It was a very unique experience, to put it mildly.
There we were yesterday, some 200 Catholics and other Christians walking down the sidewalks of Chicago in the physical presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We had just attended Mass on the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in St. Peter’s Church on Madison Street as part of the Fortnight for Freedom taking place all across America. This time of intense prayer is called for by the Bishops in the face of unjust laws that make a mockery of our Catholic and Christian beliefs.
After Mass the priest and the acolytes processed out of the Church onto the streets of Chicago and marched four blocks to the Federal Plaza where benediction was held. We were walking with Christ, and while many were oblivious to his Real Presence, just as most people were when he walked the streets and roads of 1st century Palestine, some recognized him and some pedestrians were seen to genuflect as the monstrance went by.
The crowd knelt in the plaza on hard stone and sang the Tantum Ergo and prayed the Divine Praises, and then the procession returned to St. Peter’s.
There isn’t more to say, except that it was a moment to remember for a lifetime: the day Jesus of Nazareth was carried on the sidewalks of Chicago.
You had to be there.
