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Four priests who completed a 54-mile "Walk for the Poor" from April 29 to May 1, 2020, pose for a photo in the parking lot of St. Andrew Apostle Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Md. The four Maryland priests pictured from left are Father Ebuka Mbanude, parochial vicar at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Kensington; Father Shaun Foggo, administrator of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Takoma Park; Father Mario Majano, parochial vicar at St. Andrew Apostle Catholic Church in Silver Spring; and Father Dan Leary, pastor at St. Andrew's. (CNS photo/courtesy The Holy Ruckus)
May 15, 2020
Mark Zimmermann
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON -- As four priests of the Archdiocese of Washington started out on a three-day, 54-mile "Walk for the Poor," they wanted those suffering from the impact of the coronavirus to know they are not alone, that Jesus is with them.
They set out early April 29 from the parking lot of St. Andrew Apostle Church in suburban Silver Spring, Maryland, on a pilgrimage to the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
The theme for their walk was "Hearts That Are Burning," inspired by that previous Sunday's reading from the Gospel of Luke, where the disciples came to recognize that Jesus had been walking with them on the road to Emmaus.
Father Dan Leary, St. Andrew's pastor, had brainstormed on Easter with Father Mario Majano, parochial vicar there, and with Father Shaun Foggo, administrator of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Takoma Park, Maryland, about what they could do as priests to raise funds for the poor impacted by the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic.
They also wanted to unite in prayer with those who had experienced sickness, death or anxiety from COVID-19.
"We wanted to lift up their spirits by bringing their trials and worries to Our Lady, and helping them realize Christ is walking with them in this time," Father Leary told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.
By their journey's end, they were joined by Father Ebuka Mbanude, a parochial vicar at Holy Redeemer Parish in Kensington, Maryland.
The four priests had the support of over 400 people across the country, who walked, ran, rode bikes and even did horseback riding for more than 4,000 pledged miles in their neighborhoods and communities in the District of Columbia and 12 states, teaming with family members and friends.
The walk raised more than $153,000 in pledges from more than 1,000 donors for local and international charitable programs.
"It was a huge boost. We weren't alone. Other people were doing this, and that helped us push through the pain," said Father Foggo.
Their adventure was chronicled in daily YouTube videos posted by Holy Ruckus Productions and was promoted in the parishes' social media.
Parishioners had specially designed T-shirts labeled with the words Los Tres Padres, Spanish for "The Three Fathers," for the three priests who planned the walk.
Meanwhile, Father Mbanude had come to St. Andrew's to have Father Leary hear his confession, and when he heard about the walk, he wanted to join them. "That's how I was reeled in. He didn't give it to me as a penance," Father Mbanude explained.
On their first day, the priests left St. Andrew Church praying the rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet as they walked along, and carrying more than 1,200 prayer petitions from people that they would bring to Our Lady at the grotto, including from a man praying for healing for a friend's mother, who was suffering from COVID-19 and was hooked up to a breathing tube.
They prayed for those suffering from the virus and for their families, for those who had died of COVID-19, for those alone or frightened, for medical workers serving the sick and for researchers seeking a cure, for first responders, for government and church leaders, for families quarantined together, for teachers and students, for priests, for those suffering financial hardships, and for those helping people in need.
They stopped at the archdiocesan Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring and prayed for parishioners buried there. Father Foggo had presided at a burial there for a father who had died of COVID-19, and he prayed for that man and his family.
Later that day, they celebrated Mass together at St. Patrick Church in Rockville, Maryland.
The priests said that for them, just like the disciples, the walk was an Emmaus journey.
"For me, from the beginning, I was praying for us to encounter Jesus," said Father Mbanude, who added, "That first day set the table for that, for us to walk and pray and encounter the Lord."