Eucharistic Rally Family Zone offers fun, educational activities to engage youth

IC photo/Marshall Palm

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A display of Eucharistic miracles that have occurred around the world was one of the Family Zone act ivies at the Eucharistic Rally.

SALT LAKE CITY — Like the Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James) in Spain, the Diocesan Eucharistic Rally and Mass offered families a spiritual pilgrimage throughout the state of Utah.

Participants at the July 9 event, held at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy, were able to learn about some of the Catholic sites in Utah during the “pilgrimage.” Each stop had a volunteer who explained the site, some had activities and all were related to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The camino offered resources in Braille, presentations in English and Spanish, and other accommodations for those who needed them.

As families moved through the 21 stations, which started at the southern end of Utah, they received punches on a “pilgrimage passport.” For the pilgrimage, 13 parishes from throughout the state were represented: St. George in St. George; Christ the King in Cedar City; St. Joseph in Monticello; St. Pius X in Moab; St. Elizabeth in Central Valley; Notre Dame de Lourdes in Price; St. James the Greater in Vernal; St. Francis of Assisi in Orem; St. Mary of the Assumption in Park City; the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City; San Felipe in Wendover; St. Joseph in Ogden; and St. Thomas Aquinas in Hyde Park.

Among activities was a stop where children could have their photo taken with a cutout of Bishop Oscar A. Solis. Another stop, “Jumping James,” taught participants about how human bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and offered games such as The Word of the God (Simon Says). “The Eucharist at the Mass” station offered the opportunity to see and touch replicas of the vessels used at Mass.

Among the participants in the Family Zone were Susan McCarthy and her two children, parishioners of St. Joseph in Ogden.

“I was very happy to see how my kids engaged in the activities,” McCarthy said; for example, they touched the replicas of the sacred vessels used at Mass.

“I was also surprised to learn more about our parishes’ history, such as the one located in Wendover. I am now planning to go to visit their outdoor Stations of the Cross,” she added.

 Another activity was the labyrinth, where participants removed their shoes and received a pair of socks to walk through the circular path outlined on the floor; this is an ancient form of prayer.

The Sanchez family, parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Salt Lake City, walked the labyrinth, and “Having this time to reflect was really nice for us,” said Juan Sanchez, the father.

At the station on the rosary, volunteers passed out strings and showed participants how to make knots as they talked about the history of the prayer.

“I didn’t know that back in the day the priests used knotted ropes to count prayers,” said Martin Luna, a St. Francis of Assisi parishioner, after visiting the rosary station.

“The Eastern tradition teaches that the Church Fathers and the hermits of the third and fourth centuries especially – Anthony the Great and Pachomius the Great – used knotted ropes to count prayers, typically for praying the 150 Psalms of David and later, meditating on a prayer which they invented,” the tour guide volunteers said at the station.