Latest / The Manly Catholic: Training Soldiers for Christ / Ep 209 - Good News Friday: The Eucharist Is Walking Up the East Coast
Transcript
- James Caldwell: This is the Manly Catholic, the podcast that calls you out of the shadows and into the fight. Here we forge men into warriors for Christ, husbands, fathers, and leaders who refuse to kneel to the modern world's lies. No more passivity, no more excuses, no more lukewarm faith. This is your battle cry, your call to arms. The time for weakness is over. It's time to fight. Welcome to the Manly Catholic. Let's get to work. Hello all, welcome back to another episode of the Manly Catholic. This is James, your host, and men, it is Friday. That means it's time for some good news. Every wake, every week, we take a few minutes to step back from everything pulling at us. Look at what God is actually doing in his church right now. Now, this one is for the history books, literally and figuratively. We've got the Blessed Sacrament being carried up the east coast of America on Pentecost Sunday. We've got the Pope making his first trip to Spain. We've got American Seminary. A seminarian surging in numbers. We've got a brand new catechesis from the Pope that every Catholic man needs to hear. And we've got Spain lighting up in anticipation of a papal visit that hasn't happened in 15 years. Five stories. Let's get into it. Story number one: the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage launches on Pentecost Sunday. ⁓ so on Sunday, May twenty-fourth, the two thousand t I cannot speak today, I apologize. The two thousand and twenty-six National Eucharistic Pilgrimage kicked off in St. Augustine, Florida, as Catholics gathered for Pentecost Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios. And from that moment, a six-week journey began, carrying the Blessed Sacrament up the entire eastern seaborne of the United States, concluding in Philadelphia on July 5th, during the 250th anniversary of Of our nation. Pretty crazy, right? Two hundred and fifty years. The theme for 2026? One nation under God. St. Augustine, Florida, which I actually did not know. The shrine is the oldest site of continuous Catholic presence in the United States, going back to a mass of Thanksgiving that was celebrated there in 1565, the very first mass on American soil. And on Pentecost Sunday, 2026, over a thousand pilgrims gathered under the Florida sun for Mass. Then followed Jesus in the Eucharist in procession to the historic chapel for adoration. The pilgrimage route is named for Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini, the first United States citizen who was ever canonized as a saint. She was known for her missionary work among immigrants, orphans, the poor, and the sick. A fitting patron for a pilgrimage walking through the original thirteen colonies, eighteen dioceses, and two Eastern Rite Epig Epergees. I apologize. Nine young adults were chosen as perpetual pilgrims. These are men and women who will travel full time with the Blessed Sacrament for all six weeks. Bishop Eric Polmeyer of Saint Augustine described Pentecost as producing both the missionary impulse and the divine power of the church's work, and said those same gifts remain essential for the church today. If the pilgrimage is passing through your area between now and july fifth, please go. Send us pictures. We'd love to hear about your experiences over there on the East Coast. Bring your sons, especially if you're going. This is the kind of thing that you will be talking about for the rest of your life. Especially 250 years, guys. One nation under God. Don't let that fire butt die out. Story number two, the Pope is heading to Spain. This story is kind of two in one, so I guess I'm cheating a little bit. The first is about an extraordinary man. The second is about a nation on the verge of a moment that hasn't been seen in fifteen years. Pope Leo XIV will begin his apostolic journey to Spain on June 6th, which by the time this releases will be tomorrow, actually. He'll spend seven days traveling through Madrid, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife. I apologize if I'm butchering that. And when he arrives, he will be walking into a country he knows from the inside out. Because here's what people may not have known about our Pope. He visits Spain in July of 1982 as a young Augustinian friar. Making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. He was in his twenties. That first visit sparked a love for Spain and its people that never left him. Since then he has visited Spain almost fifty times, and he speaks fluent Spanish. He knows the missionaries, the history, the parishes, the bishops. As one Vatican journalist put it after researching his biography, I discovered with astonishment that he knew Spain more thoroughly than many Spaniards. This is the first papal visit to Spain since Pope Benedict the Sixteenth came in two thousand eleven. Which is about fifteen years ago. And Spain, a country that has a rich Catholic history that stretches stretches across centuries and continents, the country that sent missionaries to the Americas, to Asia, and to Africa. Spain is going through a painful spiritual winter. But the church there is not dead. Cardinal Jose Cobo of Madrid told OSV News this week, or last week I should say, that the Pope will encounter a living and growing church when he arrives. And as a symbol of that growth, Pope Leo is planning to bless the cornerstones of twelve new parishes in the Archdiocese of Madrid. The itinerary is stunning. In Madrid, a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of the city, incorporating some of Spain's most beloved expressions of popular piety, traditional Holy Week Pesos ⁓ Pasos, excuse me, including the image of Our Lady of Almudina, the patroness of Madrid. Then the gathering of the faithful at the Santiago Bernabao Stadium. Which seats over eighty five thousand people for a meeting with the Astison community. I believe that's where Real Madrid plays. Correct me if I'm wrong. In Barcelona, a visit to the Sagrada Familia, Anton Gaudi's magnificent basilica that has been under construction since eighteen eighty two. And the Pope won't just visit, he will personally inaugurate and bless the Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest the tallest spire of the entire basilica, rising a hundred hundred and seventy two meters into the Barcelona sky. Now for us Americans here. We don't do meters. Come on, guys. Five hundred and sixty-five feet for our American listeners there. Going straight up into the sky. Let's see. In the Canary Islands, the Pope will meet migrants arriving from Africa as well, men and women crossing the sea in desperate circumstances. He will visit a homeless family, a homeless facility, excuse me, and he will visit a penitentiary. And the theme of the whole trip, chosen by the Pope himself, is lift up your eyes. That is his trip to Spain. Story number three. This is very exciting for our American listeners. 3,035 diocese and seminaries in America. And the number continues to grow. On May 21st, Catholic World Report published a major new analysis of priestly vocations in the US. And the headline is that 3,035 diocesan seminarians are currently preparing for priestly ordination in the Latin Rite Diocese of the United States. That is an increase of nearly two percent. over the prior year. Now, two percent might not sound dramatic, but understand what we're talking about here. These are men who have said yes to God, men who have looked at the priesthood, the celibacy, the sacrifice, the service, and said, I want to do that. I want to give my life for souls. Three thousand thirty-five of them right now in seminary. And the trend lines are moving in the right direction. The US C C B's ordination class of twenty twenty-six study confirmed that four hundred and twenty-eight men are scheduled for ordination this year across 110 U.S. dioceses and thirty-four religious institutes. Seventy-eight percent of them completed the survey, representing one of the most comprehensive pictures we've ever had of who those men are. Some dioceses are absolutely on fire. The Diocese of Charleston, which has undergone a remarkable revitalization under its bishop, is reporting a recent surge in vocations. The Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska continues to attract one of the highest ratios of seminarian Catholics in the country. And the data shows that these men on average are deeply formed, spiritually, intellectually, and humanly Before they ever arrive at the altar. In his message in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Leo said, Only when our surroundings are illumined by living faith, sustained by constant prayer and enriched by fraternal accompaniment, can God's call blossom and mature, becoming a path of happiness and salvation for individuals and for the world. You are a part of this vocation pipeline, men. Make sure you are praying. For your sons potentially to become priests and for sons around the world, ⁓ especially in the US, to urgently look at that vocation and decide if God is calling them to the priesthood. Story number four, the Pope on Pentecost said, Let a new Pentecost cast out the fears that assail us. In his meditation for the world for the word of the day on May twenty fourth, Pentecost, Pope Leo the fourteenth reflected on the disciples who were locked in the upper room. They were afraid, obviously you guys remember this, they were hiding, the doors were shut, they were scared to death. And Pope Leo said, How often do we too shut ourselves in? How often, because of some difficult situation, because of some personal or family problem, because of the suffering that marks us or the evil we breathe around us, do we risk slipping slowly into loss of hope? And lack the courage to go on. And then he gave us the he says, The gospel offers us the remedy of the risen one, the Holy Spirit. He frees us from the prisons of fear because this is what the Spirit does. He makes us feel God's closeness, and thus his love casts out fear, illuminates the way, consoles, sustains in adversity. And then he ended with, Let a new Pentecost cast cast out the fears that assail us, and revive the flame of God's love. A new Pentecost Happening now in the church, in the world, and in your life. Man, I want to ask you simply, what door are you keeping locked? What fear is keeping you from the mission God has placed in front of you? This I think was a fantastic message from our Pope because a lot of us I think are living in fear. I mean, we have the rise of AI, all these crazy things that are happening. And we're asking ourselves, you know, what is my purpose here? What am I doing? You know, are we gonna you know, all these wars going on? Is this, you know, the end of the world? That's constantly the question that a lot of people are asking. And you know, a lot of times we kind of shut ourselves in and we refuse to kinda let God take control. So are we putting our trust in God? And that is the question we need to be asking ourselves. And finally, story number five, World Mission Sunday turns a hundred this October. And the numbers are staggering. This October eighteenth, the Catholic Church will celebrate the 100th World Mission Sunday. 100 years since Pope Bi Pope Pius XI established a day for the entire church to recommit to her missionary calling. And here is what those 100 years of World Mission Sunday have built. According to the most recent data, the funds raised through this annual collection help support ⁓ 82,498 seminarians, fully forty-one percent of all Catholic seminarians worldwide. Two hundred fifty eight thousand five hundred and forty religious sisters, or roughly fifty percent of all religious sisters in the world. Eight hundred and forty three thousand seven hundred and eighty-five missionary catechists, men and women that are teaching the faith on the front lines of evangel evangelization in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and beyond. Five hundred and seventy one new churches built in mission territories in a single year. That is a lot of contribution. Now the American connection, the United States is the second largest financial supporter of worldwide missionary activity, preceded only by country we talked about earlier, Spain. The country that will be hosting the Pope next week and the country where nine young people are right now carrying the Eucharist up the East East Coast. These are the two biggest engines of Catholic missionary support on earth. This is your church, men. Yes, it is messy. Yes, it is full of sinful men and women, but this is the church that God called you to. Now, are you going to jump ship, abandon Peter and the ship? Or are you gonna stay on it and help bale water and keep the boat afloat? And with that, I will leave it to it. That is your good news for the week of May twenty fourth through June. What was the date here? I don't know, week of May twenty-fourth, twenty twenty six. I hope you guys enjoyed this segment. Okay. Couple things to let you guys know. If you are have not hit that subscribe button, please do that. Please support the show at buymeacoffee.com slash the man the Catholic. ⁓ lots of cool stuff there. A couple ⁓ behind the scenes episodes we're going to be releasing as well. ⁓ right now I'm working on some things with Marion apparitions. ⁓ another thing to let you guys know, if you're in the Grand Rapids area, ⁓ we are going to be putting on a retreat, a silent retreat for men. ⁓ over in Lowell at the Franciscan ⁓ process center. Father Dom, we're gonna be giving some talks. It's gonna be up full of a lot of silence besides the talks, mass, adoration, confession. Make sure you sign up. I'll put a link in the show notes as well. Thank you all so much for listening. Until next time, go out there and be a saint. Brothers, thank you so much for listening to this episode. If the shows add value to your life, I'm going to ask you to do three things. Share with a brother who needs it. Leave us a review And finally support the show so we can keep fighting. Links are in the show notes. We'll see you next week.