AN HOUR GIVEN

“The Eucharist is the first missionary act of the Church.  So if we want to be missionary towards a world in need of new saints and salvation, we have to be men and women of Eucharistic adoration… In adoration we receive the fire of love which enables us to share our conviction and have faith about the presence of God.” (Bishop Dominique Marie Jean Rey,  Bishop of Diocese of Frejus-Toulon France)

                                             

Many ask, how do I spend an hour in adoration?  Sitting still for so many in our modern age is not easy. We get lost in our cares and worries, and preoccupations of daily life.  Believe me the saints had the same problem.

In adoration we  sit at the feet of Jesus, to “chose the better portion”, and to listen to God’s words as He speaks to our heart.  Remember Christ is our Lord, our friend and he is not to be feared.  Speak to Him as if to someone you love, someone you want to know better.

Read the Scriptures. Pray them.   Pray the rosary, meditating on the mysteries of Christ and His Mother, and even if you pause for deep reflection, this prayer will have brought you closer to dialogue with Jesus.

Sometimes, time seems to stand still, a few minutes can seem eternal. 5 minutes of sitting with Jesus is a good goal. Slowly increase your time—you’ll be amazed at how God increases your capacity to be with Him!

Everything in our world seems to attract noise.  It’s so easy to go a whole day without silence. Which is why, when sitting in adoration, it can be difficult to focus. Being truly silent can seem uncomfortable and foreign to us. But that discomfort is  OK, good even. It can help us to wind down and eventually fill us with peace.  Allow yourself to sit in silence and to just be with Jesus. Just to sit in His presence is prayer!

In an apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Jesus spoke these beautiful words: “I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament.” Go to adoration, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. Jesus desires to be with you, to have you gaze upon Him, as He so lovingly gazes upon you.

.The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present in a true, real and substantial way, with his Body and his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity. In the Eucharist, therefore, there is present in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic species of bread and wine, Christ whole and entire, God and Man” (No. 282).