Main Objections

I. OBJECTIONS CONCERNING EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

II. OBJECTIONS CONCERNING PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

We are aware of the reluctance of many people to practice Eucharistic Adoration. Sometimes these oppositions are due to an allergy to contemplative prayer in general, a fear of “fleeing into the spiritual”, of withdrawing from the life of the world, a magical and superstitious relationship with the consecrated species. Sometimes these oppositions arise from misunderstandings which we wish to clarify here … Here are some classic objections to Eucharistic adoration and their answers:

I. OBJECTIONS CONCERNING EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

1. Objection: Why adore the Eucharist if God is present in us, and if we can adore him in us? Is Eucharistic adoration conceded by the Church to those who do not know how to do contemplative prayer? Adoration or Contemplative Prayer?

2. Objection: Eucharistic adoration is accused of being sentimental and attached to a concrete sign …

3. Objection: By adoring the Blessed Sacrament, is there not a risk of “objectifying” Jesus, of going to love “one’s own little Jesus”?

4. Objection: Christ only said “Take and eat”. He didn’t say “Take and adore”. So, we should not adore the Eucharist.

5. Objection: I can also pray in the forest, in nature…

6. Objection: For some, it is useless to adore if we are not going to then evangelize …

7. Objection: People who want adoration do not understand the connection between the Eucharist and the community. Adoration represents a recoil with the consequence of separating the Eucharist from the Mass.

8. Objection: It is not necessary to have the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for Eucharistic adoration. Jesus is as equally present in the Tabernacle.

9. Objection: The presence of the Lord among us is not limited by his presence in the Eucharist. Jesus is with us in other ways too. For example, he is among us when we gather to pray, to celebrate the sacraments, to read the Holy Scriptures. Although the Eucharist is the presence of Christ that we celebrate the most, we need to keep this sacrament in its proper context.

10. Objection: Since the practice of Eucharistic adoration was absent in the first century, it is not useful today.

11. Objection: One cannot pray the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament or pray the divine office …

12. Objection: Can we not adore through watching Holy Mass through a screen (television or internet)?

13. Objection: Can we not adore the Blessed Sacrament through a screen (television or internet)?

14. Objection: What about adoring the Blessed Sacrament from a distance? (but without television or internet screen…)

II. MAIN OBJECTIONS CONCERNING PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

15. Objection: Perpetual adoration in parish churches is not encouraged by the Church …

16. Objection: Perpetual adoration is not possible because of the holidays …

17. Objection: Not enough parishioners will agree to commit themselves to perpetual adoration on a continual basis.

18. Objection: Even if the parishioners generously commit to an hour of weekly adoration, they will quickly become discouraged.

19. Objection: Because of crime, it is too dangerous to start night adoration.

20. Objection: Perhaps the prolonged practice of perpetual adoration may be interpreted as a reduction in the importance of exposition in liturgically important times, such as the Forty Hours devotion, or the Holy Hour on Holy Thursday.

21. Objection: Exposition in a side chapel or in any room is not recommended. If there is exposition, it should take place in a chapel designed for that, or at the high altar of the church.

22. Objection: It is not good that, in our parishes, we have exposition at the same time as the Mass, even in cases where the chapel is separated from the church by a glass partition, or even a concrete wall.

RESPONSES TO THE MAIN OBJECTIONS AGAINST EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

Answer:

Contemplative prayer is heart-to-Heart. Adoration is face-to-Face! One is no better than the other, but both are part of the same movement of union with Jesus Christ in his heart.

For the one who prays, what matters, of course, is the heart-to-Heart! However, we recognize that it is not easy! To pray for an hour at home, without being disturbed, without doing anything other than to contemplate the invisible God who dwells in the depths of our soul …needs a real spiritual formation in the Carmelite tradition, good spiritual direction and a lot of perseverance. Also, so many people are so wounded today that it is practically impossible for them to decenter from themselves and their suffering in order to focus on the presence of Christ in them …

The Eucharist is the sublime means which God gives in the superabundance of his love so that man may unite with him. It is the personal and infinitely loving presence of Jesus for us today. He is there, with his Body, with the light of his Resurrection … To be before the bodily Presence of Christ, to look at him, to speak to him, to adore him, is to enter into a relationship with Jesus in a true heart to Heart. Yes, the face-to-face of adoration leads us to the heart-to-heart of contemplative prayer. Some can do without it and many spiritual movements in the Church do not practice this form of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. But the Church strongly encourages the practice of Eucharistic adoration, as a way to strengthen friendship and the personal encounter with Christ.

To reach us in our body and our soul, God became man! And the Eucharist is the extension and prolongation of the Incarnation today. St John talks about seeing, touching, contemplating Christ in order to proclaim him. In adoration, we put our gaze on this presence. Like the hemorrhaging woman who touches Jesus by her faith by touching His cloak, in adoration, we touch Christ by faith and he pours into our hearts His transforming love. To refuse Eucharistic adoration is to deprive oneself of a powerful spiritual lever that God gives to His Church … This is to help him to pray, to unite oneself with him and to be immersed in the divine charity of this sacrament of Love.

2. Objection: Eucharistic adoration is accused of being sentimental and attached to a concrete sign …

Reply :

Our faith, however, needs to fix its attention, to be attracted by a sign that refers to the divine reality. The sight of the consecrated host supports the process of faith. Is it a concession to weakness and to human psychology? Rather, it’s the law of the Incarnation that is at stake: our being must be able to collaborate in the expression of our love in order to make it more intense and more glowing.

Eucharistic adoration is therefore a wonderful mercy of God. He places the Eucharistic Body of Jesus within our reach, before our eyes. There is no denying the anthropological realism of this devotion. Intimacy with God who, in his Son took flesh from our flesh in order to share His divinity with us, does not want to do without the embodiment of the means.

How can we bring our contemporaries into this movement of adoration, in a context where the relationship with the body is biased? In our civilization, the body has often become an object: of seduction and lust that is exhibited, of commercial promotion, of advertising and of trade of manipulation (a toolbox: organ transplantation, genetic manipulation).

On the one hand, the body is adulated, on the other, despised, when it is wrinkled, worn, already inhabited by the proximity of death. When it no longer corresponds to the canons of beauty, to the utopia of eternal youth. So many of our contemporaries would like an eternally unharmed, preserved and unused body. A body without history.

In adoration, facing the Eucharistic body of Christ, a body given for the life of the world, a body which has passed through death and which has become a gift and nourishment, a body which reveals to the Church the interiority and mystery of God’s love for man, the kneeling believer is invited to offer his body “as a living sacrifice (host), holy and pleasing to God” (Rom 12:1). By mobilizing his body in a gesture of recollection and offering, by putting aside of his mind all concerns, centered on Jesus-Host, the adorer embraces for himself, in the name of the Church and for the salvation of the world, the Mission of Christ who gives his life so that the world may have life. “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit… glorify God in your body” (1 Cor, 6:19-20).

(Mgr Dominique Rey, “Adoration and evangelization”)

3. Objection: By adoring the Blessed Sacrament, is there not a risk of “objectifying” Jesus, of going to love “one’s own little Jesus”? Is Eucharistic adoration a personal piety or a “prayer that enlarges the human heart to the dimensions of the world” (St John Paul II)? Who do we meet in adoration? “One’s own little Jesus” whom we love for ourselves, or Jesus who gives of himself and pushes us in return to give of ourselves?

Reply :

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament does not belong to anyone as a personal good, but he is the Father’s gift for the life of the world. To fully understand Eucharistic adoration, we must always return to its source, the Mass. Celebrated for the glory of God and the salvation of the world, the Mass is the memorial of the Passion of Christ. More broadly, the Mass makes present and efficacious today the saving work of Christ, from his incarnation until Pentecost and anticipates his final and glorious coming. The Church draws her life from the Eucharist and the Eucharist makes the Church. The divine Persons renew their own missions each time that the Church celebrates the Eucharist: the Father sends again his Son who takes flesh in the Eucharist and gives himself to the world: “I am the living bread… given for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). The Spirit is given to those who approach Jesus in the Eucharist in faith: ““Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive” (Jn 7:37-39). Adoration prolongs and intensifies what is celebrated in the Mass (Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, n ° 66). Thus, we contemplate in the host not “one’s own little Jesus”, but Jesus, the One sent by the Father, who gives himself again to the world, pouring out his Spirit into the hearts of believers. Adoration becomes union with God while we associate ourselves with this movement of love that gives of itself, that is to say when we participate in the triple mission of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity …

It is therefore precious to converse with Christ and, leaning upon Jesus as the beloved disciple, we can be touched by the infinite love of his Heart which pours out the Spirit. We are getting to know more deeply the one who has given of himself totally to become a disciple and to enter, in our turn, into this great movement of giving, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. We are invited to come and learn from Him, to be gradually configured to Him, to let the Spirit act in us and to carry out the mission entrusted to us. In particular, the love of Christ prompts us to work constantly for the proclamation of the Gospel and to the service of men.

“Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary, makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly with children, who are the Lord’s dearly beloved.

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 Savior draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him: they keep watch in his presence on their behalf.” Saint John Paul II to Mgr Houssiau, bishop of Liège

This is why it is important to offer in a parish, not a “self-service” adoration (for example by using a tabernacle with a shutter or a curtain that everyone can open or close at will), but an uninterrupted chain of prayer and intercession for the Church and for the world. To go beyond a sentimental adoration (adoring when we feel like it… going to see “one’s little Jesus”) and to move on to an adoration in ‘spirit and in truth’, an adoration in the Church and for the Church, it is good to commit oneself to a fixed hour of adoration per week. Adoration then becomes a service to humanity. We watch in the name of the Church, for those who need it most … Experience shows that committing to a fixed hour allows us to persevere also in times of spiritual aridity and dryness …

4. Objection: Christ only said “Take and eat”. He didn’t say “Take and adore”. So, we should not adore the Eucharist.

Reply :

“In the period of liturgical reform, Mass and adoration outside it were often seen as in opposition to one another: it was thought that the Eucharistic Bread had not been given to us to be contemplated, but to be eaten, as a widespread objection claimed at that time.

The experience of the prayer of the Church has already shown how nonsensical this antithesis was. Augustine had formerly said: “No one should eat this flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it”.

Indeed, we do not merely receive something in the Eucharist. It is the encounter and unification of persons; the person, however, who comes to meet us and desires to unite himself to us is the Son of God. Such unification can only be brought about by means of adoration.

Receiving the Eucharist means adoring the One whom we receive. Precisely in this way and only in this way do we become one with him. Therefore, the development of Eucharistic adoration, as it took shape during the Middle Ages, was the most consistent consequence of the Eucharistic mystery itself: only in adoration can profound and true acceptance develop. And it is precisely this personal act of encounter with the Lord that develops the social mission which is contained in the Eucharist and desires to break down barriers, not only the barriers between the Lord and us but also and above all those that separate us from one another.”

Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia December 22, 2005

2. Jesus said “Take and eat” during the Last Supper. But right after, in the Garden of Olives, he asked his disciples, “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” Mt 26:40. Thus, after having given his body to eat in the Eucharist, Jesus asked his disciples to watch with him, to spend time in his company. This call of Jesus is addressed first to the apostles, but then to each Christian. Since the Eucharist is the “continuation and extension of the Incarnation” (Mirae Caritatis: “the admirable treasure” by Leo XIII, 1902), that is to say the bodily presence of Jesus in his Church, the believer today can render Jesus the same homage as his disciples did 2,000 years ago. The mode of sacramental presence of the Eucharist continues and extends the presence of Christ to his Church. The adoration of the Blessed Sacrament gives today’s believers to render the same service to the divine person of Jesus as the disciples of that time. Through our faith and our love for the Blessed Sacrament, we offer to Jesus what his disciples offered him in his natural presence in the past.

3. It is true that the central core of the Eucharistic faith, given by Jesus, is “Take and eat, do this in memory of me”. But we must not reject what the Holy Spirit has taught his Church over the centuries to deepen this very mystery. In his great Eucharistic discourse of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine” (Jn 16:12-14). In fact, the more the Church has penetrated the mystery of the Eucharist, the more she has understood that the reception of Christ goes beyond the framework of the celebration. The Eucharistic mystery remains. It immerses us in the divine worship of the universal Church …

4. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the adoration of the Eucharist (1379), we read: “The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species”. St John Paul II reminds us that the Eucharist cannot be reduced to its community dimension with Holy Mass, but must also be lived in its dimension of presence, that is to say, in Eucharistic adoration. (see Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 61).

“The encouragement and the deepening of eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point. And the venerable and dear brothers, deserves separate reflection. The Church and the world have a great need of eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease” (John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, 3)

5. Benedict XVI helps us to deepen this reflection:

“An… objection goes: The Lord gave himself in bread and wine. Those are things we eat. He showed therby clearly enough what he meant to happen and what he did not. Accordingly it was said that the bread is there, not to be gazed upon, but to be eaten. This is essentially right: even the Council of Trent says so. But let us just recall: What does that mean, to receive the Lord? That is never just a physical, bodily act, as when I eat a slice of bread. So it can therefore never be something that happens just in a moment. To receive Christ means: to move toward Him, to adore Him. For this reason, the reception can stretch out beyond the time of the Eucharistic celebration; indeed, it has to do so. The more the Church grew into the Eucharistic mystery, the more she understood that she could not consummate the celebration of Communion within the limited time available in the Mass. When, thus, the eternal light was lit in the Church, and the tabernacle installed beside the altar, then it was as if the bud of the mystery had opened, the Church had welcomed the fullness of the Eucharistic mystery. The Lord is always there. The church is not a space in which something sometimes happens early in the morning, while for the rest of the day it stands empty, “unused”. There is always the “Church” in the church building, because the Lord is always giving himself, because the Eucharistic mystery remains present, and because we, in approaching it, are always included in the worship of the whole believing, praying and loving Church.

We all know what a difference there is between a church that is always prayed in and one that has become a museum. There is a great danger today of our churches becoming museums: if they are not locked, they are looted. They are no longer alive. The measure of life in the Church, the measure of her inner openness, will be seen in that she will be able to keep her doors open because she is a praying Church. I ask you all therefore from the heart, let us make a new start at this. Let us again recollect that the Church is always alive, that within her evermore the Lord comes to meet us.

The Eucharist, and its fellowship, will be all the more complete, the more we prepare ourselves for Him in silent prayer before the Eucharistic presence of the Lord, the more we truly receive Communion. Adoration such as that is always more than just talking to God in a general way”.

Extract “God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life”, Benedict XVI, pages 89-90

5. Objection: I can also pray in the forest, in nature…

Reply :

“The objection that is always to be heard: I can just as well pray in the forest in the freedom of nature. Certainly, anyone can. But if it were only a matter of that, then the initiative in prayer would lie entirely with us; then God would be a mental hypothesis—whether he answers, whether he can answer or wants to, would remain open. The Eucharist means, God has answered: The Eucharist is God as an answer, as an answering presence. Now the initiative no longer lies with us, in the God-man relationship, but with him, and it now becomes really serious. That is why, in the sphere of eucharistic adoration, prayer attains a new level; now it is two-way, and so now it really is a serious business. Indeed, it is now not just two-way, but all-inclusive: whenever we pray in the eucharistic presence, we are never alone. Then the whole of the Church, which celebrates the Eucharist, is praying with us. Then we are praying within the sphere of God’s gracious hearing, because we are praying within the sphere of death and resurrection, that is, where the real petition in all our petitions has been heard: the petition for the victory over death; the petition for the love that is stronger than death.

In this prayer we no longer stand before an imagined God but before the God who has truly given himself to us; before the God who has become for us Communion and who thus frees us and draws us from the margin into communion and leads us to resurrection. We have to seek again this kind of prayer. (Let us) …become a praying Church and, therby, an open Church. Only the praying Church is open. Only she is alive and invites people in; she offers them fellowship and at the same time a place of silence.”

Extract “God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life”, Benedict XVI, p 90-91.

Praying to God “in nature and in the forest” is what is called “praise”. Saint Paul invites us to pray unceasingly. God is certainly present in his creation by his presence of immensity. But it is through his Son Jesus Christ, God made flesh, that the world is saved. The holy humanity of Jesus is given in the Eucharist. Going to Mass, adoring the Blessed Sacrament, is to come to Jesus the Savior of the world, source of salvation. It is to go and draw all the graces necessary for one’s life to become a praise and an offering.

6. Objection: For some, it is useless to adore if we are not going to then evangelize …

Reply :

We adore above all because God is God and we are his creatures. This is the first commandment and Jesus reminds us “You must adore the Lord your God, and serve him alone” (Lk 4:8). Adoration is the first duty of justice for man vis-à-vis his Creator. Jesus in the Eucharist is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing” (Rev 5:12) in incessant adoration (see Rev 7:15) for all that he did for our salvation. (see Rev 5:9).

“To adore the Sacred Host, it should be the basis of all human life”.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

“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

Adoration is in itself an act which evangelizes us and which evangelizes the world by its transforming power. “Adoration is an intimate act, but also a missionary, evangelizing act. Is it not the act where it is revealed that the world has a heart and that this heart vibrates with love that transforms everything?” (Mgr Dominique Rey, Congress of Adoration, Paray-le-Monial, 2006). In addition to strengthening our union with God, adoration in “spirit and in truth” naturally urges the believer, if he does not obstruct the Spirit, to proclaim Jesus Christ to those close to him like the Samaritan woman announced to her own people her meeting with the Savior…

Reply :

The Mass is the center, the source and the summit of all Christian life. “The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.” (Benedict XVI, ‘Sacramentum Caritatis’, n ° 66). Adoring the holy host urges us to discern, under the appearance of bread, the presence of our sweet Savior Jesus Christ. By adoring, I communicate spiritually, which makes the desire for sacramental communion grow in my heart.

At Mass, the sacrificial and community aspects of the Eucharist are highlighted (emphasized). In Eucharistic adoration, it is the permanent presence of Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us, which is highlighted. Many parishes testify to increased attendance at daily mass after the establishment of perpetual adoration. (see: links between Mass and adoration).

8. Objection: It is not necessary to have the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for Eucharistic adoration. Jesus is as equally present in the Tabernacle.

Reply :

The tabernacle door or the monstrance glass cannot in any case limit the Lord’s real presence or his grace or life-giving and transforming effects in the soul. However, for the adorer, it is easier to see the Sacred Host! In the order of human psychology and in accordance with the laws of the Incarnation, the difference between “seeing the host” and “praying before the closed tabernacle” can be compared to the difference between conversing with a friend face to face and conversing with this same friend without seeing him directly. “Seeing the Host” helps adorers to unite themselves with Christ by faith by fixing one’s gaze on the Sacred Host.

Furthermore, through the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, we honor and glorify the sacramental mode of Christ in the Eucharist. This is part of Jesus’ request to Saint Julian to institute the Solemnity of Corpus Christi to solemnly honor his Body and his Blood under the appearance of bread …

9. Objection: The presence of the Lord among us is not limited by his presence in the Eucharist. Jesus is with us in other ways too. For example, he is among us when we gather to pray, to celebrate the sacraments, to read the Holy Scriptures. Although the Eucharist is the presence of Christ that we celebrate the most; nevertheless, we need to keep this sacrament in its proper context.

Reply :

In other ways, Jesus is present to his Church, by his power, by his authority, by his Spirit. But in the Eucharist, he is present personally with his Body, his Blood, his Soul and his Divinity. Saint Paul VI presents in his encyclical “Mysterium Fidei the different modes of Christ’s presence to his Church. (click here)

The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a bodily presence. There he fulfills his promise to never leave us according to his words: “Behold, I am with you until the end of time” (Mt 28:20) Perpetual Eucharistic adoration is a little piece of heaven on earth, since Jesus is adored there unceasingly here below, just as the angels and the saints adore him unceasingly in heaven.

10. Objection: Since the practice of Eucharistic adoration was absent in the first century, it is not useful today.

Reply :

The catechism of the Catholic Church responds as follows:

“The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, n ° 1379

11. Objection: One cannot pray the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament or pray the divine office …

Reply :

To the contrary, even if Eucharistic adoration is to be distinguished from the prayer of the Rosary. Just as Mary always leads souls to Jesus, so by praying the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament, Mary strengthens our faith in the real presence to recognize Jesus under the appearances of the bread. She leads us to adore in “spirit and in truth”. Saint Teresa of Calcutta divided her adoration into two parts. She would begin by meditating the rosary in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, then she would take a time of silence and of heart to Heart with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

15. – Adoration and Liturgy of the Hours. “Part of the liturgy of the hours, especially the principal hours, may be celebrated before the Blessed Sacrament when there is a lengthy period of exposition. This liturgy extends the praise and thanksgiving offered to God in the Eucharistic celebration to the several hours of the day; it directs the prayers of the Church to Christ and through him to the Father in the name of the whole world” (De sacra communione, 96).

16. – Adoration and the Rosary. The apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, has recently helped us to overcome a vision of the rosary considered simply as a Marian prayer, by inviting us to enhance its eminently Christological character: to contemplate the mysteries of Christ with the eyes and the heart of Mary, in communion with her and her example.

“The Rosary itself, when it is profoundly understood in the biblical and christocentric form which I recommended in the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, will prove a particularly fitting introduction to Eucharistic contemplation, a contemplation carried out with Mary as our companion and guide”

Saint John Paul II, “Mane Nobiscum Domine: Stay with us Lord”, 10 Oct 2004

12. Objection: Can we not adore through watching Holy Mass through a screen (television or internet)?

Reply :

Regarding the value of televised mass, Benedict XVI wrote this:

“With regard to the value of taking part in Mass via the communications media, those who hear or view these broadcasts should be aware that, under normal circumstances, they do not fulfil the obligation of attending Mass. Visual images can represent reality, but they do not actually reproduce it. While it is most praiseworthy that the elderly and the sick participate in Sunday Mass through radio and television, the same cannot be said of those who think that such broadcasts dispense them from going to church and sharing in the eucharistic assembly in the living Church.”

Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Sacramentum Caritatis’ n ° 57.

(In addition to the ordinary case of “the elderly and the sick”, we must add the extraordinary case of an epidemic which prevents the faithful from going to the Church… It is very beneficial for them to attend the televised mass …)

It is clear that the Liturgy of the Word during the televised mass is of great value to the listeners, because “faith comes from hearing… the Word of God” (Rom 10:17).

However, the holy mass offers two realities which are not reproduced by the televised mass:

1. On the one hand, the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and the fruits of the Passion. Although the Mass radiates upon the world, the effects of the Holy Sacrifice are applied first of all to those actually participating (partipatio actuosa) in the Mass. This is manifested by their physical presence at Mass and the offering of themselves by virtue of their baptism, in union with that of Christ to his Father …

2. On the other hand, the Risen Christ under the appearances of the bread that is given as food. Sacramental communion requires the reception of the Sacred Host, which is impossible for a televised retransmission of the Mass. However, let us remember that spiritual communion is of great value for uniting with Christ in the Eucharist. This can be done every day and anywhere! (see: “What is spiritual communion?”)

13. Objection: Can we not adore the Blessed Sacrament through a screen (television or internet)?

Reply :

The realism of the Church, the embodiment (Péguy) of Christianity and the sacraments as an extension of the Incarnation, requires the real physical and not the virtual Presence. This on both sides! Faced with the real presence of Jesus in the Sacred Host, we need the real presence of man! In the face of the crisis of disincarnation and derealization of the world, realism (or not the virtual) remains fundamental.

Looking at a screen broadcasting a live exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is not Eucharistic adoration! The screen is not a monstrance. Since “visual images can represent reality, but they do not actually reproduce it” (see: Benedict XVI, SC 57), the screen makes present neither the Body of Christ nor the grace it contains. For this reason, even if nothing can limit the sovereign action of God, the Eucharistic grace is not communicated to those who watch a Eucharistic adoration broadcast live on the screen.

So, if it is impossible to go physically to a chapel of adoration (illness, impediment, epidemic …), instead of looking at a host on a screen, union with Christ is achieved through the other forms of prayer that the Church gives us: meditation on the Word of God (lectio divina), praying at home, Liturgy of the Hours, spiritual communion, etc.

1. Lectio Divina: This is a spiritual reading exercise. Starting with the reading of a text from the Bible (lectio), followed by reflecting on this same text (meditatio), followed with a dialogue with God (oratio) and ending with a silent listening to God (contemplatio) .

2. Contemplative Prayer, the ‘heart to heart’, as strongly recommended by the Church in the holy tradition of the Carmelite spirituality. Eucharistic adoration (the “face to face”) is given by God to help the Christian to enter into the prayer of “heart to heart”! Strictly speaking, adoration is not compulsory in order to unite oneself with God. But in practice, it is a sublime means, encouraged by the Church, our Mother, for living the “heart to heart”! (see question 1: Adoration or Contemplative Prayer?).

3. The Liturgy of the Hours: a daily Christian prayer, divided into several times of the day, called offices. There are 3 to 7 offices a day … It’s about praying throughout the day, of “praying constantly”.

4. Spiritual Communion: to unite oneself with Christ in the Eucharist, rather than looking at a screen of an exposed host, let us recall the value of spiritual communion (see: “What is spiritual communion”?). This communion is lived in one’s heart by faith, without having to look at a screen…

Note that if Eucharistic adoration is so difficult today, it is because it goes against modern, virtual culture transmitted by the screens: in adoration, we have the real Presence of the glorious Christ, but the appearances are those of bread, inert and insignificant. In contrast, our screens give us, through the mediation of images, sound and sensitivity, the appearances of a virtual, absent, inaccessible mode. No real presence at all…

14. Objection: What about adoring the Blessed Sacrament from a distance? (but without television or internet screen…)

Reply :

Some people may feel the call to adore the Lord in the abandoned tabernacles of the world. And that without being able to go to the churches in question. It should be remembered that long-distance night adoration had/(found) its place in the history of the Church.

In 1844, Monsignor l’Abbé de la Bouillerie had the idea of assembling an association of people who would adore the Blessed Sacrament during the night hours. Two years later, the work of nocturnal adoration in homes was founded. Without noise but without stopping, this association of prayer and penance continued its work through thousands of nights. Between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., those involved in the work had an hour of adoration to accomplish.

These people did not have the Blessed Sacrament at their homes, but they transported themselves in thought before the abandoned Tabernacles and adored Christ for the great intentions of the Church (François Veuillot, History of the rite of the elevation and of the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, in: Eucharistia, Bloud et Gay bookshop, Paris 1947, p. 364 – in French)

Many people still practice this nocturnal adoration today when they cannot go directly to the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a church or chapel.

In, 1851 Mrs. Tholin-Bost created an association of home adoration, she was encouraged by Fr Julien-Eymard (saint of the Eucharist), who signed up for her work himself …

RESPONSES MAIN OBJECTIONS CONCERNING PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

15. Objection: Perpetual adoration in parish churches is not encouraged by the Church …

Reply :

The last three popes in particular, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have not only allowed, but also encouraged perpetual Eucharistic adoration in parishes, with Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament day and night!

On December 2, 1981, St John Paul II inaugurated the permanent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in a chapel in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In his opening prayer, the Pope encouraged all parishes to begin prolonged Eucharistic adoration.

In June 1993, John Paul II expressed the following wish:

“I hope that this form of perpetual adoration, with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, will continue into the future. Specifically, I hope that the fruit of this Congress results in the establishment of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world.”

Homily of Pope John Paul II, 45th International Eucharistic Congress, Seville, June 1993

“Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration.”

Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67

“The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer, and to my great joy groups devoted to prayer and intercession, the prayerful reading of God’s word and the perpetual adoration of the Eucharist are growing at every level of ecclesial life.”

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, n ° 262

16. Objection: Perpetual adoration is not possible because of the holidays …

Reply :

It all depends on how the chapel of perpetual adoration is organized during the year and during holiday periods … The organization proposed here presents the structure put in place in the 1,500 parishes which have instituted perpetual adoration. Adorers choose one hour of adoration per week. They are guardians of the Blessed Sacrament. In the event that they cannot get to the chapel (work commitment, holidays, appointments, etc.), they look for a replacement by following the procedures provided. Very often those on holiday in July will replace those away in August and vice versa. In reality, very few parishioners leave their parish for two months in a row. Also, since the parish activities are stopped during the holidays, it is possible for a parishioner who remains at home in the parish to adore an additional hour. We can also appeal to visitors in the parish by an announcement at the end of the masses. Everything therefore depends on the organization and the anticipation of these vacation periods. Many other solutions are possible … If we do our best, the Lord will do the rest … (To learn more about the organization, click here)

17. Objection: Not enough parishioners will agree to commit themselves on a continual basis to perpetual adoration.

Reply :

It is experience of the facts that must answer this question. There are 168 hours in the week. In most parishes, between a quarter and a fifth of Sunday Mass goers (regularly practicing Catholics) respond to the invitation of perpetual adoration when it is presented in an inspiring and attractive way … Priests are often surprised by the number of people who commit themselves and remain faithful to it. Parishes that attracted few people to adoration on the 1st Fridays of the month now attract enough people for perpetual adoration! There are several reasons for this: First, it is evident that the Holy Spirit urges the people of God to adore Jesus who gives of Himself in the Blessed Sacrament. The parish priests who launched perpetual adoration can bear witness to the graces received for their parish. Also, since the chapel is open at all hours, everyone can participate, because everyone can find at least one hour in the week to spend with the Lord. Also, in proposing perpetual adoration it shows the importance of Eucharistic adoration and encourages and pushes everyone to participate in it. A replacement system is put in place to allow each adorer to replace oneself if necessary. (To learn more about the organization, click here).

18. Objection: Even if the parishioners generously commit to an hour of weekly adoration, they will quickly become discouraged.

Reply :

That is why it is necessary to set up a structure. Each parishioner is invited to choose an hour a week to spend it in the chapel of adoration. This commitment to weekly adoration helps parishioners to become faithful in prayer. Every hour, we take over from someone. At the end of the hour, we leave room for someone else. Each one is thus an essential link so that the chain of prayer is continuous and that “love for love” is rendered to Jesus. Adoration is a service of prayer done in the Church and for the Church. Also, by this regular and faithful hour of adoration, the adorers travel an authentic spiritual path with the Lord. Since the Father ‘prunes the vine so that it will bear even more fruit,’ (Jn 15: 2), and because he seeks adorers who adore ‘in spirit and in truth’ (Jn 4: 23), the adorers will necessarily encounter moments of spiritual dryness and aridity. The parish priest and those in charge of perpetual adoration will watch over the adorers should they need help. They can set up formations or talks on adoration. (To learn more about the organization, click here).

19. Objection: Because of crime, it’s too dangerous to start night adoration.

Reply :

The reign of Jesus is manifested by peace and unity. Violence is the apparent proof of the false reign of the evil around us! We can respond in two different ways: either lock ourselves in and let the violence escalate; or to combat violence, on the one hand by concrete actions of justice and on the other hand by establishing the Eucharistic reign of Jesus on earth by perpetual adoration. “If my people … humble themselves, if they pray, seek my presence, … I will heal their land” (2 Ch. 7:14). By perpetually adoring the Lamb in the Blessed Sacrament, we are doing on earth what is done in heaven and as a result heaven is coming down to earth. By the power of Eucharistic adoration, violence diminishes. Many priests said that the number of crimes in their neighborhood decreased from the moment they started perpetual adoration in their parish. (see: fruits of parish adoration and the value of night adoration …)

Reply :

Perpetual Eucharistic adoration leads the faithful to Jesus in the Eucharist and shows the importance of Eucharistic Adoration in the life of the Church. Its natural consequence is not only greater faith and fervor for the Eucharist, but also an increased participation in Mass and other Eucharistic practices. Adoring the Host increases the taste for the Eucharist. It’s a spiritual communion that we shouldn’t neglect.

21. Objection: Exposition in a side chapel or in any room is not recommended. If there is exposition, it should take place in a chapel designed for that, or at the main altar of the church.

Reply :

If there is exposition, it should take place in a chapel designed for that, or on the main altar of the church. In fact, it is not where Jesus is adored that matters, but the love and faith brought to Him. In Bethlehem, Jesus was adored, lying in the manger of a stable. We cannot say that there was something missing in that adoration! Nowadays, parish halls, secondary sacristies, storerooms, cellars, basement rooms and garages have been converted into very beautiful chapels of perpetual Eucharistic adoration, suitable for meditation and prayer.

The love and devotion that motivated the preparation of these rooms into places worthy of adoration of our Lord are admirable and edifying. On the other hand, as the parish church is used to regularly celebrate the sacraments (masses, marriages, funerals and other ceremonies …), it is not advisable to have perpetual adoration at the main altar … Adoration would be interrupted too often. In addition, the cost of heating or cooling the church 24 hours a day would be exorbitant. Finally, the intimate atmosphere of a small chapel is preferable for adoration.

Reply :

Neither the Code of Canon Law nor ‘Eucharistiae sacramentum’ (1973) prohibits the celebration of Mass during Eucharistic adoration. Canon 941-2 simply states that Eucharistic adoration and Mass should not take place in the same church or in the same oratory. However, if a visual and if possible sound separation is guaranteed, such as a wall, a window pane, (if need be a big curtain), we can have mass at the main altar, and adore in a side chapel of the same building. The only times it is necessary to repose the Blessed Sacrament is when Mass is celebrated in the Chapel of Adoration and when there is only one Mass on Sunday, so as not to prevent a parishioner from attending it.

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