Two years ago, Landry’s bishop commissioned him to be one of the 60 Eucharistic preachers — priests committed to making themselves available to preach on the Eucharist during the time of Eucharistic revival.
Landry said that at the time, he suggested to Bishop Andrew Cozzens — who is spearheading the Eucharistic Revival initiative — the idea of a blockbuster cross-country Eucharistic pilgrimage, starting in California and ending in New York City. At the time, the idea struck many people as ambitious and impractical. But as the idea gained momentum among the organizers of the Eucharistic Revival, Landry began to see his big idea take shape.
Thanks in large part to the organizational efforts of Modern Catholic Pilgrim, the pilgrimage was at last announced in May 2023.
“The Holy Spirit was working in many different people at the same time to try to bring about something as crazy as this,” Landry said.
“The fact that the Lord had already implanted in many of us, myself included, the desire to ask for something like this and a willingness to participate — that was God’s preparatory work, which to me communicates that he actually wants this Eucharistic Pilgrimage.”
‘Jesus is the hero’
All events related to the pilgrimages will be free and open to the public. Catholics and anyone throughout the U.S. are encouraged to register to join the pilgrims in walking short sections of the pilgrimages and also can join numerous other special events put on by their local dioceses.
The Seton Route, as its name implies, will take the pilgrims to numerous places associated with the saint, including her tomb in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Landry expressed his excitement about visiting various shrines along the route, such as the one dedicated to Seton as well as the shrine dedicated to St. John Neumann, a champion of the Eucharist.
The Perpetual Pilgrims, who will walk the entirety of the four routes, are all between the ages of 19 and 29. Landry — a former collegiate athlete, to be sure, but now in his 50s — is under no illusions that the pilgrimage will be an easy trek physically.
He said he has no doubts the experience will be enjoyable — but at the same time, it will be “a mortification.”
“I recognize that that journey in following the Lord sometimes is easy and downhill. Many times it’s a challenge, and it’s uphill. That’s what the ‘narrow way’ is. And so psychologically, I’m very prepared for some of the sufferings that my aging body is going to be confronted with along the way,” he said.
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He said despite any hardships, he anticipates he and the pilgrims he will minister to will “form friendships that will last the rest of our life” as he attempts to form them deeper in their faith as a “family.”
“I know that the Lord, who is full of surprises, is really going to fill this whole journey with surprises. So even though I’m anticipating with great eagerness those joys along the journey, I think he’s going to blow me out of the water in terms of what he’s got planned,” Landry said.
“He promised that if we leave things behind and follow him, he will bless us one hundredfold in this life, and with eternal life. And I anticipate that the fellow Perpetual Pilgrims and I are going to have a little bit of a taste of the Lord’s one hundredfold generosity.”
On June 26, in the midst of the pilgrimage and likely somewhere in Ohio, Landry will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination. He said guiding people toward Christ on their journey toward heaven has always been a central aspect of his priesthood and will remain so throughout the pilgrimage experience.
“Jesus is the hero of this pilgrimage … I’m kind of going to be like the donkey that brought him into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,” Landry said, laughing.
“Some other people have used other words that refer to ‘donkey’ to refer to me over the course of my lifetime. And finally it will fit that I will be like that ass, being able to bring the Messiah into the cities… And what an image of the priesthood that is, of just being a ‘Christ bearer,’ as I have the privilege to be able to journey with him.”