“God Is Love” (1Jn 4:16)
“The church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic
worship ... Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love” (Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae).
Jesus, truly present
in the Holy Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—yearns to be with us. He
loves us so much that He remains hidden in the Eucharist. In
the Sacred Host, “Christ is
contained, the invisible Head of the church, the Redeemer of the World, the
Center of all hearts...” (Mysterium
Fidei, Pope Paul VI).
When we come before Jesus exposed in the Blessed
Sacrament we come to Him as we are. He
already knows us, He has called us to Himself, He ardently loves us and longs
to be with us. Jesus wants to see us ‘Face to face,’ to commune with us ‘Heart to heart,’ not just in long distance
calls. He wants to listen to us, to love, heal and care for us. All of our
cares are His cares. All of our joys are His joys. All of our concerns are His
concerns. All of our loved ones are His
loved ones. “Come to Me all of you who
are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you.” “Cast all your
anxieties on Him for He cares about you,” (Mt 11:28; Pt 5:7).
We go to Him just as we are—for He loves us just as we are.
Yet, He always offers us the grace to become better and grow in love. When we
can say “yes” to Him and accept His generous love, gifts and graces then we can
truly begin to witness the awesome benefits of His transforming love! These
gifts will be manifested in and through every area of our life, faith and work
to our family, friends and acquaintances. “Christ
is truly the Emmanuel, that is,’God with us.’ Day and night He is in our midst,
He dwells with us full of grace and truth” (Mysterium Fidei).
Throughout Jesus’ public ministry on earth He healed the
sick, He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, He even raised the dead!
Jesus keeps His promises!
“Behold
I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5)
Mary
Magdalene was a great public sinner.
Mary heard of Jesus and His tender love for sinners. Mary saw Jesus, His love
touched and pierced her heart. Mary Magdalene repented, and converted. He
delivered her from the bondage of sin and darkness. Mary was immediately,
completely and eternally transformed!
From that day on Mary Magdalene became a
disciple of Jesus. Mary Magdalene was so completely transformed that she even followed Him to Calvary! There she
stood by Him, with Mary His Mother. Once we have contemplated and experienced His true loving presence, in perpetual adoration of The Blessed
Sacrament, we too will be a new creation.
Jesus stays with
us in the Holy Eucharist so “that all may learn to be, like Himself, meek and
humble of heart and to seek not their own interests but those of God” (Mysterium
Fidei).
A great Eucharistic Saint and priest, St. Maximilian Kolbe,
was transformed into the very image of Christ, his elder Brother, because of
his great devotion and Holy Hours of adoration to Jesus in the Most Blessed
Sacrament! Daily St. Maximilian made
numerous visits to the Blessed Sacrament, in spite of his long hours of hard
work and many responsibilities to his brothers and their great missionary work.
He said, “My aim is to institute
perpetual adoration...,” calling it “the most important activity.” Because of St. Maximilian’s countless hours
with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament he was given the awesome grace to ‘lay down
his life for his friend.’ While imprisoned in a concentration camp of Auschwitz
St. Maximilian Kolbe gave up his life for a fellow prisoner, so that he might
live!
“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” (Pope John Paul II, Letter to the
Bishop of Liege, May 28, 1996).
St. Therese of Lisieux is the patroness of missionaries,
although she never left her convent. She died at the early age of 24, yet
accomplished great things through the power of prayer before Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament. The Church made her the patroness of missionaries to
emphasize this most important truth: one soul coming before the Blessed
Sacrament can change the world! St. Therese said, “My mission (is) to make God
loved.” May she intercede for us in
spreading PEA worldwide!
(Copyright 2001, Missionaries of the
Blessed Sacrament. All rights reserved)
To
schedule a Missionary, obtain information, and materials in starting PEA
contact:
Missionaries
of the Blessed Sacrament
PO
Box 1701, Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Phone:
(518) 561-8193 Fax: (518) 566-7103
E-mail:
info@acfp2000.com http://www.ACFP2000.com/
Start Perpetual
Eucharistic Adoration in your parish today!