What Is Eucharistic Adoration?
For me it is my scheduled appointment with God. Throughout my life I thought I don't have time for prayer, I barely have time to attend mass on a weekly basis. I rationalized I don't really have to pray because my mother is praying for me. When she died, I thought I should start to pray. Being a person with little discipline or accountability to myself, that became a larger task than I perceived it to be. Then I thought, why not sign-up for Eucharistic Adoration once a week. This decision changed my spiritual life. It is my time to listen to God's word instead of my words. An unexpected benefit has been my prayer partners. Their presence has helped me to believe that we as God's creation are not separate beings, but are of oneness in His mercy. I also learned that the Holy Spirit is not something I can find or even define; it is something that already is and always has been part of our Divine Gifts from God.
- Georgette Vickstrom
Non-Catholic Moved to Adoration
I was asked to work on a Monday, my usual day off and also the day of my committed hour for Adoration. I asked a co-worker if he would be interested in substituting for me. He was not a Catholic so I thought it would only stir a conversation about Adoration. To my surprise, he asked what time? I answered, 6:00 am, and he said sure “because we don’t want to leave Jesus alone.” Shocked, I asked him, how he knew that? He replied that he learned it at a TEC Retreat (which means “Together Encounter Christ” and is another opportunity that is open for all of us at St. Mary’s). This surprised me too because I had always been wanting to attend a TEC. I told him where the chapel was, and how to sign in, and was set. On Monday, when I was sure my co-worker would be out of the chapel, I called to see how things went. He said it was AWESOME and very PEACEFUL. He enjoyed it and told me any time I needed a sub to call him. This warmed my heart or, I should say, Jesus warmed both of our hearts!
- Randy Holthaus
A Witness Tells Her Story
I’m currently in a Bible Study with video lectures from Jeff Cavin where he talks about God’s deep love for us. He says when we have these thoughts of “I really need to pray more” or “I’ve gotta get back to Adoration”—make no mistake about it…God is wooing us. He loves us more than we’ll ever know, and he woos us all the time. Well, the other day, I happened to be on the side of town where our church is, and had a thought I would have earlier defined as “random,” but actually, I’m now aware it was a calling. I was being wooed to Adoration. I pulled right into our church parking lot, let myself into the chapel, and I was able to adore for over an hour. At this current stage of my life, I have 4 children ages 7 and under. My husband works totally bizarre shifts as a police officer, and because of the way his schedule changes, there is literally no way for me to sign up for an hour in our Adoration chapel. The only reason I can ever attend Adoration is because our church currently has Adoration almost perpetually throughout the work week, which makes it so convenient to pop in. As I was praying in Adoration, I was aware of the only other lady in the chapel. This was her hour—the hour in which is her responsibility to make sure the host is not left alone. I realized that she is the reason why I was able to pop in on this day. Eucharistic Adoration is a ministry that is provided by each and every man and woman that signs up for a time slot to be in the chapel. There are 168 hours in 1 week, so it takes a lot of people to keep Eucharistic Adoration ongoing, but it is a worthy ministry. If something goes wrong in my life or I need to be with the Lord, or if I can even escape from my house to leave the chaos behind me and have quiet hour in prayer at Adoration, I owe a thank you to those men and women keeping that ministry available at our church. What devotion. What beauty. What a gift. So thank you to Adorers everywhere! You are working a worthwhile ministry that blesses people everywhere, and it wouldn’t be possible without you!
- Anonymous