Rhode Islanders pray seeds of faith planted during street ministry at congress take root

Fruitful stories from the 10th National Eucharistic Congress will continue to surface in the days and years following, as revival sweeps across the nation by the grace of God. Some stories may never be fully told.

Rhode Island Catholic, Providence’s diocesan newspaper, was present as tens of thousands of Catholics converged on Indianapolis in July to testify to Jesus in the Eucharist and spread seeds of faith, praying those seeds will take root and continue to grow.

Among many memorable encounters during the congress is one involving 31-year-old Charles “C-Note” Blackwell.

Dressed in a white tank top and black hoodie, the slim man seemed slightly out of place during the congress’s eucharistic procession through downtown July 20 as he called out: “First day Catholic!” to passing priests, bishops and religious. Tears poured from his eyes as he encountered the Blessed Sacrament.

Blackwell didn’t make the trip to Indianapolis from anywhere. He hadn’t professed the Catholic faith before. He lives in a hotel with his brother and makes his day-to-day living by rapping for those who pay him in pocket change. He loves breakfast and hopes to bring clean, inspirational rap music to the younger generation. He spouts faith-filled acronyms like GOAT (God of All Things) and HOLY (Helping Others Love You).

A chance encounter with a eucharistic pilgrim from Rhode Island showed him a deeper love of God.

Garret Quillen and Tom Kaluza had traveled to Indianapolis with a group of 120 pilgrims from the Providence Diocese. They were exploring the city between congress sessions July 19, when the two friends got separated. Quillen ended up at the door of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church — the site of the congress’s perpetual adoration chapel — at the time that Blackwell was being escorted off the property.

Blackwell had been invited into the church by a female pilgrim who had met him on the street.

“I went in with her, I walked straight to the front,” he said, explaining he got down on his knees and talked to God. “And I prayed to him for about five to seven minutes because I really didn’t know what to say,” Blackwell told Rhode Island Catholic. “But once I got up, I was walking toward the door and I started crying. I felt his spirit so I can’t leave the building, so I turned back and walked toward the altar and sat down in the chair and I cried for another 10 minutes.”

However, since he wasn’t registered for the congress, he wasn’t permitted to remain in the church. On the street outside, Quillen reached out to the homeless man, saying, “Don’t worry, he sees you.” The two talked for a time about the faith, then parted ways.

And by the grace of God, they crossed paths the next day in front of a hotel where Bishop Richard G. Henning of Providence was about to say Mass. (He’s now Archbishop Henning. Pope Francis named him Aug. 5 to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley as Boston’s archbishop and will be installed Oct. 31)

Seeing an opportunity to evangelize a soul hungering for Christ, Quillen, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston, invited Blackwell to Mass, but the man explained that he had to make $120 for the family’s hotel room that night. Quillen offered to pay for his room so he could attend.

“He walked into Mass with a big smile. He was so happy to be there, to be invited in,” Quillen said.

Throughout the Mass, Quillen stayed with Blackwell at the side of the room, quietly explaining different aspects of the liturgy to the enthusiastic man.

“First Mass was wonderful. I got blessed by the bishop. It was a great experience,” Blackwell commented.

Kaluza, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Parish in West Warwick, hadn’t known about Blackwell before he appeared at Mass, but he told Rhode Island Catholic later, “Just before Garret met Charles, he had a look on his face, he was inspired.”

After the Mass, “Charles came up to me right away, started asking questions and I just answered them. I didn’t know what was going on, but then I got briefed and it all made sense; OK, this was what we were here for. It just happened,” Kaluza said.

Glenn Dupont, another Rhode Island pilgrim and a parishioner at St. Pius V Parish in Providence, also explained to Blackwell the relics that a woman attending the Mass from St. Louis had brought along with her.

Seeing Blackwell’s childlike wonder at the Mass and after visiting his hotel room and meeting his brother, Quillen felt moved to continue guiding him toward the Catholic Church. He purchased a pass for him to attend the congress, and throughout the day, he, Kaluza and Dupont remained with Blackwell, sowing the seeds of faith. Blackwell learned quickly. He had already been told that Jesus founded the Catholic Church and he easily retained the knowledge he was given.

His tearful response to the Eucharistic procession caught the attention of a handful of bishops, who came over to bless him, as well as various media representatives who took photos and video of the moment. This powerful demonstration was what 50,000 Catholics hoped to achieve in Indianapolis.

Quillen, overcome with emotion after the procession, sought a priest among the crowd to ensure he was being led in the right direction with Blackwell.

“I thought he was genuine. … There were a lot of other people who found this man to be genuine. I was with him for three days and I can tell you right now, I’ve met people who go to church who don’t hunger for the Lord the way that man did, quite honestly,” Quillen remarked.

While at Mass in the stadium the next day, Quillen said, “I just got a conviction that this man needed to receive Jesus sooner rather than later, especially after hearing his story about how he almost got stabbed to death right in front of our own hotel” several years earlier.

At one point, Quillen and Blackwell went back to adoration, where Blackwell wrote a prayer on a slip of paper, placed it in one of the intentions baskets and genuflected before the altar, making the sign of the cross. A group of young people, all under age 30, gathered around Blackwell outside the church, surrounding him in prayer.

Other pilgrims from the Diocese of Providence also engaged in street ministry during the National Eucharistic Congress.

Pilgrimage coordinator Paige Gorewitz said she and her husband, Ben Gorewitz, director of the diocesan Catholic Athletic League, spent time ministering to the homeless, asking those living on the streets what they were experiencing “with all these pilgrims out here, and they said it’s not like the other times that Lucas Oil Stadium is packed — this time it’s something different,” Paige said.

Evening revival sessions, with music, keynote speakers and eucharistic adoration, drew crowds of more than 50,000 to Lucas. The stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center were the two main venues for the congress.

Paige told Rhode Island Catholic that the homeless people they encountered said that pilgrims from all over the country were stopping and praying with them, befriending them and giving them food and cold water and they appreciated that greatly.

“It’s just been really beautiful to see the Catholic Church show up for that community in that way and for me that’s been the most beautiful part of this congress and I think the graces are just overflowing into community here,” she said. “I’ve been telling the people in the streets that we’ve met that we’re going to pray for you forever and so are all these people because this is going to be a momentous occasion for the church and we’re never going to forget it.”

As for Quillen, instead of leaving on the bus to Providence July 21, the closing day of the congress, he remained in Indianapolis all of that Sunday, trusting that God would bring him home when he needed to return. And through the kindness of an elderly female pilgrim, he did.

In Blackwell, Quillen recognizes “a soul who sees the Eucharist for what it is, hungers for it, genuinely wants it.”

Quillen is working with a local parish and religious sisters to bring Blackwell into full initiation in the Catholic Church through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and first holy Communion.

“I’m gonna continue to walk in God’s light. Get a church, find a real great church that’s Catholic, and fellowship,” Blackwell reported.

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