‘What a blessing, what a gift’: Perpetual pilgrim team includes two from archdiocese

Rachel Levy, left, and Cheyenne Johnson pose in the Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Catholic Center in Indianapolis on March 6 with an image of St. Katharine Drexel, the saint for whom the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage route is named. Levy, archdiocesan coordinator of young adult ministry, and Johnson, director of Catholic campus ministry at Butler University in Indianapolis, are among the eight young adults selected nationally to be perpetual pilgrims on the 3,300-mile pilgrimage, which departs Indianapolis on May 18 and arrives in Los Angeles on June 22. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

When Rachel Levy speaks of her love for Christ in the Eucharist, the sentiment is clearly more than words.

“Spending time with the Lord in front the Blessed Sacrament is the highlight of my day,” says the archdiocesan coordinator of young adult ministry, her eyes coming to life with light and joy.

Her friend Cheyenne Johnson, director of Catholic campus ministry at Butler University in Indianapolis, shares that love.

“I pray a holy hour in adoration every day, and then I stop in [the adoration chapel] a few times throughout the day,” she says with a smile that speaks of the peace she finds there.

The sparkling eyes, the serene smile—it’s easy to see why Levy and Johnson were two of only eight young adults selected from more than 130 national applicants to be perpetual pilgrims during the upcoming 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

Belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was pivotal to the faith journey of both women.

And love for the Blessed Sacrament now drives them as they prepare for the 3,300-mile journey by foot and van from Indianapolis to Los Angeles from May 18 through June 22.

‘The Eucharist has been a pivotal part’

Johnson, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, was raised as a Southern Baptist.

She says it was “a pursuit of truth guided by the Holy Spirit” that drew her to Christ’s words in the Gospel of John: “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. … Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in them” (Jn 6:51, 56).

Those words “ultimately led me to the Catholic Church and to the Eucharist,” says Johnson. She was welcomed into the full communion of the Church on April 8, 2018, while a student at Butler University.

“Having that relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist has helped me to grow in virtue in a lot of ways, to think about my actions and to grow closer to Christ,” she reflects. “Because over time, as I continued to receive the Eucharist going to daily Mass, it’s helped me to just grow in deeper intimacy with Jesus.”

Levy was also a college student when she embraced the truth of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.

“There were a lot of different teachings of the Church that I kind of wrestled with in college,” she recalls of her days at Indiana University in Bloomington. “And I think the last big one was the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I wanted to really, fully believe what I was saying when I said ‘I’m Catholic,’ and this is a pretty core teaching of the Catholic Church.

“So, I devoted a lot of time, as much as I could, to just going to daily Mass and adoration. The Eucharist has been a pivotal part of my reversion.”

Both women were interested in applying to be a perpetual pilgrim for the first-ever National Eucharistic Pilgrimage held prior to the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024.

“It just seemed like such a cool opportunity to be with Jesus all summer and to go around encountering different people, inviting them to pray,” says Johnson. “And just really to spend that time growing in devotion to the Eucharist and being part of the revival in this country.”

Levy’s draw was similar.

“I’d say the initial draw was, like, what even small role can I play in other people having a deep encounter with the Lord in a similar way that I’ve been able to have, being able to spend so much time with him in the Blessed Sacrament.”

But then Levy started her current job with the archdiocese and knew “the timing just wasn’t really going to work out,” she says. And by the time Johnson learned about the application process, the 2024 perpetual pilgrims had already been selected.

But the draw to the idea remained in the hearts of Johnson and Levy. So, when they learned of the application process for 2025 perpetual pilgrims, both women applied.

‘An opportunity that won’t happen again’

When Johnson learned she was selected to be a perpetual pilgrim for this year’s National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, “I was pretty much in disbelief,” she says. “I was excited, too, like, ‘This is crazy!’

“We’re just in such a special time with the Church, and I, especially as a young person, know it’s an opportunity that won’t happen again.”

Levy recalls feeling excited, too, “and feeling really honored to be able to accompany Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament across the country, to allow other people to have any type of encounter with him—what a blessing, what a gift of an opportunity.”

First comes a period of preparation before the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles—on a route named for St. Katharine Drexel— which starts on May 18.

“We held a formation retreat in February for the perpetual pilgrim team,” says Maria Benes, director of pilgrimages for National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. “It included time for prayer, practice in organizing eucharistic processions, and different types of preparation and training, including spiritual, living in community on the road and daily life as a pilgrim.” 

The team also meets monthly via Zoom “to gather for prayer and fellowship and to go over different topics, including continued spiritual preparation, fundraising, media, hospitality and other needed training,” Benes explains. 

A new facet of preparation called “Adopt a Pilgrim” was instituted this year.

“A 2024 perpetual pilgrim mentors a 2025 perpetual pilgrim and helps accompany them on their journey before, during and after the pilgrimage,” says Benes. “It’s been great to see last year’s pilgrims walk with the new pilgrims, since there is only a small group of people in the country who truly know what this experience is like.”

For physical preparation, says Johnson, the mentors recommend going on walks with a focus “not necessarily on the distance but just the amount of time being on your feet for several hours, like for processions and talking to people before and afterward and at different events.”

But Johnson and Levy agree the mentors place far more emphasis on preparing spiritually.

“So, I’m trying to stay rooted in my relationship with the Lord, keeping up with my prayer life, going to daily Mass and adoration, and maybe not getting too distracted by all the different things,” says Levy.

“And I’ve been trying to cultivate a disposition of being in the presence of the Lord, whether I’m in front of the Blessed Sacrament or in front of the person before me, recognizing that the Lord dwells within each of us, because we’ll be encountering a lot of people.”

‘Jesus is inviting us all on pilgrimage’

Just two months out from the start of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, the young women are filled with anticipation and hope.

“I’m excited to be able to go out to people who are a little more on the margins, who maybe don’t have that same type of access to the Lord in the way that I do, like in the sacraments,” says Levy.

That excitement to go to those on the margins includes a prison visit during the pilgrimage.

“I’m really excited to encounter men and women who, in the reality of being in a prison, are pretty isolated from the world, and being able to play a small role in Jesus being able to literally come right into where they are,” she says.

Levy notes one of her “biggest desires and biggest prayers for all the people that we’ll encounter is that they will have even a small conversion, a deeper conversion, in their belief of the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.”

When Johnson is asked what she most looks forward to in the experience, her response is enthusiastic: “Oh, so many things! It’s everything. Traveling with Jesus, being with my teammates—they’re such beautiful people.

“I’m excited for the van, too, to have adoration while we’re driving places and to just be able to accompany Jesus along the way.”

She likens the journey to “what the Apostles did, traveling with Jesus. To have that experience of traveling over 3,000 miles with him is incredible.”

While the eight perpetual pilgrims will accompany Christ in a unique way during this year’s National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Johnson notes they are not the only ones called to participate.

“Jesus is inviting us all on pilgrimage this summer,” she says. “Maybe it’s taking part in one of the events of the national pilgrimage, but also within your own hearts and within your own local church.

“Just spending time with him and bringing others into relationship with him is really the goal of what the pilgrimage is about.”
 

(For more information on the May 18-June 22 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, the route, stops along the route and to donate to the pilgrimage costs, go to eucharisticpilgrimage.org. Information about the Mass and other events initiating the pilgrimage in Indianapolis will be announced in the future.) †