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Teens lead Eucharistic procession through downtown Coeur d'Alene
- Vero Gutierrez
- Jun 5
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 6
More than 300 Catholics from six North Idaho parishes join the youths in joyful expression of faith and worship
By Lisa Ormond,
ICR Correspondent
On the evening of May 20, over 300 Catholics from six different northern Idaho parishes took part in a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of downtown Coeur d’Alene. They were led by area youth.
“I feel the youth shared their faith today. It was really good for the youth to lead a procession in front of other people who were not Catholic,” said 15-year-old Blaze Howard, who attends St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, where the procession started.
Gathering for Jesus
The 60 youth at the front of the procession were led by 16-year-old Owen Keith of Coeur d’Alene, who was the catalyst.
“This was a youth-led gathering with Owen Keith providing a focal point for the passion and courage of those youth,” said Deacon Chris Stewart of St. Pius X Catholic Church.
Deacon Stewart took turns carrying the monstrance with Deacon Andy Finney from St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene, Deacon Erik Schirmer, who is assigned to St. George's Parish, serving at St. Stanislaus Chapel in Rathdrum and St. Joseph's Chapel in Spirit Lake, and Deacon Vince Perry, who serves at St. George's in Post Falls.
Deacon Stewart noted, “This Eucharistic procession speaks to Owen’s leadership specifically, but more broadly of the wonderful things happening across Kootenai County in terms of our Catholic faith and youth.”
How it came to be
The procession was Owen Keith’s idea. During the Lenten season, he participated in the Exodus 90 program, which proved very fruitful for him.
“The Exodus program inspired me to think about a public proclamation of faith,” said Keith. “I realized it is hard to be religious in a public manner in your coat pocket.”
“What came to fruition here started with a young man on fire for the Lord after encountering Christ through prayer, worship, and the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Jason Chavez, founder of Communio CDA, which co-hosted the Eucharistic Procession. “Many of us are still riding that spiritual high from the Eucharistic Procession.”
Serving the greater good
Owen Keith approached local Catholic youth leaders to help him plan and carry out the youth-led Eucharistic Procession. Chavez, who is also the Campus Minister at Holy Family Catholic School and Wes Miller, Director of Faith Formation and Coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Pius X, immediately joined forces to support Keith, tapping the surrounding Catholic parish communities to assist with details and logistics.
Miller, who has served as a youth leader for seven years, said, “Our youth are really motivated by mission. They are driven by social justice and making a difference, an impact, in their communities and the world.”
For Miller, the May 20 Eucharistic procession was a welcome fruit from the Lord. “Once young people encounter Christ, they catch fire and are no longer afraid to bear the torch of faith and bring hope to their generation,” he said.
Spiritual strength
Keith led his Catholic community through the streets of his hometown, carrying the processional cross with pride and deep devotion. This was his first Eucharistic Procession.
Keith confessed the processional cross was heavy and, at times, he found it difficult to bear. But, a thought kept coming to his mind during the procession: “My cross is light compared to the Cross Jesus carried on Calvary,” Keith said.
Joseph Girard, a Coeur d’Alene High School sophomore and friend of Keith’s, was directly behind him as a candle bearer for the three-mile walk with Jesus.
"Tension entered me as the procession began,” Girard said. “But we knew why we were there and the importance of it. We knew the Lord was physically before us and out for the world to see."
Keith had hoped 150 Catholics would accompany him on his public faith journey, but more than double that number turned up.
“I was astonished and inspired by the number of people who volunteered their time and talents to help our procession,” said Keith, “like the Knights of Columbus, leading and guiding us through traffic, as well as some of the courageous young people who stepped up and carried the relics with the procession.”
Relics provided by The Relic Project, located in Spokane, were carried in the May 20 procession, including those of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Bernadette Soubirous.
Participants sang hymns and prayed in unison as the Eucharist was carried from St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church to McEuen Park, where the monstrance containing the Eucharist was set upon a temporary altar. The relics, too, were placed on the altar, surrounding the monstrance. Four altar servers held a baldacchino (canopy) over the altar. While at the park, Keith led the assembly in the recitation of the Rosary.
“It was so beautiful, watching and witnessing this. Just kneeling before Christ in the park on the grass with the Catholic community—it was really powerful and touching,” said St. Pius X parishioner Donna Miller.
“For me personally, the procession was magnificent. It filled me with great pride that our Catholic community came together in such a strong and meaningful way,” said Keith.
Reactions
Attendees complimented and praised the youth for their dedication and faith.
“It’s so exciting seeing so many youths and to have a youth-led procession with their love for Jesus visibly present,” said Cindy Young, a 73-year-old parishioner of St. Pius X. “This is so beautiful that so many churches of our community, the body of Christ of Kootenai County, are here.”
St. Thomas parishioner Tami Lasher mentioned this was not her first Eucharistic procession as a Catholic, but it would be a memorable one. “It was very moving for me to see the amount of youth here tonight. This was amazing,” Lasher said.
Father Len MacMillan, pastor of St. Pius X Parish, and Father Mariusz Majewski of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, were also part of the youth-led procession.
Father Majewski said, “It was a beautiful spiritual event, especially for our youth--a powerful testament to our faith to go and bless our city with the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist--body, soul and divinity. The participation was awesome.”
Father MacMillan also noted the turnout, saying it was “surprisingly huge.” He added, “Praying the Rosary with the Blessed Sacrament with the beauty of the lake and setting sun was heart-movingly inspirational.”
Deacon Stewart commented, “This sort of universality or unity is the heart of what it means to be Catholic; what it means to give your ‘Amen’ when receiving the Eucharistic Body and Blood of our Lord.” He added, “As Pope Leo's motto states, ‘In the one, we are all one,’ and it was nice to experience the incarnation of that motto at the Eucharistic Procession.”
Jason Chavez called attention to the missionary spirit of the area youth: “God is moving. The Holy Spirit is stirring. And this is just the beginning,” he said.
“The need for revival is now,” Keith said. “Not only in our world, not only in our nation or state or town, but in every fiber of every human being.”
