Three parishioners from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Brandywine Hundred are approaching the diocesan Eucharistic Congress, which is set for Oct. 5 in Ocean City, Md., from individual perspectives, but each sees it as an opportunity to more fully live their faith.
Mary Maloney and sisters Judy and Maria McDowell are among the more than 2,000 expected to converge on the Roland Powell Convention Center for a day of praise, reflection and fellowship.
Maloney said she was unable to attend the national congress held in July in Indianapolis, but she’s excited about the diocesan one.
“I want to learn and strengthen my faith,” she said. “I just believe it’s going to be a beautiful experience to share our faith with people in our diocese, many of whom I know.”
She has been active in eucharistic adoration at Immaculate Heart of Mary for many years, attending several times a week. Sometimes, she’s the only one there, which she enjoys because she likes that quiet time with the Lord.
“It’s a very personal, private time for you to spend with our Lord and that makes it very special,” Maloney said.
Judy McDowell, 17, is a senior at Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, and her sister, Maria, is a 14-year-old freshman. Their mother, Rita, is the pastoral associate for evangelization and adult faith formation at IHM.
Both of the McDowell girls are active in their faith. Judy said she does adoration during Lent, and she is training to become a Eucharistic minister. She also works as a teacher’s aide for IHM’s religious education program.
She said the Eucharist is a miracle that can’t be explained, and it shows that there is something people can have faith in. She is encouraged by the prospect of spending a day with other people who have the same beliefs.
Judy said she has been trying to get more involved with her Catholic faith recently, and the congress seemed like a good way to help that effort.
“I felt it was a good idea to do,” she said.
The Eucharist holds a special meaning for Maria.
“For me, the Eucharist is a direct connection with Christ that I can receive often. It really does create a bond between me and Jesus,” she said.
She sees the congress as a chance to live her faith openly without judgment.
“As a young teenager who is strong in their faith, it is really important,” she said. “Things like these are building blocks for being able to carry out my faith.”
A week before the congress, neither of the McDowell girls had looked too closely at the schedule, so they didn’t know which speakers they would go see. One of the things Judy is excited about is the opportunity to see how the Eucharist has changed other people, although she acknowledged that might be difficult to discern.
Maria said she doesn’t want to know exactly what will happen because then she can be surprised.
“It will touch me more, it will stand out to me more, if I don’t know what’s going to be said,” she said.
