What People Are Saying About Adoration

 

Dear Father,

Just wanted to give you a few thoughts on my experience of Eucharistic Adoration. I signed up around this time last year. It was a difficult step to take, because our lives are so busy. It was hard for me to commit to coming to the chapel each week at the same time. However, I did, it, and it has been wonderful. Before I had gone to the chapel for the first time, I remember thinking that an hour seemed so long; I wasn't sure how I could stay focused for an hour. Within a few weeks, I was often staying longer than an hour. It is such a peaceful time for me. I do a variety of things while I'm there; pray the rosary, pray spontaneously, read. Recently, I am trying to spend more time being quiet and listening. This is very difficult to do. I fall asleep, my mind wanders, etc. but I continue to try. It is still difficult to discipline myself to be there every week, but I'm always thankful once I'm there. Spending that hour in the presence of our Lord really is spiritual rejuvenation for me on a weekly basis. In the past few weeks I have considered giving up my hour in Adoration, as increasing gas prices are really putting a pinch on our finances. However, I've decided that my hour in Adoration is way too important to me, and I will have to find another way to cut costs.

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Cheryl writes:

 

Dear Father,

You asked why I go to the chapel each week. The answer is that I started at my former church in Arlington, VA and have continued the practice here. Why do I continue? I don't really know. What I do know is that ever since I started, good things have happened to me. The hurt I felt is gone, the anger has vanished, the envy has evaporated...I rarely need to ask the Lord for favors. He keeps sending them to me and I think it's because I spend an hour with Him. In one hour I usually run out of time thanking Him before I run out of things for which I give thanks. If that's not God at work, I don't know what is (well, He does a marvelous job on sunsets, and sunrises, and Florida weather, and baby cranes, and good priests at MY church--see what I mean?!!) Next to Reconciliation, it's also great therapy: it's quiet, reflective, relaxing and insightful.

 

A good way for "bashful" adorers to get started is to take a pad of paper and pretend that you are interviewing the Lord. He is actually right there, so you ask Him questions and He responds. It's amazing!

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Fran writes:

 

Dear Father,

I began adoration when it was first started here at Ascension. At the time I was in the midst of many personal adjustments in my life, among them the death of my mother and retirement. Needless to say my life was topsy-turvy and I needed to become anchored.

The hour I spend talking to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit each week help me stay focused and direct my energies in the right direction. I find myself very busy every week and look forward to my hour of calm reflection and peaceful inspiration. I am thankful for the many blessings that God has bestowed on me and the Adoration Chapel is high on the list. I wish all our parishioners would come and spend some time in our beautiful chapel and realize the benefits from that old adage "Try it, you'll like it..."

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Cathy, a physician and mother of three young children writes:

 

Adoration is a weekly hour of solitude and peace in our often hectic lives. You leave inspired, better fortified to handle your week.

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Andy, father of two teenagers, works at Harris and has a super busy schedule, writes:

 

Dear Father,

You were looking for witnesses on adoration. I spend my one hour alone with the Lord each Friday at 5 AM. Sometimes if I will be out of town I switch with someone else to do Thursday or Saturday at 5 AM, or I get someone else to take my spot for that week (since I am currently the only person in my time slot). Being that this time is "in the middle of the night", it is a very peaceful time when all is quiet and one can truly get close to God without any other distractions. I spend the time asking God for the forgiveness of my sins and the sins of the world, giving prayers of thanksgiving for all that he has done for me and my family, asking God for help being what he wants me to be and doing what he wants me to do, and praying for any special intentions (e.g. for you, our parish, our friends in the military, for the sick and the dying). Sometimes all this meditation takes the whole hour, other times I have more time and spend it reading and meditating on the readings for the following Sunday.

Unlike when I get up Monday through Thursday and start my day all stressed out about work and other distractions, after leaving the chapel each Friday morning, I feel like I have had my priorities reset to where they need to be, and I go off to work knowing that work is not going to get the best of me! God is on my side!

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Barbara writes the following thoughts on the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

 

Being in the presence of Jesus melts all my earthly cares away. It's a moment when I am quiet and when He can fill me with strength for my journey. I read this and it makes the most sense to me. "Never wander from Christ the loving Shepherd", advises St. Teresa. "The sheep that press close to the shepherd are always stroked more lovingly, and fed morsels of his own food. If the shepherd dozes off, the lamb will not wander. It waits till he wakens, to receive a new gift for its loyalty."

I am most grateful for the gift of faith that allows me to believe that you Lord saw fit to give us yourself to be with us in such a tangible way. You are hidden from my human eyes, but you give us all the gift of faith to see you in that small white host.

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Finally Patricia shares:

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This is in response to your question on why Adoration is important to me. My hour (and sometimes longer) is Tuesday, evening at 11 PM. It is not an easy time because, quite often, I am tired from a busy day but I bring myself to the Adoration Chapel and am always glad I came. It is a very peaceful and relaxing experience. It is like a spiritual communion in the presence of our Divine Lord. Although my intentions are good I don't always make the time I should for prayer. By committing an hour a week in the Adoration Chapel I know I am totally present to our Lord.

 

 

When it comes to prayer, our primary concern should not be "getting something out of it". Such is a consumerist mentality. Rather, we come to be in the presence of Him who knows us best and loves us most. We come primarily to give-- to be as present as we can to the One 'in whom we live, move and have our being'. We come and offer God our distractions, our weaknesses, joys and sorrows. We come as we are with our brokenness and lay it down before our Lord. We may feel that the hour is a waste of precious time. But it is not if we do try to be as present as we can to our Lord. Don't we realize that he appreciates our sacrifice of precious time and our meager efforts to be prayerful. It doesn't matter if we get anything from our hour. It matters a whole lot more that we want to spend an hour with our Lord.