What is the Point of Eucharistic Adoration?

If you would like information on the meaning of Eucharistic Adoration click on the link below that will take you to a four and half minute YouTube presentation by Fr John Bartunek and Dan Burke that addresses 'What is Eucharistic Adoration and Why is it Important'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fy7nrWGy8w

To participate in Eucharistic Adoration at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parrish in Grand Rapids follow this link:

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Adoration resources are available on the IHM Adoration Blog:

https://ihmadoration.blogspot.com

A Prayer for Living and Dying

"A wise person once said, “Find a spiritual practice and do it as if your life depends on it.” In my case, that practice is Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is a prayer of intention, a prayer of consent, a prayer of surrender. It is a prayer that allows us to touch the Divine Ground of our Being, a prayer that helps us see our true self and get a glimpse of the Love that lives within us and in all creation. It is a prayer for living and a prayer for dying.

One comes to the practice of Centering Prayer with only one intention—to consent to God’s presence and action within. Because of that intention, commitment to the contemplative journey through a daily practice of Centering Prayer involves more than just setting aside time to pray; it also means opening ourselves up to a conversion of our will and total transformation.

When we first start Centering most of us are amazed at how busy our minds are. The silence we long for eludes us. We can't hear God. But as we continue to practice—time and time again letting our thoughts go and returning ever so gently to our intention—we realize that this is all an Ultimate Mystery and requires a graced trust. With committed practice, gradually we are able to embrace the Divine Dwelling within us. There is a knowing, a conviction, that we are with God.

If we stay faithful to the practice, our false self begins to be dismantled and we live more and more from our center, from that Divine Ground of Being, from our true self. We are transformed. As the beloved Thomas Keating, who spent his life conceptualizing and teaching this prayer form, wrote, “By consenting to God's creation, to our basic goodness as human beings, and to letting go of what we love in this world, we are brought to the final surrender, which is to allow the false self to die and the true self to emerge. The true self might be described as our participation in the divine life manifesting in our uniqueness.” . . . 

I once heard a patient say that her dying process was an “ego-ectomy.” The contemplative life through the practice of Centering Prayer can be an ego-ectomy, too. We come closer to our dying every day of our living, so let us live our lives to the fullest, for God's sake. Let us do our spiritual practice as if our lives depended on it—because they do. Let us welcome our ego-ectomy through the dismantling of the false self now—in life—in order to experience each day as a sacred gift."

Susan Rush / CAC Board Member

Begin your transformation by sitting in the presents of God in the Adoration Chapel

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Gods' Merciful Love

Everybody needs God.  It's not a question of being worthy or not.  The issue is ... will you, come into the Chapel and sit down with the One who joins all of us?  It's that joint endeavor - that joint sharing of the human condition with its joys and sorrows, its ordinariness, its profane character, its endless waiting, its deprivations - and not just our suffering ... but the experience of Adoration prayer that gradually educates us in what this prayer type really is:  an education and union in undeserved mercy.

Join us as a regular Adorer!

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Holy Hour Prayer Cards

 Holy Hour Prayer Card 

The offering of prayers for others is a valued expression of love and caring.

Let someone know you prayed for them while spending an hour in the Adoration Chapel by sending a beautiful prayer card.

Cards are available on the book shelf in the back of the Adoration Chapel along with mailing envelops.  A goodwill offering is asked to offset cost.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Open Your Mind and Heart

"We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. . . . Prayer is the opening of mind and heart—our whole being—to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions. Through grace we open our awareness to God whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing—closer than consciousness itself. "
    Thomas Keating

Practice opening your mind and heart to God while spending an hour in Adoration at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Adoration Chapel.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

used 121921 also

Holy Hour Prayer Card

The offering of prayers is a valued expression of love and caring to other members of Gods' family.  Show someone you love and care above the ordinary by obtaining and sending a Holy Hour Prayer Card from the Adoration Chapel.

Pray For Souls in Purgatory

Prayer of St Gertrude the Great

Our Lord told St Gertrude that the following prayer would release 1000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said.  The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well:

“Eternal Father, I offer You

the most precious blood of Your

Divine Son, Jesus, in union

with the Masses said throughout

the world today, for all the

Holy Souls in Purgatory,

for sinners everywhere, for

sinners in the universal church,

those in my own home and

within my family.   Amen.”

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Advent and Adoration

Advent begins Sunday December 2nd.  Christians use the four weeks of the Advent season preparing for the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. 

We ask you to consider praying in the chapel one hour a week during Advent to enhance your preparation for the coming of Christ. The Chapel is open 24 hours Monday through Friday and we encourage all to stop by to pray. The access code if you need it is: 5412.

The Adoration Ministry is in particular need of permanent Adorers during the following times:

   Mondays 10am to 11am, 11am to Noon, and 2pm to 3pm.

   Also Wednesday 1am to 2am.  

We have a very strong ’substitute’ program in place which is totally automated to support those times of scheduling conflicts so you are assured someone will be there to cover your hour.

If you would like more information, or are willing to commit to an open hours please call Tom Kartes at 616-325-9305 // or check out the entire Adoration schedule at 

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Become More Like Christ

As we deepen our personal relationship with Jesus by spending time with Him in Eucharistic Adoration we become more like Him, just as old friends or a long-married couple grow more and more similar.  We become more aware of the obstacles of sin in our life that stand between us and Our Lord.  We develop a stronger desire to make habits of virtue and self-sacrifice in imitation of Him.

If you are not a regular Adorer, maybe now is the time to bring your Jesus relationship to a new level?  Jesus is in the chapel waiting for YOU.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

ihmadoration.blogspot.com

God's Beautiful Silence

The wisdom of the Eastern tradition teaches that the more one increases in knowledge of God, the more one realizes that God is unknowable.  Only through what Pope John Paul II calls “adoring silence” does one grow closer to experiencing God’s presence.  

St Faustina learned this mysterious language of God called silence: 'The Holy Spirit does not speak to a soul that is distracted and garrulous.  He speaks by His quiet inspiration to a soul that is recollected, to a soul that knows how to keep silence (Diary, 553)

A deep abiding joy is one of the fruits of an hour of Adoration

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (6/12)

Reason 6 of 12:

Each hour you spend with Jesus will DEEPEN HIS DIVINE PEACE within your heart.  "Come to Me all of you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you ..."  "Cast all of your anxieties upon the Lord, who cares for you."  (Mt 11:28; 1 Pt 5:7; Jn 14:17)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
http://ihmadoration.blogspot.com/p/weekly-commitment.html

Don't Doubt Your Ability to Honor Your Commitment to Adoration

Don't be afraid to sign up for an hour of Adoration every week.  Trust in the Lord and all will be well.

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says "You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and the strength to bear it."  (1 Cor 10:13)

Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament BECAUSE OF HIS INFINITE LOVE FOR US!  "Behold I will be with you always even to the end of the world," because "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and constant is my affection for you."  (Mt 28:20; Her 31:3)

The specific way the Jesus asks you to love Him in return is to spend ONE QUIET HOUR WITH HIM EACH WEEK in the Blessed Sacrament.  "Where your treasure is, there is your heart ..."  "Could you not watch one hour with Me?" (Mt 6:21; 26:40)

The reward for your investment of 'time' will be heavenly, both in this life and in the next.

Sign up for an hour of Adoration today, at:

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

IHM Adoration

Cultivating a Eucharistic life of Adoration also bears tremendous fruit in our own hearts and lives.  We cannot spend time in the rays of His Eucharistic Presence without receiving His grace His love, His mercy, His peace.  As we gaze upon Him Face to face, we are transformed little by little into a closer reflection of His divine image.  When we deepen our personal relationship with Jesus by spending time with Him in this way, we will become more like Him, just as old friends or a long-married couple grow more and more familiar.  We become more aware of the obstacles of sin in our life that stand between us and Our Lord.  We develop a stronger desire to make habits of virtue and self-sacrifice in imitation of Him.

Won't you join the every growing number of scheduled Adorers and take advantage of the tremendous gifts God is offering us through this practice.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (4/12)

Reason 4 of 12:

When you look upon the Sacred Host, YOU LOOK UPON JESUS, the Son of God.  "Indeed, this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life.  Him I will raise up on the last day."  (Jn 6:40)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (5/12)

Reason 5 of 12:

Each moment that you spend in His Eucharistic Presence with INCREASE HIS DIVINE LIFE WITHIN YOU and deepen your personal relationship and friendship with Him.  "I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly."  "I am the Vine and you are the branches.  Whoever remains in union with Me, shall bear much fruit for without Me you can do nothing."  (Jn 10:10; 15:5)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
http://ihmadoration.blogspot.com/p/weekly-commitment.html

Pray the Chaplet for the needs of the Church

During the month of October we ask regular scheduled Adorers and visitors to continue praying for the welfare of our Church by reciting the "Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation" - this prayer can be found on printed forms in the chapel.

Gods' Peace

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (3/12)

Reason 3 of 12:

The specific way that Jesus asks you to love Him in return is to spend ONE QUIET HOUR WITH HIM EACH WEEK in the Blessed Sacrament.  "Where your treasure is, there is your heart ..."  "Could you not watch one hour with Me?"  (Mt 6:21; 26:40)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
http://ihmadoration.blogspot.com/p/weekly-commitment.html

October Adoration Newsletter

The October Adoration Newsletter has been published and is available via the parish website or via the direct link shown below.

We ask you to note one particular 'change'.  The Newsletter mentioned an Adoration Chapel Open House after all Masses the weekend of Oct 6/7.  We were not able to get the word out to our neighboring parishes in time to publish in their respective Bulletins, and as a result we are rescheduling the Open House.

The Chapel Door is always OPEN.  So if anyone would like a personal chapel tour, or to meet in the chapel for Adoration discussion please call Tom Kartes at 325-9305, or email him at t.kartes@comcast.net

October Adoration Newsletter link

A Treasured Hour

"One thing is certain, that next to Holy Communion, no act of worship is so pleasing to God, and none so useful, as the daily visit to our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament dwelling upon the alter."    St Alphonsus Liguori

For most people a 'daily' visit is difficult if not impossible.  Our schedules and 'life' simply get in the way.  I remember a nun I had in 6th grade who often said "if you really want to do it, you will find a way" (you can probably all relate).  If you really want to spend time with God you will find at least an hour a week for Eucharistic Adoration.  Outside of Sunday Mass that hour will become your most treasured hour of your week - gauranteed.  You will not know the full value and benefit it brings until you are face-to-face with our Lord.  Think of it as padding your 'heavenly retirement program'.

You can find an hour that for you will become your 'most treasured' by clicking the link below:

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (2/12)

Reason 2 of 12:

Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament BECAUSE OF HIS INFINITE LOVE FOR YOU!  "Behold I will be with you always even to the end of the world," because "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and constant is my affection for you.  (Mt 28:20; Her 31:3)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
http://ihmadoration.blogspot.com/p/weekly-commitment.html

Of What Use Is Adoration?

To me that seems like a silly question.  The Church teaches the benefit of Adoration is second only to that of the Holy Mass.  But, like the Mass, if we want to get the most advantage we have to approach it with the right intention and right mindset.

When you make Adoration of God your first priority, heaven and earth open to you and Jesus lavishes you with his grace and fills your heart with his infinite Love to the point of bursting.  Adoration changes you from the inside out, and your Love relationship with God, with your neighbor, and with yourself will never be the same.

The link below is to a short article about how much the world needs Adoration.  Recently we have heard Church leaders state that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the best ways to work our way out of the current crises within the Church.  I hope you will take a moment to read and reflect.  And after, if you are not a regular Adorer, I pray you will be moved to want to join the Adoration Ministry and sign up for a permanent hour in the presence of God.

Interesting to note that the article mentions ... in Lourdes most miracles take place during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  A little further in the article is says the same is true in Medjugorje.  Not a coincidence.

http://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2018/09/07/adoration-may-seem-useless-but-the-world-needs-it-desperately-2/#.W56jmDPshHs.email

adorationpro.org/ihmmi

12 Biblical Reasons To Sign Up For An Hour Of Eucharistic Adoration (1/12)

Reason 1 of 12:

HE IS REALLY THERE!  "I Myself Am the Living Bread come down from Heaven"  (Jn 6:35)

To commit one hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration click on this link:
http://ihmadoration.blogspot.com/p/weekly-commitment.html

Who To Call When You Need A Substitute Adorer?

First Action ... Don't call anyone.

Go to the AdorationPro software and click on "Find A Sub".  At that point you can either 'Send Auto Sub Request' or 'Manually Find A Sub From A List'.

We have several volunteers who make themselves available throughout the week to backfill for regular Adorers who have scheduling conflicts and are unable to Adore at a particular time.  If you select 'Send Auto Sub Request' from your computer screen you will be asked to fill out a short form and your request for help will be sent to a pool of people who said they were available to help during the time of your regular Adoration hour.  When one of those volunteers 'accepts' your request you will get an eMail confirming that your hour is covered.

If your need for help is more than 14 days in advance, or if it is for an extended period of time, you are better off making personal contact with a volunteer.  A list of volunteers, along with their eMail address and phone number, is maintained within the AdorationPro software.  To access 'Manually Find A Sub From A List' you need a password which can be found on the 'Sign up for Adoration' business card available in the chapel.

When you meet someone who says they are on the Adoration Substitute list, be sure the "thank" them.  Our sub program is the foundation of our Adoration efforts.

St Michael, defender of the Church, pray for us!

adorationpro.org/ihmmi

ihmadoration.blogspot.com

September Prayer

During your visit(s) to our Adoration Chapel in September we ask you to include in your prayers the welfare of our Church.  We know recent scandals on abuse around the world have been devastating.  Church leaders are asking the universal Church for a penitential exercise of prayer and fasting.  The Holy Father in particular has asked all the faithful to join in prayer and fasting as a way to help foster conversion and genuine change of life wherever needed, even in the shepherds of the Church.

A good place to start is with prayers to St Michael the Archangel.  He is the model of the Christian warrior exhibiting great fortitude in protecting Heaven and casting into hell the legions of damned spirits.  As the main warrior of God he will not tolerate the divine Majesty to be challenged or offended in his presence, and he is ready to wield the sword at any time in order to crush the enemies of the Most High.

In this struggle, St Michael should not just be our model but also our help.  The fight between St Michael and Lucifer has not ceased but continues throughout the ages, and is exemplified by the current struggles faced by our Church today.

St. Michael, defender of the Church, pray for us!

adorationpro.org/ihmmi

ihmadoration.blogspot.com

Our Lady's Message at Medjugorje

Message to Mirjana - September 2, 2018

Today, September 2nd 2018, Our Lady appeared to Mirjana Soldo and gave the following message:

"Dear children, my words are simple but are filled with motherly love and care. My children, all the more the shadows of darkness and deception are being cast over you, and I am calling you to the light and truth - I am calling you to my Son. Only He can transform despair and suffering into peace and clarity; only He can give hope in the deepest pain. My Son is the life of the world. The more that you come to know Him - the more that you come close to Him - all the more you will love Him, because my Son is love. Love changes everything; it makes most beautiful also that which, without love, seems insignificant to you. That is why, anew, I am saying to you that you must love a lot if you desire to grow spiritually. I know, apostles of my love, that it is not always easy, but, my children, also the painful paths are paths which lead to spiritual growth, to faith, and to my Son. My children, pray - think of my Son. In all the moments of the day, raise your soul to Him, and I will gather your prayers as flowers from the most beautiful garden and give them as a gift to my Son. Be true apostles of my love; spread the love of my Son to everyone. Be gardens of the most beautiful flowers. With your prayers help your shepherds that they may be spiritual fathers filled with love for all people. Thank you."

Matthew 16:18 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
    Jesus promised the devil will not win, but the devil sure is making it hard.  We would like to ask for your special prayer intentions during your visits to the Adoration Chapel in September which would be to pray for our church and our church leaders, including our Pastor Father Troy.  Particular prayers to St Michael the Archangel, the 'Defender of Our Church', would be welcomed.

Crises In Our Church

Must-Watch Videos: Crises in our Church

Fr. John Lankeit, rector of Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, delivered this powerful homily on Aug. 26.   (25 minutes)

Fr. Joseph Illo's 8/19/18 homily about clerical abuse  (16 minutes)

Where Is Jesus in the Midst of the Church's Sex-Abuse Crises?

The National Catholic Register, in the material which was 'pushed' to electronic subscribers today (8/16/18) published an interview with Father Thomas Berg, author of Hurting in the Church. Father Berg spoke about the challenges Catholics face amid the Church's scandals.  This is one part of his interview where he talks about what we can do.

"You discuss in the book how uprooting a betrayal of trust can be and how we really need to be grounded in Christ’s love. What are some concrete ways that Catholics can really root themselves in Christ’s love and find that grounding in a time when they might feel destabilized in the Church?

First, very practical immediate answer: Eucharistic adoration. No doubt about it.

That was essentially my homily when we were talking two weeks ago about the McCarrick thing from the pulpit. It means, as always in crisis, we need to be earnestly and deeply seeking the Lord by frequenting Eucharistic adoration and intensifying one’s life of prayer.

In my own story, I had to go on retreat. I had to just go take some time to just be by myself to get that down to the solid foundation of “What did I stand on?” What was the foundation that everything that I believed stood on?

What one can come to in those experiences is that experience of Jesus — the experience that our risen and glorious Lord still stands present in the midst of our lives. He is there.

When we are hurting, we need to do whatever it takes: adoration, retreat, increased prayer, asceticism, solid spiritual reading — all of the things that we can avail ourselves of God’s grace to re-experience ourselves as rooted and grounded in his love.

God has a very big safety net for us, and it is that reality of being truly rooted and grounded in him and in his love that encompasses us.

It is just that when we are hurting, when we are scandalized, when we are angry, when we are experiencing all of this emotional turbulence, it is just — it takes time and prayer, and I think a lot of coming to silence and coming to quiet to get through that and to realize that Our Lord is still there. Our Lord is still holding his hands out to us. Our Lord is still there to embrace us and pick us up and guide us and help us to move forward."

To see the entire interview please go to:

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/where-is-jesus-in-the-midst-of-the-churchs-sex-abuse-crisis

You Have Adoration Questions?

Adoration Committee members will be in the back of church after all Masses the weekend of Sept 15 and 16 to answer questions about Adoration or the AdorationPro software.

We encourage you to stop; get your questions answered; and if so moved to sign up for your personal hour with God.

AdorationPro will be 'live' so we can answer questions and show you how it works.  We will also be able to demo the 'find a sub' module which is a valuable tool when you are in need of finding someone to cover your chapel hour when scheduling prevents you from being there.

There is no greater privilege for anyone then being able to personally talk with and speak into the ear of God

Why Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament?

If we can adore the Eucharistic presence of Christ when reposed in a tabernacle, why do we then need to expose the Blessed Sacrament on an alter?  It is not essential for exposition to take place to have Eucharistic Adoration, yet people report experiencing a greater sense of intimacy with Jesus and attentiveness of mind and heart to prayer when they are able to actually "see" our Eucharistic Lord.  But the best reason for having exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is simply that God wills it.  During His Eucharistic discourse, Jesus made this unmistakably clear: "Indeed, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son, and believes in Him, shall have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day"   Jn 6:40

Learn how you can participate in Eucharistic Adoration at IHM by visiting:

Become a Weekly Adorer

Adoration Needs You

Get Involved By Becoming an Adorer

Every hour of our Adoration schedule is open to having additional assigned adorers.  However, there are some hours in specific need of new or additional adorers.  The Church asks that two people be present when the Eucharist is exposed for Adoration.  Our current committed schedule has 44% of our total ‘open’ hours covered by only one committed adorer.  There is a lot of opportunity to help out.  If you are not currently committed to Adoration we ask you to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask the question if Adoration is right for you.  If you would like to commit to an hour you can sign-up by going directly to the AdorationPro software and registering for an hour with God.  If you have questions, please contact Tom Kartes at 616-325-9305 or via eMail at t.kartes@comcast.com.

Making Visits to the Blessed Sacrament

“The ways of visiting the Blessed Sacrament must be as various as the souls of men.  Some love to go there to listen; some to speak; some to confess to Him as if He were their priest; some to examine their consciences as before a judge; some to do homage as to their king; some to study Him as their Doctor and Prophet; some to find shelter as with their Creator.  Some rejoice in His divinity, other in His sacred humanity, others in the mysteries of the season.  Some visit Him on different days by His different titles, as God, Father, Brother, Shepherd, Head of the Church, and the like.  Some visit to adore, some to intercede, some to petition, some to return thanks, some to get consolation; but all visit Him to love."

Frederick William Faber, The Blessed Sacrament

(used again 072323)