Eucharistic procession for Hollywood homeless draws hundreds
Hollywood Eucharistic procession. Photo CNA.
LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of Catholics processed through Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in a special Eucharistic procession for the poor this month.
The event was organized by the Beloved Movement, a forum that promotes discipleship and spiritual community.
An estimated 700 people attended the Hollywood Beloved Procession after Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church on Nov. 17.
As part of the event, volunteers on the walk sat and listened to some of the city’s homeless population on the boulevard.
Seminarians from St. John’s Seminary and Queen of the Angels led the procession. It was also attended by members of several religious orders, including the Friars and Sisters of the Poor Jesus and Daughters of St. Paul.
The procession concluded in the church parking lot with adoration, praise and worship, and silent prayer.
The Beloved Movement website says the procession seeks to remind people of the common dignity between those on the streets and those who are not. Since Christ bore the weaknesses of mankind, it says, there is no need to be afraid of each other.
“Jesus shared our weaknesses, wounds, and limitations so that we wouldn’t need to be afraid of them, in ourselves or in others,” the website reads.
The Beloved Movement partners with various organizations to foster relationships between homeless people and non-homeless people in Los Angeles. Father Spencer Lewrenz, one of the primary organizers of the event, said those in poverty need more than just resources.
“There are more and more resources,” he told America Magazine when he was a seminarian in 2017. “And it isn’t helping.”
“My experience is there’s a lot of bitterness and despair among the homeless population because they feel like nobody cares,” he said.
“If I can recognize where I feel a little homeless for whatever reason inside myself, then it kind of helps me be able to talk to that person.”
Source: Catholic News Agency
Eucharistic Processions seem an old fashioned idea, but if people won’t come into the presence of the Eucharist why not take the Eucharist into their presence? It also seems like a quiet and gentle proclamation of the faith of those participating. I was reminded of this old tradition recently visiting Porto in Portugal on 7 October at a place called Pavoa de Varzim. That afternoon in this small place more than 1000 people walked with an accompanying brass band from the Igreja Matriz to the Atlantic coast and back – very moving