GALVESTON, Texas (OSV News) ─ Patricia Galindo's handwritten sign towered over her, often fluttering about when a breeze from the Gulf of Mexico blew through Galveston Island.
In large black ink, Galindo wrote a bilingual message in English and Spanish on white cardboard declaring, "Eucharist: My Source of Strength."
And by finally reaching Galveston Island June 2, the feast of Corpus Christi, Galindo finally reached the home stretch of her biking journey, one that took her along the path of the St. Juan Diego Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
Her visit to St. Mary Cathedral Basilica and Sacred Heart Church in Galveston marked the beginning of the end of her biking pilgrimage. She had started her pedaling alongside the Eucharistic processions in her hometown of Brownsville, Texas, and followed the pilgrimage group as it slowly wound its way up the Texas Gulf Coast.
Joined by a close friend, the two committed to accompany the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage group all the way from Brownsville to Beaumont, Texas, and see that the group made it to Louisiana.
Atop her tricycle, she biked as much as she physically could handle, often seeing the "perpetual pilgrims" at Mass, prayer vigils and other events as the route continued through Corpus Christi and Victoria, finally reaching the Houston area. She'll pedal alongside the Eucharistic processions that coursed through various Texas towns and cities, moving from parish to parish.
Inspired by Brownsville Bishop Daniel E. Flores' call to follow Jesus in the pilgrimage, she saw her tricycle as a means to join the journey and roll with Jesus because of her difficulties with walking.
Like any pilgrimage, Galindo's road has not been smooth. The streets themselves were often not well paved and uneven. Her blue tricycle itself is heavy, requiring assistance -- several times from Charlie McCullough, one of the young perpetual pilgrims -- to be lifted into her support SUV for the long stretches that Galindo can't make by bike. Along the way she took a few tumbles off her bike when she lost her balance, quickly earning road rash.
Chuckling, Galindo said that if she biked the entire way like the pro cyclists tackle the Tour de France, "we'd still be in Texas" when the pilgrimage is set to arrive in Indianapolis July 16 for the National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held July 17-21.
In Brownsville, she was confronted like all the other pilgrims with intense heat, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, an issue that forced organizers to cancel a procession.
But along the way, she found her encounters with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament just as invigorating as her interactions with pilgrims from around the world, some coming from as far away as Canada and New York.
"I've been talking to so many people," Galindo told the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "I see they're just like me. You just go. It's something that's inside you. You're happy. You're at peace with yourself. You're filled with the Lord, and the Eucharist."
"Something inside us said just to go," she said. "And they say it's our souls, because we have us, and we have our souls. Our souls are forever. And our souls are with the Lord. And when we're in that adoration, we're receiving the Lord. We're being lit up with the light of the Lord, with the light of the Lord."
Anytime she met a stranger, Catholic or not, she'd tell them that they were in her prayers.
"Whether in front of the Eucharist at our home parish or along this journey across Texas, we're praying for all the families, the homes, everyone that we're passing by," Galindo said. "We're also praying for everyone who can't join the pilgrimage, for one reason or another. They're with us in spirit. The Lord is calling each of us, we just have to listen."
Upon reaching Beaumont June 3, Galindo and her friend completed their 15-day, 600-plus mile-long pilgrimage with the Lord. Even as she neared the finish line, Galindo was already looking beyond the congress in July that she is set to attend, and was planning on her next journey to Europe for the Jubilee Year 2025.
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James Ramos is content editor for the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
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