If you’ve never tried Eucharistic Adoration, this week is the perfect time to try it out! Why is that, you ask? This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, also known as Corpus Christi. This is the Church’s great celebration of God’s most precious gift to us: The Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
Q: What is Eucharistic Adoration?
Eucharistic Adoration is a time we set aside for worship of Jesus, truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. As Catholics, we believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a liturgical action. It is actually an extension of the Mass: “When the faithful adore Christ present in the sacrament, they should remember that this presence derives from the sacrifice…” (Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, #5).
“To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord.” – Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 66
A: A Heart-to-Heart with Jesus
Adoration is an opportunity to encounter Jesus, real and present for you. It is a time of silence in the presence of God. A time set apart to speak directly to Jesus, and let Him speak back to you. St. John Henry Newman took this motto when he became a cardinal: Cor ad cor loquitur, “Heart speaks unto heart.” Adoration is really as simple as this, allowing Jesus’s Sacred Heart to speak intimately and personally to your own heart.
“The Gospel of God’s love…finds its highest expression in the Eucharist. In the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration we meet the merciful love of God that passes through the Heart of Jesus Christ.” – St. Pope John Paul II
Q: What if I’m nervous about going into the chapel?
I think it’s actually a good thing to be cautiously reverent. We should be mindful when entering a room where God, the Lord of the entire universe (!), is exposed to our sight, even in the appearance of humble bread and wine. However, I want to share a personal story. God showed me that He is not only real and present to me in the adoration chapel. He also wants me to loosen up a little about it!
A: My advice: Be reverent, but relaxed.
My story: I was so tired one day going into my weekly adoration hour. I was the only one in the chapel at that time. I was kneeling in prayer but distracted. My body was tired and my feet hurt. I asked Jesus in prayer, “Lord, would it be okay for me to take off my shoes?” I could hear Jesus say to my heart, “Yes dear, please relax. Sit back and slide off your shoes, and just be with me in this moment.” So I did just that.
I typically read and pray with the Daily Mass readings during my holy hour, so I began to read the first reading. It was about Moses and the Burning Bush. This line knocked my socks off, literally: “Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground’” (Exodus 3:5). I was alone in the chapel, and I literally laughed out loud. There was my answer. The Lord was confirming to me that I was there on holy ground in His presence. It was completely appropriate for me to have my shoes off. (For the record, I don’t think we need or should take our shoes off in the chapel all the time!)
Jesus was showing me that my presence in the adoration chapel, in His holy Presence, was what was most important. That He accepts me in my human frailty. Not only does He accept it, He loves me in all of my weakness and need. And He wants me to be there with Him, whatever condition I am in. He wants the same thing for you, too.
Lord, I adore You in all the ways you come to me. I am especially moved by the way You express Your love to me most humbly in the Eucharist.