Eucharistic Adoration
A Taste of Heaven on Earth
Understood simply, Eucharistic Adoration is adoring or honoring the Eucharistic Presence of Christ. In a deeper sense, it involves the contemplation of the Mystery of Christ truly present before us.
During Eucharistic Adoration, we watch and wait, we remain silent in His Presence and open ourselves to His graces which flow from the Eucharist. Like a magnet, The Lord draws us to Himself and gently transforms us. In its fullest essence, Eucharistic Adoration is God and man reaching out for each other, at the same time! There are three purposes of Eucharistic exposition: (1) to acknowledge Christ's marvelous presence in the sacrament; (2) to lead us to a fuller participation in the celebration of the Eucharist, culminating in Holy Communion; and (3) to foster the worship which is due to Christ in spirit and in truth.
The Fruits of Eucharistic Adoration
Jesus gives us His Body so that He can nourish us, strengthen us and give us His own life. How must we respond? Through our worship and recognition of Him in the Eucharist! He is calling us to faith, that we may come to Him in humility. We grow spiritually with each moment we spend with Jesus! Through our Adoration, Jesus calls us to a personal relationship, to become His friends and disciples. He promises that all those who remain tightly bonded to Him, will bear much fruit and their joy will be complete. Through this friendship, we are inspired and strengthened to take on life's challenges, to carry our daily cross with a new attitude, and to become a new creation, more and more like Jesus.
Jesus waits for us in the Blessed Sacrament. He waits for our little Acts of faith, adoration, love, thanksgiving, repentance, reparation and charity that we can offer Him as we contemplate His Divine Majesty in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote: “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the Sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us”. The Eucharist is a priceless treasure. By not only celebrating the Eucharist, but also by praying before It outside of Mass, we are enabled to make contact with the very wellsprings of Grace.
A Taste of Heaven Awaits Us
Indeed, earth is joined to Heaven each time we are united with the saints and angels in extolling God. We are called to abide in the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord, like the saints and angels do in Heaven, as they behold the glory of God and sing His praise!
When we look upon the Sacred Host, we look at Jesus, the Son of God. Do we see Him in all His glory and majesty? Do our lips proclaim His praise? Do our souls magnify the Lord - making Him clearer, more in focus, and larger to others around us? Do we place the needs of others before Him? Are we open to the Will of God and strive for perfection in our spiritual lives so that we, too, may one day join the company of saints in Heaven? It is at this moment when we are most intimately in communion with God that we experience a taste of Heaven, a foreshadowing of what it will be like, when, by God's grace, we enter into everlasting life. "Indeed, this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day." (Jn 6:40)
Jesus asks for so little, yet, He gives so much! Whether we are young or old, sick or healthy, poor or rich, only by regularly partaking in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration, can we reap immense spiritual and temporal blessings in our lives! The Blessed Sacrament is the living fountain of life where we drink in the love of Christ who alone quenches our thirst. Thus, our time spent with our Beloved Saviour in Adoration can become the most profound, meaningful, joyful, peaceful and healing experience we could ever encounter! May our adoration never cease!
