A Holy Hour for Every Day
Msgr. Robert J. McCarthy
For more than
55 years, I have ministered to migrant carnival
workers and made a daily Holy
Hour before the Blessed Sacrament in churches,
chapels and monasteries throughout
the continent.
I want to share my experiences,
not to “blow my own horn,” but in the
hope that others will be encouraged
to make a daily Holy Hour a part of
their spiritual life.
The daily
Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament started for me a
year before I was ordained,
when Bishop Fulton Sheen visited my seminary and
challenged each seminarian to
make a daily Holy Hour, as he himself had
done for years. I started
my daily Holy Hour that day and, except in time
of sickness or impossibility,
I have made my hour with Jesus every day
since.
In my early
assignments as an associate pastor, the Holy Hour was
the most important part of my
day. Sometimes I made my hour of adoration
at 6 o’clock in the morning
before my Mass at 7. Other times it was later
in the day but usually some
time before noon. I gave my Holy Hour top
priority and completed it before
going about my daily duties that included visiting
homes, instructing schoolchildren
and making calls on the sick.
As I “graduated”
from associate pastor, my daily Holy Hour was
easier because I could set times
that were more convenient, before carrying
out parochial duties.
As a pastor, I was assigned to parishes with large
debts. Realizing that
I could not solve these problems with my abilities, I
turned them over to Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament with a daily Holy Hour, and
consecrated myself and the parish
to Him.
Before too
long, in ways that I couldn’t explain, the debts were
paid, and the church and school
seemed to thrive! I was convinced more than
ever of the necessity of a daily
Holy Hour, as Jesus had promised that He
would bless the projects of
priests who were dedicated to Him.
In 1970,
Pope Paul VI established the Pontifical Commission for the
Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Refugees, and I was appointed to minister
to the men and women engaged
in working with traveling carnivals. This
seemed like an insurmountable
task for a rural priest who has never worked
with migrants. Again I
turned to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in my daily
Holy Hours, and things began
to flourish. Some 400 carnivals, employing
about 60,000 people, perform
at nearly 4,000 state and county fairs in the
United States and Canada, and
these workers desire the services of the Church.
Given all this, and realizing
my inadequacy, I turned the entire
apostolate over to Jesus, with
the promise to pray a Holy Hour before the Blessed
Sacrament no matter where I
might be.
St. Dunstans
Basilica [on Prince Edward Island in Canada] was a
place where I made three or
four Holy Hours, one each day I was there, for
about 18 consecutive years while
visiting the carnival in that city. And this
was only one city. For
another two days, there were Holy Hours in the
cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska,
while visiting the state. There were Holy Hours
in St. Peter’s in Rome, while
visiting the Vatican to make my annual report on
the work with migrants.
And there were Holy Hours in Assisi, Fatima and
other spots in Europe.
It seems
miraculous, but true, that there were chapels and churches
nearby the many places my work
carried me, where I could easily make my
Holy Hour before going to the
carnival lot. One early morning in Boston,
around dawn, I was going out
hoping to find a church that was open.
Approaching a well-dressed man
near the bus stop, I asked where there was a church.
The man told me of a chapel
that was within a few feet of where we stood,
housed in a large building.
This was a typical downtown chapel, which was
cared for by a religious community
of brothers, and after this visit I became a
regular for some time to come.
Then there was the time in Salt Lake City, the home of the
Mormons, where I arrived at
night and went to a hotel. The next morning, I
arose early and walked on a
little street only a block from my hotel. While
on my stroll, I found a little
chapel in a business building. Walking into
that chapel, I found that there
was even exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament, with Jesus just waiting
for me.
These little chapels, hidden in large buildings, are not too
uncommon in our large cities.
Toronto has one located right in the center of its
financial district, with the
chapel on the second floor of a large
business complex.
Another time,
I arrived at about midnight in a tiny village in
Kinsley, Kansas and I
was told by a resident that their Catholic church was
never locked. So early
in the morning, while it was still dark, I found my
way to the church, and there,
all alone, I had a Holy Hour with my Master.
Something
similar happened in Chatham, New Brunswick. The tiny
plane I was on was about three
hours late in arriving in Chatham, so I went to
my little motel room for much
needed sleep.
Early in
the morning, I awoke, looked out my window and saw not far
away the spires of the basilica.
Before long I was with Jesus in a very
comfortable side chapel.
This brings out the words of St. Claude
regarding Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament: “I can find You wherever I go.”
During each
January and February, I had to visit the workers in
their winter quarters.
My first stop was Tampa, Florida, where a Jesuit
church was less than a block
from my room and where I went each day for my hour of
adoration. I then went
on to Minneapolis, and not far from the place
where I stayed was a church
I could walk to. From there, it was back to Miami,
where there was a fine hospital
chapel open all hours for Holy Hours. And a
similar chapel was available
when I was in New York City.
Today many
airports have chapels, and since most of my travels were
by plane, I used these chapels
for my Holy Hours. Really, if one takes a
little time to look, he can
find chapels and churches nearly everywhere to
spend time with Jesus.
After more
than 50 years of priesthood and daily Holy Hours, I
attribute my perseverance and
success to my time with Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament. The priesthood
is truly a sacred vocation, with preaching, teaching,
administering the sacraments,
caring for the poor and the sick, and so
many other spiritual ministries.
But the priesthood is also a lonely life,
and many times it is difficult
and burdensome as priests assume parish
problems (such as debts), experience
lack of cooperation and even face
criticism.
Naturally,
by his own strength, a priest may not be able to handle
all this. But supernaturally,
with the grace of God, he can do all things.
Sharing his problems and difficult
times with Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament is bound to lighten
the burdens. The priest can turn to Jesus at
anytime, day or night, in the
Blessed Sacrament and share with Him his problems.
As I come
to the end of my life, my priesthood and my duties, I
give all credit for any of my
successes to my daily Holy Hour. At the time of
my retirement from parish ministry,
my primary request made to my bishop
was that I might have the Blessed
Sacrament reserved in a chapel in my
residence.
It is here that I spend
my Holy Hour and other times each day
interceding for the Church and
its active priests who continue to serve.
As I come
to the chapel to start my daily Holy Hour, I speak with
the same words I’ve used over
the years to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament:
“When the angels in the sanctuary
are blessing You and I am in my last agony,
then remember this day, this
chapel and this hour with You.” |
