of America as a Nation, and the National Eucharistic Procession, while reflecting on the Cardinal Virtues and the Particular Values of the PWC

 

“Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.” These words of St. Francis of Assisi resonated across eight centuries, and on June 7, 2026, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, our Collaborative, will gather to process with the Blessed Sacrament. We do so at a remarkable confluence: 800 years since Francis’s transitus (his death and entrance into eternal life, 1226), and 250 years since the birth of the United States of America (1776): One Nation under God. We do so in the prayerful context of reflecting the four cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance, and three of the particular values that characterize our PWC: Welcome, Compassion, and Boldness (Love was in last year’s procession). As we walk with the Eucharist on this day, we joyfully sing, we adore you, and we praise you with St. Francis and all Americans of goodwill, as we step forward toward peace, healing, unity and reconciliation.

 

                                           Temperance (Moderation)

Temperance is the virtue that brings us back to the center, back to the Heart of Christ. The Eucharist is the ultimate act of holy moderation: God descends to us in the simplest form of bread and wine. St. Francis embodied this by stripping himself of all excesses, wealth, status, even his own father's expectations, to find the "perfect joy" of having nothing but God.

 

As we celebrate 250 years of blessings, temperance invites us to a national and personal examination of living. Have our blessings become idols? Has our freedom become license? This virtue, during the procession, is a gentle and a firm call to slow down. To be grateful for what we have, rather than clamoring for more. In the spirit of St. Francis, it is about choosing contentment and freedom in simplicity, even amidst abundance.

 

                                           Compassion (Feeling/Suffering With)

While bringing the Eucharist to on of our nursing homes, we significantly identify with the residents, who by their very presence, are preparing a welcome for Christ, and for us. They are the "hosts" who have been waiting in the sanctuary of their suffering. By processing to them, we allow ourselves to be welcomed into their world. This act heals the fragmentation of our parish by reminding us that we are all guests at the Lord's table, and that the "least of these" are often the ones who set the places. The residents renew our understanding of true hospitality, which is not about having a clean home, but about having an open heart.

 

By making the nursing home a stopping station, we heal the hidden wound of our culture, the segregation of the elderly, by visibly uniting their home with our parish. We process to them, acknowledging that they are not on the periphery but are, in fact, the heart of the community. Nursing home residents, by the very nature of their lives, are witnesses to a different rhythm, one of presence, memory, and waiting. Being with them means moderating our own frantic pace to enter into their sacred time. This act unites us with their lived experience. It heals our spiritual restlessness, teaching us that being, not doing, is the foundation of our identity before God. The residents, in their stillness, renew the Church by reminding us that we are all simply waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior.

To process to them heals our naive notions of strength, revealing that true power is made perfect in weakness. The residents renew our understanding of what it means to be a "nation under God," a nation whose true strength lies in its care for its most vulnerable members. Eucharistic procession into a nursing home declares that these hidden ones are, in fact, the very pillars of our community. It is a bold statement that "One Nation under God" includes, and is even defined by, those who have no worldly power. 

 

                                           Justice (Cardinal Virtue)

Justice is more than giving everyone a pair of shoes. Equitable justice is the actionable capacity to give everyone a pair of shoes that fits. As a people under God, we promised justice for all, but have 250 years bridged the gap between promise and practice? In view of healing and reconciliation, our procession routes can intentionally pass a courthouse, a homeless shelter, or a site of historical injustice. We pause there for a litany of repentance. Justice means the Eucharist moves toward the places of broken covenant, not away from them. Justice ensures the route serves the poor, not just the powerful.

 

To be continued in two weeks