Anticipation Builds as National Pilgrimage Prepares to Stop in Baton Rouge on June 7

Excitement is building and eyes are focusing on Indianapolis in anticipation of the National Eucharistic Congress to be held July 17–21, 2024. Yet, Father Josh Johnson, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Baton Rouge, is equally enthusiastic about the fact that the streets and churches of Baton Rouge will be filled with participants on a pilgrimage to the Congress that will stop in the Diocese of Baton Rouge on June 7, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
 
The National Pilgrimage, which began May 19, Pentecost Sunday, and spans coast-to-coast, has four routes coming from different areas of the United States that will converge at Indianapolis: The Marian Route, the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route, the St. Junipero Serra Route, and the St. Juan Diego Route. 
 
The Diocese of Baton Rouge is part of the St. Juan Diego Route, which began in Brownsville, Texas. 
 
The stop in the Diocese of Baton Rouge will begin on June 7 at 8 a.m. with Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Baton Rouge, followed by a 1.5-mile Eucharistic Procession beginning at 9:30 a.m. from Sacred Heart to St. Joseph Cathedral. There, pilgrims will hear from Bishop Michael G. Duca and hear testimonies from national Eucharistic pilgrims. That afternoon, there will be a Eucharistic prayer service from 2 – 4 p.m. at Christ the King Church and Student Center on the LSU campus. 


 
“I can’t wait, it will be awesome,” said a beaming Father Johnson. “We will get Jesus out of the tabernacle and onto the streets. It might wake up some Catholics who don’t believe in the real presence of the Eucharist.” 
 
Father Johnson is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and the National Eucharistic Revival Committee. During the first phase of the three-year Eucharistic Revival plan, Father Johnson was asked to be a Eucharistic preacher. To do so, he would have had to commit to leading at least three three-day missions per year for three years.  
 
At that time, Father Johnson was preparing to become pastor of Sacred Heart Church in addition to serving as vocations director of the diocese of Baton Rouge. He spoke to Bishop Duca and prayed about it and decided that it was just too much time away from his church, school (Sacred Heart), and the diocese. He declined the invitation. 
 
“I was really excited about the Eucharistic Revival and the Congress, but I figured my role was to be an intercessor for them,” said Father Johnson. 
 
The Revival Committee reached out to him again and asked f he would emcee the event instead, which did not require time away from the diocese other than for the Congress. 
 
“I thought that’s something that I can do,” said Father Johnson, noting the school would be out in the summer and things would be quiet in his parish and the vocations office. 
 
“I took it to prayer. I have a team, a group of people who intercede for me, and they discern with me on whether I should say ‘yes’ to an invitation to an event. And they prayed and discerned with me, and the answer was ‘Yes,’” said Father Johnson. 
 
The last time Father Johnson emceed an event was when he was in seminary and he emceed for four years in a row at the Abbey Youth Festival at St. Joseph Abbey Seminary in Covington. 
 
“I am going to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to inspire me,” said Johnson. 
 
At the Congress, he will not only have to be aware of all the presenters that are coming onto the “main stage,” but he will have to prayerfully listen to their presentations and then give follow-up commentaries after they leave the stage before the next speaker comes on stage. 
 
“It should be a very engaging role,” said Father Johnson. 
 
But regardless of who is emceeing or speaking at the event, Father Johnson expressed confidence that the power of the Eucharist speaks for itself. 
 
“Every Eucharist is God. Imagine what can happen when a person sees God for the first time, because some people have never been invited into a Catholic church, so they’ve never been in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to actually have seen the Eucharist during adoration or during Mass,” he said. “This will be for some people in our neighborhoods the first time ever seeing Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. They might have a huge conversion experience just by looking at the Lord, by being in the presence of God.” 
 
For more information about the pilgrimage and to register, visit diobr.org/pilgrimage.