A sweet duty:
“And it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore in the blessed Host which our eyes see, the Incarnate Word whom they cannot see, and who, without leaving heaven, is made present before us.” (Profession of Faith, Paul VI, 1968). It is also a response to the First Commandment: “You must worship the Lord your God.” (Mt 4, 10)
Experience the tenderness of God:
“The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church… It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia’, John-Paul II, 2003)
Become an evangelist:
“To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who will be experts in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist.” (Mission et Eucharistie’, John- Paul II, 2004)
An eminent service for humanity:
“Closeness to the Eucharistic Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary, makes us open to human joy and distress, broadening our hearts on a global scale. Through adoration the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the gospel. Anyone who prays to the Eucharistic Savior draws the whole world with him and raises it to God.” (Pope John Paul in his letter to the Bishop of Liege, Reported in L’Osserv. Romano, 1996)
Repair the great faults of the world:
“The Church and the world have great need of Eucharistic adoration. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and contemplation full of faith. And let us be ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.” (Dominicae Cenae: Letter to Priests, Holy Thursday, 1980)
Prolong the Mass:
“The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another.” (Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 66, 2007).
The best remedy against idolatry:
Adoration “is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday and today. Kneeling before the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: One who bows to Jesus cannot and must not prostrate himself before any earthly power, no matter how strong.” (Benedict XVI, homily for Corpus Christi 2008)
Other Reasons To Adore The Blessed Sacrament
Solemn exposition is a profound experience of the presence of Christ in the midst of His people. Our adoration lets us:
- Express our love for Jesus in the most concrete way,
- Give Him thanks for the gift of Himself,
- Meet and worship Christ in a bodily way so as to share in the privilege of those who were close to Him 2000 years ago…
- Encounter Jesus and grow in intimate friendship with Him. Every moment spent with Him deepens our communion with the Trinity. It is also a way for people who are unable to receive Holy Communion to encounter the Lord.
- In adoration Jesus renews us spiritually and fills us with graces of love, light, strength and consolation. In adoration we learn to place all of our trust in the Sacred Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and this trust drives away our fears, our doubts and our sadness.
Why Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration?
Jesus wants it!
Since Christ loves us infinitely His joy is without limit when we spend an hour in His company. Jesus pronounced these moving words to Saint Margaret-Mary Alacoque: “I thirst to be loved in the Blessed Sacrament.” Since Christ’s gift of Himself in the Eucharist is total, the response and the gratitude of the Church must be total, thus perpetual.
The Popes have asked for it!
As cited above, in the document Dominicae Cenae, Pope John Paul II prayed that the adoration of the Church would “never cease.” In effect this was a plea for perpetual adoration of the Holy Eucharist in order to make reparation for the sins of the world.
In his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI concretized the perennial teaching of the Magisterium on the central character of Eucharistic Adoration in the life of the Church, with a direct appeal for perpetual adoration addressed to all the members of the Church: “With the Synod Assembly, therefore, I heartily recommend to the Church’s pastors and to the People of God the practice of Eucharistic adoration, both individually and in community. Great benefit would ensue from a suitable catechesis explaining the importance of this act of worship, which enables the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration more fully and more fruitfully. Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration. I also recommend that, in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for First Holy Communion, children be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before his presence in the Eucharist.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67, 2007)
Everyone can participate!
The more we limit the hours the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the more we limit the number of people who can come and adore. If the Blessed Sacrament is exposed day and night everybody can find an hour when they are free to come and be with Jesus. Any hour will bring joy to the Lord but He is especially consoled by those who make the sacrifice of coming to be with Him in the night. This generosity also permits the parish to have perpetual adoration.
Perpetual Adoration builds up the community!
Perpetual Adoration brings unity to the parish because the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Unity. In uniting ourselves to Christ, Christ then unites us to our brothers and sisters with the power of His Divine Love.
It brings peace!
The Eucharist brings peace to individual human hearts so that they can then go on and contribute to the establishment of peace in the world. “Humanity will not find peace until it turns with confidence to my Mercy.” (Jesus to Saint Faustina, Diary #300). “The throne of Mercy is the Tabernacle.” (Diary #1484). Thus there will be no peace in hearts, families or the world until we turn to the Holy Eucharist.
Sanctify the priests of the world!
The Congregation for Clergy published a letter in December 2007 in which it called for perpetual adoration for the sanctification of priests. “In order to continually maintain a greater awareness of the ontological link between the Eucharist and the Priesthood, and in order to recognize the special maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for each Priest, it is our intention to bring about a connection between perpetual Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of priests and the initiation of a commitment on the part of consecrated feminine souls —following the typology of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eternal High Priest, and Helper in his work of Redemption—who might wish to spiritually adopt priests in order to help them with their self- offering, prayer, and penance.” (Letter for the Sanctification of the Clergy, Dec 2007).
Let us then be the ones who keep watch and thus bring about the renewal of the priesthood and the Church: “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” (Is 62, 6-7)
“What sustains the world is not the governments, nor the people of great genius, nor the people of action: it is the adorers. What does God ask of them? Nothing extraordinary, just that they believe in Him. The entire world, says Saint John, is in the power of the evil one. It is a fortress of ice which refuses to love but God is putting it under siege. What weapons does He use? The adorers.” (Fr. Marie-Dominique Molinié).
Enter into the Son’s unceasing adoration of the Father.
All of the life of Jesus was an act of adoration and offering to the Father. Jesus bequeaths to the Church a share in His perfect adoration in His Eucharistic Presence in the Tabernacle. In the Host Christ continues to adore His Father unceasingly and He “lives to make intercession for us.” (Heb 7:25). In the Mystical Body, Jesus is the Head and we the members. The members must act in the same way as the Head, that is to say, in adoring perpetually because: “the Father seeks those who will adore Him in spirit and in truth.” (Jn 4:23). Thus, in doing here on earth what is being done perpetually in Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven is established upon the earth in human hearts, according to the promise of Jesus: “Behold I make all things new.”(Rev 21, 5).
