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What is the Eucharist?
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| “At the Last Supper, on the night he was
betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47). The bread and wine at Mass, “By the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ’s Body and Blood” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1333). The Eucharist is Jesus! The Eucharist is nothing less than Jesus’ complete and Personal gift of Himself to us—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—under the appearances of bread and wine in the consecrated Host, the Blessed Sacrament. “The presence of Christ under the sacred species reserved after Mass . . . lasts as long as the species of bread and of wine remain” (Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25). “Jesus is not an idea, a feeling, a memory! Jesus is a person, always alive and present with us! Love Jesus present in the Eucharist” (Pope John Paul II, General audience, November 8, 1978). “The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to Him alone” (Pope John Paul II, September 29, 1979, Phoenix Park, Ireland; cf. Mysterium Fidei, 55). The Eucharist is “ the source and summit of the Christian life” Lumen Gentium, (Vatican II), 11. “The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace . . . which prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the body and blood of the Lord” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25). What is Eucharistic Adoration? Eucharistic Adoration is visiting and spending time with Jesus in the Sacred Host. It is an expression of our love for Jesus, who loves us so much that He never wants to leave us and stays with us day and night in the Blessed Sacrament. He says: “Behold I am with you always,” “I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you” (Mt 28:20; Jer 31:3). “The visit to the Blessed Sacrament . . . is a great treasure of the Catholic faith. It nourishes social love and gives us opportunities for adoration and thanksgiving, for reparation and supplication . . . . Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament [is] . . . in full accord with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council” (Pope John Paul II, Phoenix Park, Ireland, 1979). What is Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration? Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is when a parish sets aside a small room, or chapel, that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with permanent exposition* of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist. It is simply our response to Jesus’ love for us, whereby each person is willing to spend a quiet holy hour of prayer in His Eucharistic Presence once a week, so that Jesus is never left alone, and the chapel is always open for anyone to visit Him. *Exposition is when the Holy Eucharist is placed in the Monstrance—a sacred vessel designed to elevate Jesus in the Sacred Host, so that people may look upon and adore Him. When we visit Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament, we can talk with Him “face to face,” as a friend. Pope John Paul II describes Adoration as looking upon the face of Christ. He says, “Eucharistic adoration strengthens Christian life . . . I exhort you to continue along this adoring path, putting before the gaze of Jesus Christ the anxieties, the hopes, the worries and even the sins of all humanity. Before Him everything takes on a new face” (Rome, March 25, 1996). Why Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration? JESUS WANTS IT!!! Because Jesus loves you infinitely, unlimited is the joy you bring to His Sacred Heart when you spend an hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus spoke these moving words to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: “I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and I find hardly anyone who strives, according to my desire, to allay this thirst by making me some return of love.” JESUS GIVES US HIS GRACES!!! Jesus stays with us day and night in the Blessed Sacrament, calling out to each one of us: “Come to me all of you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28). Jesus stays with us in the Blessed Sacrament to refresh us in mind, heart and spirit by lavishing on us those graces that encourage us, console us, strengthen us, guide us and inspire us to place all of our trust in His Sacred Heart, so that the power of His love may cast out every fear, doubt, worry and anxiety we have. “The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself” (Pope St. Pius X). “The Eucharist is the point where God and the soul meet—God with all His graces, the soul with all its wants” (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). “The Bread of Life will help the body as well as the soul, if we have faith. If we but touch the hem of His garment . . . and how much more have we than that! We can find Him, at every moment, on the altar. Be with Him there. Better than all books! Thank the Trinity over and over again for this Gift. Rest in His presence” (Edel Quinn, Legion of Mary). THE HOLY FATHER ASKS FOR IT!!! In Dominicae Cenae, Pope John Paul II says: “The encouragement and the deepening of Eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the Council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point . . . The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation . . . May our adoration never cease” (Article 3). This is what Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is: Adoration that never ceases! Repeatedly, Our Holy Father has spoken of the great importance of Adoration, saying: “In the tumultuous events of our time, it is important to look to the Eucharist: it must be at the heart of the life of priests and consecrated people; the light and strength of spouses in putting into practice their commitment to fidelity, chastity and the apostolate; the ideal in education and in training children, adolescents and young people; the comfort and support of those who are troubled, of the sick and all who are weeping in the Gethsemane of life. It must be for everyone the incentive to fulfill the testament of divine charity in humble and joyous availability to our brothers and sisters, as the Lord taught by His own example, washing the Apostles’ feet.” (Pope John Paul II, General Audience, Rome, 1995). “I encourage Christians regularly to visit Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament, for we are all called to abide in the presence of God” (Pope John Paul II, Letter to the Bishop of Liege, 1996). A TRULY PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS!!! “[Jesus] is the Friend who never abandons you . . . . He follows you, accompanies you, walks with you every day. He participates in your joys and consoles you in moments of grief and sadness. Jesus is the Friend we cannot do without” (Pope John Paul II, message on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 14, 1979). Perpetual adoration helps people to be more personally involved with Christ because it makes the Eucharist more central in the lives of people. By spend ing time with Jesus in the Eucharist, one is able to establish a truly personal relationship with Him. “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament . . . . There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.” “I fell in love with the Blessed Sacrament from the beginning—and by the mercy of God never have fallen out again” (J. R. R. Tolkien). IT BUILDS COMMUNITY!!! “The Eucharist makes the Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1396). “As ‘the vital and enduring center around which the entire community of the Church is gathered’ (Ecclesia in America, 35), the Eucharist is at once the source of every apostolate and the Church’s greatest spiritual treasure” (Pope John Paul II, August, Letter to the Knights of Columbus, 2002). “The world must not be deprived of the gentle and liberating presence of Christ in the Eucharist! You yourselves must be fervent witnesses to Christ’s presence on the altar. Let the Eucharist mold your life and the life of the families you will form. Let it guide all life’s choices” (Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day 2000, Rome). Perpetual adoration builds community because the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Unity. As one person unites to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus unites everyone closer together through the bond of His Divine Love. IT BRINGS PEACE!!! The best, the surest and the most effective way of establishing everlasting peace on the face of the earth is through the great power of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In preparation for World Youth Day 2002, Pope John Paul II told the youth of the world: “Visit the Lord in that ‘heart to heart’ contact that is Eucharistic Adoration. Day after day, you will receive new energy to help you to bring comfort to the suffering and peace to the world.” Mother Teresa wrote, “The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament . . . will help bring about everlasting peace on earth,” and “Our hours of adoration will be special hours of reparation for sins, and intercession for the needs of the whole world, exposing the sin-sick and suffering humanity to the healing, sustaining and transforming rays of Jesus, radiating from the Eucharist.” Only Jesus has the power and love to redirect the course of history back to the path of peace, which He promised. The Eucharist brings peace to all hearts. And peaceful hearts make a peaceful world. EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE!!! Everyone can participate because everyone can find at least one hour a week to spend with Jesus. Whatever hour you choose is most pleasing to the Lord. He is especially pleased with the sacrifices made by those who keep Him company in the middle of the night so that perpetual adoration may be a reality. “If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brothers and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!” (Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25). “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.” “Next to Holy Communion, no act of worship is so pleasing to God, and none is so useful, as the daily visit to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament dwelling upon the altar.” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church). One day St. Teresa of Avila, Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church, heard someone say: “If only I had lived at the time of Jesus . . . If only I had seen Jesus . . . If only I had talked with Jesus . . .” To this she responded: “But do we not have in the Eucharist the living true and real Jesus present before us? Why look for more?” “As He appeared in true flesh to the holy apostles, so now He shows Himself to us in the sacred bread; and as they by means of their fleshly eyes saw only His flesh, yet contemplating Him with their spiritual eyes, believed Him to be God, so we, seeing bread and wine with bodily eyes, see and firmly believe it to be His most holy body and true and living blood. And in this way Our Lord is ever with His faithful, as He Himself says: ‘Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world’” (St. Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Franciscans). “From the time we started having adoration every day, our love for Jesus became more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, our love for the poor more compassionate, and we have double the number of vocations.” “Perpetual adoration is the most beautiful thing you could ever think of doing. People are hungry for God” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Foundress of the Missionaries of Charity). SPEND A SPECIFIC HOUR EACH WEEK WITH JESUS “Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love,” where He appeals to each one of us: “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Mt 6:40). This hour that Jesus wants you to spend with Him may be spent any way you want: reading the Holy Bible, praying the Holy Rosary, with your favorite prayer book, or speaking to Jesus heart to Heart, as one does with a friend. You may sit and enjoy the sweet peace that comes from simply being with the One who loves you the most, Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. When you pray the Rosary in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, you love Jesus with the Heart of Mary and offer to Jesus the perfect adoration of Mary. Jesus receives your holy hour as if Mary herself were making it. Mary encloses you in her Heart and Jesus accepts your hour with Him as coming directly from the Heart of His very own Mother. |
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For materials and help in starting Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration contact:
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