God Has A Question For You

How Will You Answer?

At some point in the future every living person is going to come face-to-face with the true God and have to give an accounting of the life we led.  Just like all the people who have gone before us.  If God asks, how are you going to answer his question “Could you not watch with me one hour?”  He is not asking for an hour of activity such as saying the rosary or offering a novena; rather he is asking for an hour of companionship.

Our God wants to be with us, and he sincerely hopes we want to be with him in his true presence.  Stop for a moment and think about what he is actually asking … one hour.  One hour out of our week is less than .06% of the total time we have in a week.   

God’s power is not limited to human time measured by the sweeping hands on a clock.  Any ‘time’ given to Our Lord is rewarded beyond human measure.  He invites us to walk with him, and he waits for our invitation asking him to come closer to us.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Eucharistic Miracle of the Real Presence

 Eucharistic Miracle

“Around the year 700 there was a priest in Lanciano, Italy, who was struggling with his faith in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  One morning, while celebrating Mass, he was astonished to see the host change into real flesh and the wine into real blood.  His initial shock gave way to joy as he proclaimed to those near him: “Behold the flesh and blood of our most beloved Christ!” 

After repeated and thorough investigations, scientists concluded that the flesh and blood actually do belong to the human species.  More specifically, the flesh consists of myocardial tissue (the muscular tissue on the heart wall), and the blood contains just the right proteins in the same proportions as normal human blood.  Even though this miracle occurred thirteen centuries ago, both the flesh and blood remain intact and are on display in the Church of St. Francis in Lanciano.”  (Encountering Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration - the WORD among us)

This is the same body and blood that is on the altar every time Mass is celebrated in our churches, and the same body and blood of our Lord Jesus found in our Adoration Chapel.  If he were still walking the earth and preaching as he did 2000 years ago you wouldn’t be able to find an empty seat not only in our Adoration Chapel, but in the whole church.  If you have any doubts I would hope to find you on your knees in the Adoration Chapel praying to the Holy Spirit to increase your faith.  This is truly real.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Divine Love

Full Measure of Divine Love

                                              

“God is not some remote, inaccessible, and implacable Being who demands instant perfection from His creatures and of whose love we must make ourselves worthy.  He is not a tyrant to be obeyed out of terror, nor a policeman who is ever on the watch, nor the judge ever ready to apply the verdict of guilty.  We should relate to Him less and less in terms of reward and punishment and more and more on basis of thankfulness for His divine love.”

(Open Mind, Open Heart - Thomas Keating p.160)

Gods’ divine life is present within us right now in the measure of our faith.

The Easter Resurrection

 The Easter Resurrection

Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead.  Yet, “this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: … able to be present how and when he wills” (CCC, 645).  And that is how we can be certain that the Resurrection is a fact that has happened: The Risen body of Jesus Christ has become present in us, the Body of Christ.  Nothing else could possibly explain what kept those desperate people - the first disciples - together in the days and years that followed Christ’s death.  It was not some idea of ideal that unified them; it was the event of Christ’s presence in their midst.  Even when threatened by perils and persecution, the early Church stayed together because of the undeniable fact that the Risen Jesus had made himself present bodily to his followers in all their weakness, confusion and fear.  He drew forth from them Holy Communion.  Only the bodily resurrection can effect such a miracle of unity, courage and fidelity.  (Jesus, Present Before Me - p106)

Jesus, gave totally of himself to the Father for our salvation.  We must do the same if we want to merit heaven for all eternity.  Pray that you have the courage to follow his example.

Current Adoration Needs:

Check the website for an update of where help is needed.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Adoration is privileged access to our God

Every Cross is Unique

 Palm Sunday

Each of us has a cross to bear; that cross is not the same for any two.  The difference between our crosses is due to God’s will toward each of us.  Our Lord said: “If any man will follow me” let him take up his cross (Mk 8:34).  He did not say: “Take up my cross.”  My cross is not the same as yours, and yours is not the same as any other.  Every cross in the world is tailor-made, custom built, patterned to fit one and no one else.

That is why we say: “My cross is hard.”  We assume that other persons’ crosses are lighter, forgetful that the only reason our cross is hard is simply because it is our own.  Our Lord did not make his cross; it was made for him.  So yours is made by the circumstances of your life, and by your routine duties.  That is why it fits so tightly.

Our Lord deals separately with each soul.  The crown of gold we want may have underneath it the crown of thorns, but the heroes who choose the crown of thorns often find that underneath it is the crown of gold.  Even those that seem to be without a cross actually have one.  There are as many kinds of crosses as there are persons: crosses of grief and sorrow, crosses of want, crosses of abuse, crosses of wounded love and crosses of defeat.

God does not give us a cross then turn his back to let us manage on our own.  He gives us a cross and because he loves us gives us the help we need to manage that cross and turn it into a blessing that will benefit us for all of eternity.

God is present in our Adoration Chapel and ready to help you with your cross.  All you have to do is show up, ask him for his help, then place all your trust in him. 

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

 “I thirst”

“One day Our Blessed Lord said to the multitude: ‘If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink’ (Jn 7:37).  But on the cross, he, from whose fingertips toppled planets and worlds, he who filled the valleys with the song of a thousand fountains now cries, not to God, but to man: “I thirst” (Jn 19:28).  The physical pain of being nailed to a cross, lingering for hours without food or drink beneath an Oriental sun, the parched dryness that came from the loss of blood, now expresses itself not in peevish impatience but in a simple declaration of thirst.

There is nothing in the whole story of the Crucifixion which makes Our Lord seem so human as this one word.  And yet that thirst could not have been only physical, for the Gospel tells us that he said it in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.  It, therefore, was spiritual as well as physical.  God was on the quest for souls, trusting that one of the trivial ministrations of life, the offering of a cup in his name, might bring the offerer within the sweet radiance of his grace.  The Shepherd was still out after the sheep, at the moment when he was giving his life for the flock!” (Seven Words of Jesus and Mary - Fulton J. Sheen)

Have you this lent through your prayers and/or actions been able to quench the ‘thirst’ of Our Lord?  Even a little?

He waits patiently for each of us to come to him.  Why not visit him in the chapel?

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi 

Easter Blessings

 Are You Ready For The Blessings Of Easter?

Pope John Paul II reminded us in an encyclical that the church draws her life from the Eucharist.  Christ promised to “remain with us always, until the end of time” (Mt 28:20), and that promise has been kept in the Eucharist.  Here at IHM, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an important daily practice and an inexhaustible source of holiness and blessing for the parish and for those who personally participate by spending time in our chapel each week.

“If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the act of prayer, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual conversation, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love, before Christ present in the most holy sacrament?” (Pope John Paul II).  Eucharistic adoration is a primary source of strength, consolation and support, both spiritually as well as physically.

The season of Lent is set aside to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Easter.  Take advantage of the opportunity given through Eucharistic Adoration.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Pray In His True Presence

Face-to-Face with God

Praying silently before the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel is a time to speak intimately with Our Lord, who makes himself present to us in a uniquely intimate way.  As an audience before the King of the Universe and the court of heaven, we ARE listened to, assisted, and graced with his abiding love.  (DCN Bob Calleja - Divine Child/Dearborn MI)

So if you ever wonder if Our Lord hears you when you pray why not visit him in the chapel where he is truly present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and praying sitting face-to-face in his presence you know he cannot help but hear your every word.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Follow Me ... Now!

 Lent Is A Time To Follow Him

“As Jesus walked on from there, he noticed a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth.  Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.”  (Matthew 9:9)

“Follow me,” Jesus says, and Matthew does so at once.  What a radical response!  Would you and I do the same?  Would we drop everything straightaway to follow a man we knew little or nothing of?  Probably not.  Yet Matthew does so, as do Andrew, Peter, James and John.  (Matthew 4:18-22)

Every day, Jesus passes through our lives and calls us to follow him in ways both big and small.  The example of the Apostles challenges and encourages us to respond promptly to Jesus’ call.  Do we?

You might ask, “Where do I meet Christ in my daily life?  I do not perceive his presence or hear him calling me.”  Yet he is there.

He calls us to be faithful to our daily prayers when we don’t feel like praying.  He speaks to us through Sacred Scripture or a passage from some spiritual work.  He invites us to grow in the spiritual life through an invitation to spend time with him in the Adoration Chapel.”

 (Amber Kinloch - St Josephs’ Shelf)

How will you respond to his invitation?

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Motivation Reinforced

 Motivation Comes From Being In His Presence

When we visit Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration he rejoices over all that we are doing for him.  He never says, “It’s not enough. 

You need to do more.”  He never says, “You need to serve me more.”  He never says, “You’re not faithful enough to me.  You need to work harder.”  Rather, he blesses us and pours out his love on us, knowing that this is enough to compel us.  He tells us how pleased he is with us, and that experience of God’s pleasure motivates us to lay down even more of our lives.  To put it more simply, his love for us calls more love out of us.  It may be hard to believe, but Jesus is even more eager to be with us than we are to be with him!
Renew your motivation by spending time in the Adoration Chapel.

                                                                   If you give God a chance He will win!
                                                        www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

This Could Be Your Best Lent Ever

If you’re still looking for an idea of what to do this Lent that would be pleasing to God, and beneficial to your soul, now might be a good time to honestly ask yourself that question and trusting in God see what ideas come to the surface.

If in the past you haven’t been too successful with Lenten resolutions you might want to take a new approach.  If before it was you who decided what plan of action to take - this year you might want to ask God for his input.

If you decide to ask God you should begin by separating yourself from the noise and clutter of this world and sit quietly in his presence.  You can do this anywhere; you don’t have to be in church or the adoration chapel.  God is always with us; so find a quiet place where you can simply turn your mind to God and ask him as a friend what he would like to see you do to grow spiritually in this time before Easter?

The hard part is now to be quiet and listen.  Remember any conversation is not a monologue but an exchange - we must not do all the talking but must also be good listeners.  At the same time you need to place your trust in God - He will not lead you astray. 

See you in the Adoration Chapel this Lent.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Begin Now From Where You Are

 Begin Now From Where You Are

Spiritual growth is not limited to the seasons of Lent or Christmas, but rather it’s the endeavor of a lifetime.

To grow spiritually we must be totally dependent on our relationship with God.  To improve that relationship we need his help.  You don’t need a grand conversion experience.  Rather for most of us, it’s a continual series of small, firm daily renewals that lead to a grand conversion.  This type of conversion takes time to establish and additional time to grow.

A relationship with Jesus also is not dependent on you doing everything correctly.  It means only that you desire to give him your heart.  You are going to make mistakes or struggle, and he knows it.  He is not going to stop putting graces in your life, and he is not going to ignore you if you struggle.  You only need to raise your level of trust in God and he will support you.

Keep in mind that no one becomes a saint overnight - not the Apostles, not the martyrs, none of them reach sainthood in a single instant.  Trust that Jesus is working with you in the middle of your trials, and that you are bearing far more fruit than you think you are.  If you keep that mindset, then you will find the practice of dedicating each day to the Lord becoming easier and easier.

If you are not a regular Adoration adorer now would be a good time to start your conversion.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

God Wants Presence

“You console my Eucharistic Heart by giving me signs of your friendship; of all these, the one that most consoles me is your presence before my Eucharistic Face.  There are many ways of expressing friendship and of responding to the love of one’s friend, but the one that is most satisfying to the heart is the simple act of companionship, of presence, of being together. (In Sinu Jesu: When Hearts Speak to Heart  pg 153)

This is a good time to offer Jesus the gift of your presence, and one of the better ways to do that is Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel, where you can go and pray before the face of our true God almost anytime you want.  You don’t have to be a ‘committed’ adorer to pray in the chapel, you are welcome anytime your schedule permits.

The more time we spend in his presence the easier it is for us to find him not only in the chapel, but everywhere and in everything we do.

“Loving Father, my heart reveals to me that everything that I long for finds its fulfillment in the Eucharist.  Attune my way of thinking to the Eucharist so that I will be responsive to the presence of your Son in whatever comes my way.” (Jesus, Present Before Me - Fr Peter Cameron, O.P.)

Listen to God's Invite

God’s Invitation

Need time to catch your breath and put a little normalcy back into your life?  As in all things, God is ahead of us because he gives us a standing invitation to step away from the busyness and noise of everyday living when he says in Matt 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

You can find that ‘rest’ spending time in His Real Presence in the Adoration Chapel.  The beauty of this ‘rest’ is that you don’t have to do anything but show up.  You simply sit in His presence and God does the work.  All you need is a little trust.  How much easier do you want it?  This action of sitting in His presence changes us from the inside out by lifting us up and giving us renewed direction and energy.

Join the many of your fellow parishioners who have made ‘chapel time’ a regular component of their prayer life and found this divine support to be priceless.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

God Waits For You

He Waits For You!

Many people visit the Adoration Chapel to be able to sit quietly in the Presence of God and experience the solace of the surroundings during normal activities of the day.  Some adorers are ‘committed’; as such they have volunteered for a specific time each week.  You don’t have to be a ‘committed’ adorer to spend time in the chapel; you can visit when your schedule permits.  No matter when you go He is waiting for you and wants to hear about your life, your joys, your sorrows.  In His presence it’s a good time to recall how He was insulted, publicly humiliated, and suffered for us to save us from eternal damnation.  This is a time we can thank Him for what He did, tell Him how much we love Him, and give Him thanks for all the graces and blessings He gives us.  It is a time we can talk to Him as a friend who always has time to listen.

Adoration helps us grow through silence.  While sitting in his presence we grow spiritually and it doesn’t take long to experience these changes positively affecting our lives.  These changes improve our relationship with God, and as our relationship improves we find ourselves wanting to spend more time in His presence, and we begin looking for additional opportunities for chapel time.

Pope Francis in a recent Angelus said, “Through silence and prayer, we make space for Jesus”.

Make Better

 To Make Better

Our human condition often gets in the way of fully realizing how important it is to our spiritual well being to spend time in the true presence of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and God.  Unfortunately, we may not fully realize its importance until we’re standing face to face before our Lord.  When that time comes I hope we’re all able to say ‘I tried to use every opportunity You gave me to better our relationship and to prepare myself for eternal life with You.’

The New Year not only gives us the opportunity to evaluate our physical lives and commit to change that hopefully will make us better people; it also gives us the opportunity to evaluate our spiritual lives and make changes where we can improve our relationship with God.  ‘Change’ can start in the Adoration Chapel.  If you’re not a regular, why not give it a try.

Adoration is:  “The experience of Christs’ peaceful presence.”

A Resolution That Becomes Easier To Keep With Time

A Resolution That Becomes Easier To Keep With Time

If you are going into the new year without a resolution that if kept would in some way make you a better person let me offer you a fail-safe practice.  Time spent in Eucharistic Adoration increases your love of God and helps you become a better person in the here and now.  Not only is there an immediate Spiritual benefit, but every moment of adoration adds great value to your eternal retirement account that will never decrease in value from that time on.

We all know the importance of compound interest on our financial retirement; the same can be said of our heavenly account.  Don’t wait … start now.  Have faith in Our Lord and remember, If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Every saint has a PAST.... Every sinner has a FUTURE