Adoration: Spending an Hour With the Lord to Change Your Life
Throughout all the reading I’ve done and homilies I’ve attended, it seems a big theme that stands out is the necessity to spend time in Adoration. For those of you new to Catholicism, that means time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament, which is Jesus present in the Eucharist.
Most churches have Blessed Sacrament chapels where the consecrated Eucharist (made flesh by the Priest) is held reverently. There are also times for Eucharistic Adoration where the Eucharist is exposed (otherwise, it is covered) for set periods of time, such as during Lent or Advent, though some churches offer Perpetual Adoration where it is continually on display always with some one to “sit” with Jesus.
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus asks his disciples to sit with him while he prays, but they fall asleep. He asks them “Can you not sit with me one hour?” This is where the concept of a “holy hour” comes from. Jesus asks us if we can sit one hour with him. Not to much to ask :).
So, for a Holy Hour, you can sit with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament or in Eucharistic Adoration, praying, meditating, sitting in silence, reading, etc. Can you believe we actually have the opportunity to sit WITH Jesus? That’s beyond amazing when you think about it. Why would we pass up that opportunity?
I am personally fascinated by reading stories of how people came to be called to their vocation (priesthood, married life, etc.) and so often you’ll hear them say they began to discern their vocation after time spent in Adoration. It seems to be an incredibly powerful thing :), no doubt about it!
I am making it one of my religious resolutions for 2013 to spend one hour with the Lord in Adoration each week and see where it takes me. I’m studying a book right now called Into the Silent Land about Christian contemplation/meditation and what better place to practice than in Adoration?
To this point, I’ve had good intentions of going to Adoration but keep telling myself “as soon as I get caught up…” I’ll start this practice. Well, surprise, surprise, I never got caught up and probably never will :). So it’s officially scheduled on my calendar and other things will have to work around it.
I’d love to hear from others about their experience in regularly going to Adoration. How has it changed your life for the better?
When I was in college I was in a pretty good habit of going to Adoration. It was pretty big in the town my college I was in. The church near the college had it every Thursday and there were 2 other parishes that had it Perpetually. Lately I’ve kind of been missing it. The mission has it mon-Fri but only till 5pm so when I was working I couldn’t go. I recently found a parish that does have it till 7pm.
During Lent I want to get into a habit of going more.
I go and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament when Adoration is not going. It seems about the same to me :). I know the Eucharist exposed during Adoration, but not sure what difference that makes spiritually? My church has Adoration during Lent every Friday for 24 hours, so I’ll be putting it on my calendar to go each week. Let’s both make it a habit 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for this post and website! I converted to Catholicism about 20 years ago but I haven’t always been the best Catholic. I recently signed up for Eucharistic Adoration but really had no idea what that meant. Your post helped considerably and I am now very much looking forward to tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you!
Yea! I’m so glad my post was able to help. Thanks for sharing, Angela, and enjoy Adoration :).