A wish comes true

Young woman will lead team on national pilgrimage, hoping to bring Christ closer to America

Cheyenne Johnson, second from the right, enjoys a photo moment with Guiomar Hernandez Castro, left, Annamaria Bleyer and Elly Bjork. The four friends spent the past year in a missionary program with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Atlantic City, N.J. Johnson, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, will be the team leader for the eight other young adults who have also been chosen as perpetual pilgrims for the third National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that begins on May 24 in St. Augustine, Fla. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

There are some experiences that are so magical and life-changing that we wish they could go on longer.

But time and commitments often lead us back to the realities of our lives, leaving us with just the memories to hold onto and savor.

So it was for 26-year-old Cheyenne Johnson when she returned from the second National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2025, a 3,300-mile journey of faith that began at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis and ended at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Johnson, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, was one of the eight young adults from across the country who was selected to take part in that five-week journey—an experience filled with Masses, processions and personal encounters where the Eucharist guided every part of the journey.

“I loved the pilgrimage last year,” Johnson says a year later. “It was such a transformative experience for me in my personal life and in my relationship with the Lord. But also to be able to encounter other people while traveling with the Lord, to take him to so many places and meet so many people who are so faith-filled. That’s what stood out to me about the pilgrimage—the acts of faith people would make, coming to the processions and Masses.

“I remember a woman in California who came out. She said, ‘I’m here for the Lord to heal my daughter. I don’t know how I got here, but I felt he was telling me I need to be here.’ Things like that were really beautiful. I loved being on the team last year and growing in a relationship with my teammates. By the end of it, I was saying, ‘I wish this was longer.’ ”

Johnson’s wish came true in a different way earlier this year when she was chosen as the “team lead” for the third National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a 2,000-mile journey along the East Coast that ties in with the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

With the theme, “One Nation Under God,” the 2026 pilgrimage route will celebrate major Catholic landmarks and moments in American Catholic history. Featuring public events in 18 dioceses and archdioceses, the pilgrimage begins on May 24 in St. Augustine, Fla., reaches Maine and then ends in Philadelphia on the weekend of July 4th for the country’s anniversary celebrations.

“I hope it’s just a beautiful time of bringing our Lord to people and helping them encounter him,” Johnson says. “Especially with this theme of ‘One Nation Under God,’ I hope it’s a time to pray for our country, to have a deeper unity, and to remember we’re all in this together. And to center that togetherness under God, to thank him for all he has given us, and trust our future and the future of the world to him.

“I hope it will be a time of continual renewal of faith in the United States. For so many people when times are difficult, we can sometimes forget to turn to God. But so many people also see the need to return to God. I hope the Lord will do a lot of great things this summer. I know we saw a lot of that last summer in terms of the radical conversions that would happen, and a deeper knowledge of God’s love for people. I want to see amazing things happen, and I think they will.”

She has seen the amazing things that God has made happen for her in the past year.

An invitation topped with ice cream

Johnson served as the Catholic campus minister for Butler University in Indianapolis—her alma mater—before making last year’s pilgrimage. When it ended, she set her focus on spending a year in a missionary program with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Atlantic City, N.J.

“I’ve been so blessed with so many different opportunities being here in New Jersey,” she says during a phone conversation. “Especially encountering Christ in the poor has really just been a beautiful time for me—leaning into that, leaning into my own poverty.

“It’s been good to be around the sisters, too. And it’s been good in terms of having a lot of time for prayer and living in community. It’s helped me see this desire for sharing our Lord with others. I think I’m just growing into a great intimacy with him in that way. He has just really been my rock and my support. I’m seeing where the Lord wants to lead me.”

She believes God has led her to being involved in this latest pilgrimage. One moment convinced her.

It happened after she reached out to Maria Benes, the director of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, to let her know she’d be willing to help with this year’s journey.

“There’s a funny story,” Johnson says as her voice grows in delight. “In this program with the sisters, I live with another woman, and we were going up to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to help the sisters set up a place for a week of meetings for their council. We were passing all these ice cream shops, and I really wanted to stop and get ice cream, but I also knew we weren’t going to stop to get it.

“We were praying the rosary in the car at one point, and I asked Our Lady of La Leche [‘milk’ in Spanish] to pray for us. I felt like maybe she’d give me ice cream! We stopped to get gas, and I checked my phone. Within a minute of praying to Our Lady of La Leche, Maria had called me. When I called her back, she said, ‘Let me tell you about the route. It’s going to start at the shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine, Florida.’ I said, ‘No way, I just literally asked for her intercession, but I was asking for ice cream!’ ”

Benes told Johnson she wanted her to be the team leader for the eight other perpetual pilgrims. Johnson accepted.

She laughs and says, “Our Lady of La Leche got me a lot more than ice cream. I’m sure there will also be ice cream at some point this summer!”

‘We all become like one big family’

That joyful approach will combine with her deep faith as she serves as the team leader.

“On the ground, I’ll be the point person for decision-making,” Johnson says. “Thankfully, Maria puts in so much time and effort to make the pilgrimage happen. There’s at least one person in every diocese who heads up a group of people who are helping. I’ll be contacting the reps to make sure things go well logistically.

“It’s also to be there for the team—to answer questions, to help them prepare for the day. First and foremost, that comes from prayer—just praying for the team and the people we will encounter. And getting to know people and what their gifts are is really important to me.”

Benes is delighted to have Johnson on this pilgrimage.

“Cheyenne thrived on pilgrimage last year, and we are so grateful for her ‘yes’ to serve again this year,” she says. “She brings both natural gifts of pastoral care of the team and a great knowledge of logistical and strategic problem solving. Most of all, her deep love for the Blessed Sacrament, strong prayer life and constant striving for holiness make her an excellent team lead. We are so thankful to have her serve on eucharistic mission with us.”

One of Johnson’s fellow pilgrims is Mary Carmen Zakrajsek, a friend and a former member of Holy Rosary.

“That will be fun. We met our freshman year of college when we both went on the March for Life,” Johnson says. “I was at Butler and she was at Marian [University in Indianapolis]. In our senior year, we re-connected through mutual friends. Going to Holy Rosary together, we got a lot closer. I’m excited to be with her and the entire team. That’s the beautiful thing about pilgrimages. We all become like one big family.”

For Johnson, that sense of family on this pilgrimage extends to all Catholics across the country.

“I’m very humbled and grateful to spend the summer serving the Lord and being able to take him all up the East Coast—to be praying for our country,” she says. “It’s such a great gift that the Lord has invited me to do this again. I’m excited to be working with the team. They’re such amazing people.

“I invite people to pray for the pilgrimage. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage has an initiative to pray 250,000 Holy Hours for our elected officials, for the pilgrimage and for the country—and to trust all of it to God.”

Johnson has put all her trust in God. While the past year hasn’t brought her clarity about her long-term future, she plans to return to Indianapolis after the pilgrimage. And she knows God will be looking out for her when she does.

“I just had my eighth anniversary of becoming Catholic,” she says. “I’ve had a lot of adventures I could have never imagined. There have been a lot of graces. A lot of that has been in my identity and my relationship with God. Growing closer to him and growing in confidence that he has a plan for me. That he’s going to provide, that he has an amazing adventure for my life.

“I tell him, ‘I’m just trusting in you, and I’m here to follow you wherever you’re leading me.’ ”
 

(For more information about the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, visit www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org.) †