Walk with Christ brings light and joy to Hobart

By Josh Low

This year’s ‘Walk with Christ’ Eucharistic procession through the streets of Hobart saw local Catholics once again give public witness to their belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Marking the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Blessed Sacrament was carried in procession by Archbishop Julian along Harrington Street from St Joseph’s Church to St Mary’s Cathedral, with around 100 members of the faithful following in procession and song.

Many lined the streets to watch the procession unfold – some were curious to know what was happening, and others displayed reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament.

Julie Glassell participated in the procession; one of the many she has attended over the years.

“The opportunity to walk behind our Lord in procession is the most powerful example the Catholic Church can display to non-believers, and I thank our Archbishop Julian for being our good shepherd,” she said.

“My first recollection of the Feast of Corpus Christi was in the 1950s, when I was a small child, attending St Joseph’s Catholic School in Macquarie Street.

“The sisters would arrange for us to join the procession in Sandy Bay and we would walk and sing hymns and pray the rosary walking around Mt St Canice.

“I was fascinated by the fact that our Lord was outside and not in the Church…I never forgot that feeling of reverence and holiness associated with the Holy Eucharist in the blessed monstrance.

“Even to this very day, it has left a big imprint on my mind.

“If only people realised that the Blessed Sacrament is truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, they would flock to adore him in the Blessed Sacrament,” she said.

Archbishop Julian expressed in his address that Eucharistic processions have long been a way for people to honour Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

“By the fourteenth century, Eucharistic processions through the streets of towns and villages were a common feature of Catholic life and devotion.

“Such processions are public witness to our faith, and a means by which the blessing of Christ is invoked on the citizens.

“[The Feast of Corpus Christi] is indeed a great feast in our liturgical year,” he said.

“Let us renew our desire to offer the Lord fitting worship and adoration in the Blessed Sacrament.

“And as Dark Mofo lays a heavy spirit over the city of Hobart let us bring the light and joy of the presence of Christ to this city in our procession this afternoon.”