Eucharistic Adoration-- Why I Love It

For a number of years now, I have had a regularly scheduled hour to adore the Real Presence of Jesus in the Exposed Blessed Sacrament. I have to say that this hour is a highlight of my week. Why? There are a number of reasons.

First, the hour I have committed to is an enforced prayer time. I have to be there. I am signed up for it, and Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament cannot happen without adorers committed for every hour because, as we all know, the Exposed Blessed Sacrament cannot be left alone. I have the privilege of being a member of a parish that has Eucharistic Adoration 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That adds up to a lot of people scheduled. Each of us must be there at our scheduled time, in order to have Adoration so completely available to the parish. I plan around my hour. Nothing gets scheduled then. And I am there every week at that time. It’s a wonderful time. If I just went when I could find the time, it wouldn’t happen often, because free time in a schedule gets filled in like a vacuum. But this hour, my Adoration hour, is reserved for Jesus. 

It’s delightfully quiet in the Eucharistic Chapel. Wonderfully quiet. I can say the rosary, read my Magnificat, or just silently talk to Jesus in the depth of my heart. Best of all, I can listen. I can just be there in His Presence, knowing that He knows me better (much better!) than I know myself. If I am in pain, as we all are sometimes in life, I don’t even have to say anything. I can gaze at Him and know that His healing presence is right there with me. He knows my pain. He knows my joys. He knows my sorrows. He knows. And I can just gaze at Him and love Him . I can feel His life, His wisdom, His love for me….and His love for all mankind. The room is filled with His peace....and His Presence.

The catechism says of contemplation…

2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him.

This what happens in Adoration. The heart is purified and enlightened. The soul is nourished, quieted, and better equipped for life’s challenges. And the Lord is loved as He so desires to be loved.