Why Sign Up For A Regular Holy Hour?
   (Amber Kinloch - St Joseph’s Shelf)

This question has been on your mind, perhaps, or maybe someone suggested it to you.  Maybe you already attend Adoration on a regular basis, but are reluctant to commit for any number of reasons: the length of time, the burden of other duties, the fear that you can’t keep up a regular commitment.

Maybe you find Adoration a chore.  You love God, but sitting there is so boring.  Nothing ever seems to happen.  Serving God in other ways feels more productive.

I have been a regular adorer for several years and have faced these difficulties firsthand.  Yet Adoration consistently remains a top priority for me.  Here’s why, along with some practical advice for overcoming different obstacles.

Why Sign Up Instead of Just Going?  What Difference Does It Make?

Adoration felt laborious for me in the beginning.  I cannot tell you how many hours I spent sitting in church waiting for the hour to be up just like St. Teresa of Avila.  Sometimes, I still feel this way.  Why do I keep at it then?

The answer is threefold:

#1  Time Matters

Time is our most valuable commodity.  As my dad says, you can always get more money. You can’t get more time.  To not only go to Adoration, but to block out a specific hour for it is to commit to Our Lord on a whole new level.  We tell Him, “You are a top priority.”  Jesus, infinitely generous, will repay such a commitment beyond measure just as He promises in the Gospels (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 6:38).

#2  Love is Manifest in Concrete Action

Love is an act of the will, not an emotion.  Adoration, therefore, is not always an emotional experience.  The hours I spend with Our Lord are not about how I feel.  They are about growing in a relationship with Him.  Adoration at any time is a good thing.  But committing to a particular hour and going then no matter how I feel demands spiritual maturity.

#3  It’s the Place Par Excellence for Prayer

Spending time with Jesus is essential if we’re going to possess the grace needed for fulfilling our duties.  He is the vine and we are the branches.  Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  The place par excellence for prayer is with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament because “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’ ‘The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.  For in the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Paschal Lamb’” (CCC 1324).

Now that Lent has started; this may be a wonderful time to make a commitment and a weekly appointment with Our Lord because He so longs to spend ‘face time’ with you.

Sign up for an hour at: www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Infusion Of Grace

 Be Infused

When we participate in the practice of perpetual Adoration, we put ourselves in direct contact with the God of presence and mission.  Our action as adorers pales in the face of God’s action of infusing us with the spirit of the Divine Being.  We are changed dramatically just by being in this living presence and being open to the action of our gracious God.  We become instruments of God’s peace, mercy, joy, consolation, or courage.  The more we celebrate the small miracles of daily life, the more we realize the very personal action of God in our daily living.

God will bless your life, your work, and your family.  Praying in the Lord’s presence draws you closer to Christ, gives you strength to deal with the circumstances of daily life, and provides you with the opportunity to ask God to help

With Lent starting on Wednesday why not seriously consider signing up for a weekly hour of Adoration … could be the first step to improving your relationship with God.

A Great Need ...

 A Great Need …

The Church has stressed that Christ is present to His people in many ways, but that none of these detract from the unique experience of the reception of Holy Communion and, in the aftermath of that reception, the adoration of the Real Presence.

In the words of Saint John Paul II: “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship.  Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love.  Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world.  Let our adoration never cease.”

Lent starts next week.  Have you thought about what positive thing you could do this year.  Consider a weekly hour of Eucharistic Adoration.

Time For God!

 Make Time

“We in the twenty-first century think we are the first to be so busy - busy with making money or being students or caring for children, parents, or grandchildren.  When we are so busy taking care of people and issues right in front of us, how do we remember to make time to enrich our personal relationship with God?  St. Francis, in his own busy life of working, teaching, and writing, was always aware of his need for regular prayer - he would not forget.  For Francis, prayer was essential sustenance.  His guide was Jesus himself, who invites us through his actions and words to engage in deep dialog with God.  How inviting it is to remember that God calls each of us by name and that our name is written on the palm of his hand.  God wants to be close to us and so sent his Son to be with us, because He loves us.  Our part is to remember to make time for God.”  (Jean Amlaw, FSPA)

If you’re not a regular Adorer why not stop by the Adoration Chapel this week and show God that you love him by your action, and appreciate the help he offers you and your families.  

“To converse with You, O King of glory, no third person is needed. You are always ready in the Sacrament of the Altar to give audience to all. All who desire You always find You there, and converse with You face to face.” (ST. TERESA OF ÁVILA

 OPEN THE DOOR …

“Loving and irresistible God, you draw me into your flame of love, and yet I resist.  I pray for the courage to surrender my whole self to you, as St. Francis of Assisi did, so that like Francis, I might experience the joy of life without control, a life that brings the unexpected delights of sweet surrender.  Loving God, help me to stop counting the costs and to overcome my fear of loss, so that through your communing love I may find my true self, transformed by love, ready to share that experience of pure joy through loving service to the world around me.  Amen"
(Eucharistic Adoration - Reflections in the Franciscan Tradition p.13)

Eucharistic Adoration opens the door that allows us to become more like the One we contemplate and to continually make room for the mystery of God within our lives.  If you currently are not a regular weekly Adorer I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for advice and support to begin the practice.

“You must propagate veneration of the Most Blessed Sacrament with all your might, for the devotion to the Holy Eucharist is the queen of all devotions.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

Endless Flow of God's Grace

 Time Well Spent - Endless Flow of Grace

St Alphonsus Liguori reminds us that among all devotions after that of receiving the Sacraments, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament holds first place, is the most pleasing to God and the most useful to ourselves.  He encourages us to spend some time as often as possible in the presence of Jesus Christ under the sacramental species.

St Alhonsus assures us that the time spent in devotion before this divine Sacrament will be the most profitable to us in life and the source of our greatest consolation in death and in eternity.

We must be aware that in a quarter hour of prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament gains for us more than all the other spiritual exercises of the day.  It is true that in every place God graciously hears the petitions of those who pray to Him, having promised to do so: Ask, and you shall receive (John 16:24); yet the disciple tells us that Jesus dispenses His graces in greater abundance to those who visit Him in the Most Holy Sacrament.

Join your fellow parishioners as they take advantage of this continuous flow of God’s grace by spending time in His presence.  Sign up for a regular Adoration hour on the web site:

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

“A Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament is worth more than a thousand years of human glory.”  (St Padre Pio”)

Jesus, Let’s Get Together!

Jesus, Let’s Get Together!

If one of your goals for 2023 is to improve your relationship with Jesus, it’s important to realize any serious attempt requires time and patience.  It’s impossible to experience significant progress in prayer without a daily commitment to meet with God.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of time - but daily dedicated ‘time’ is a requirement.  Set aside a small amount (as little as 10 minutes) every day to simply sit in silence and mentally ask Jesus to help you improve your relationship with him.  He not only will help because he answers every prayer, and he sees the effort you’re willing to put into improving the relationship.  God rewards effort.

As you become more familiar with this practice you naturally will add more time to each prayer session because you realize that Jesus is speaking directly to your heart and you want to get the most you can from the encounter.  It is he who is the true answer of life that we all seek.  We begin to fully appreciate that he is God with us, and we should be seeking him without tiring, welcoming him without reserve, and loving him without interruption: today, tomorrow, forever.

As we continue to build our relationship and to improve from the inside out, we realize the next step in satisfying our desire is to experience his True Presence.  The only way to do that is at Mass or in Eucharistic Adoration.  If you’re serious to get closer then it’s time to commit to an hour of chapel time every week.