Adoration

As the campaign for Eucharistic adoration is about to be launched in Christchurch I thought that I would write a little something about it on this blog…

Our Catholic faith tells us that the Eucharist we receive in the mass IS the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, both through the Church’s teaching and our own experience, that the host we receive is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God and second person of the trinity. With our human eyes we can sometimes fail to see and believe this, and doubt can invade our minds. Yet, I urge all of you to have faith!! Have faith in the Church, have faith in God and have faith in the Eucharist.

So we have the body of Christ with us. Adoration is when we gather before the exposed Eucharist, which is placed in a monstrance, and simply adore Jesus. Adoration is what it says it is!! We know what it is to adore people, for example we adore our girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, grandparents. Perhaps the easiest people to adore are little babies, who in their innocence, purity and beauty are impossible not to love! Sometimes it is hard to express this emotion towards Jesus, mostly because we don’t know him! But when you spend time with him in prayer and in adoration and reflect on what he did for us upon the cross, you do get to know him. Then it is hard not to adore him!

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Upon going to adoration this verse should have a profound new meaning. We go to adoration to sit or kneel in the presence of Christ, who is the bread of life. Being in his presence changes us. It transforms us. I have heard it likened to spiritual sunbathing – the Eucharist is the sun and we sit and get a healthy tan from the sun’s rays. “God is love” as St John and Pope Benedict put it, so if the Eucharist is God then it is also pure love!! If we sit in the presence of this love then naturally we are affected.

When we adore Christ we are in very good company. Think of the nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men – all adoring the word made flesh, baby Jesus. As Christmas gets closer you will see this scene everywhere from your local parish to shopping malls!! And every time you see it make sure you realise what exactly is going on – Adoration. There are also the Angels. They, like us, are created to adore God, and do so (Hebrews 1:6).
Adoration is the best preparation you can make for WYD. It will prepare you soul for the journey ahead and draw you closer to Jesus. They are calling it the “Holy hour of power” because that is what it truly is. When you give your time to Christ in this way don’t be surprised to see changes in your life.

I will post another blog after the launch of the adoration campaign this Sunday. All are welcome to come: 7pm at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch. See you there!!!

Any questions, send me a comment!!