Value of Sacrifice: The Eucharist & Adoration

"Christ's sacrifice on the cross imparts to the believer the dynamism of His generous love; the Eucharistic banquet nourishes the faithful with the Body and Blood of the divine Lamb sacrificed for us ..." (Pope John Paul II).

"When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you.  When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now"  (Mother Teresa of Calcutta).
 

THE GREATEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE!
The Eucharist is the greatest expression of God's love for us. In the Divine Eucharist, Jesus gives you the gift of Himself, all that He has, and all that He is. St. Augustine says of the Holy Eucharist: "Though God is all powerful, He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has nothing more to give."

CHRIST'S INCARNATION ON EARTH!
The Holy Eucharist is the continuation of Christ's Incarnation on earth, where the same Jesus born two thousand years ago in Bethlehem is as truly present with us now as He was then. Again, He comes quietly and humbly. Again, only the humble can see, with the eyes of faith, the humble Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. This is the faith that prompts you to come and adore Him. If we could see Him (in human form) with our eyes, everyone would run out to welcome Him, even in the middle of the night. But He remains hidden in the Blessed Sacrament because He is calling us to faith that we may come to Him in humility. Your sacrifice of time spent in Eucharistic Adoration is the gold, frankincense and myrrh that pleases Him. Your sacrifice is of more value than all the gifts in the world. Your sacrifice is the key that opens the door of His Heart and allows the gifts of His graces and blessings to flow to the whole world, in order that the promise of Jesus coming may be fulfilled: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of goodwill" (Lk. 2:14).

Consider the humble sacrifice that the shepherds and the three Wise Men made in their long journey to adore the Christ Child. Only the humble shepherds and the wise astrologers followed the star of faith to Bethlehem. He was the King, much greater than they were. No journey was too long because any trouble they had was infinitely worth the sacrifice. When they saw Him, they bowed down before Him. Where was the rest of the world? Who could understand that the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes was the hidden Incarnate Word of God? He came quietly and lovingly. Only the humble and wise could see the humble Jesus lying in a manger. The rest of the world passed Him by. Look at how God has never stopped honoring the shepherds and the magi for honoring His Son in Bethlehem. The humble sacrifice of their long journey is praised in Scripture, and has been retold for thousands of years in every Christian church and home around the world.  They are included in every Nativity scene! In the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus comes to us even more humbly than He did before. That is why your Holy Hour of Adoration will give God even greater glory than the glory given Him by the shepherds and the three Wise Men. And God will honor you even more than the shepherds and the Wise Men for all eternity for honoring His Son in the Blessed Sacrament with the humility of your sacrifice!

WIN GRACES FOR MANY!
After the Last Supper, Jesus went to the garden to pray. As He prayed, He began to sweat blood because He realized that the gift of the Holy Eucharist which He had just given to humankind would be rejected by so many and appreciated by so few. On that first Holy Thursday night, He saw down through the ages how many would walk away from His Eucharistic love and not even bother to come to Mass on Sunday. He saw how, in so many tabernacles of the world, He would be left alone and forgotten. He saw how few would believe in His Real Presence and fewer still would respond to His appeal to be loved day and night in the Blessed Sacrament. He saw how most people would live their lives as if He were not here--God living among His people in the Blessed Sacrament. He comes to bring so many graces and blessings, yet so few come to receive them. "He came into His own, yet His own received Him not" (Jn. 1:11).  Your sacrifice of spending one hour with Him each week in Perpetual  Eucharistic Adoration will gain these graces for those who are far from Jesus, and bring them back to Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

CONSOLE JESUS NOW!
In the garden of Gethsemani, Jesus said "My heart is filled with sorrow to the point of death" (Mt. 26:38). Jesus came to give Himself to humanity through the gift of the Holy Eucharist, yet so many would reject His Eucharistic love. Rejection broke His heart. "He looked for one who would comfort Him but found none" (Ps. 69:20). He called on His apostles to comfort Him, but they preferred to sleep because it was in the middle of the night. They slept through Christ's greatest crisis, even after He pleaded with them Could you not watch one hour with me? (Mt. 26:40). You are the apostles of Christ today. Today is another hour of great crisis. Today, Jesus calls out to you in the middle of the night, "Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt. 26:40). He looks to you to comfort Him now!

When Jesus was in the garden, an angel from heaven came to console Him by showing Him every Holy Hour that you would ever make. Jesus saw the many sacrifices you would make by getting up in the middle of the night each week to keep Him company in the Blessed Sacrament for one hour. These sacrifices greatly comforted, consoled, strengthened and encouraged Him. When Jesus saw your sacrifice before Him in the garden, He knew that His love would be returned; Jesus was about to make the greatest sacrifice of all for us, whereby He said: "Greater love than this no man has than to lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13).

THANK HIM FOR ALL HE HAS DONE FOR YOU!
Through Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, we have the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Good Friday follows Holy Thursday because the passion and death of Jesus was the price that He paid so that we may have divine, immortal, and everlasting life in Him in the new and everlasting covenant of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist flows from our Lord's passion. He  poured out His very last drop of Blood on the Cross so that He may fill you with His divine love each time that you receive Him in Holy Communion. What a wonderful opportunity we have to thank Him for this great Gift! Your sacrifice of spending an hour with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration thanks Him for all the sufferings He endured to give us the gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS IS GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US!
The Mass is the renewal of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Through this perfect sacrifice, we offer the Father the perfect praise, love and thanksgiving of His Son. Through the Mass we offer God perfect worship. Your sacrifice is thanksgiving to God for the greatest of His gifts, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Your sacrifice is joined to the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in the continuous praise offered to the Heavenly Father for the salvation of souls.

NOTHING COMPARES TO HIS SACRIFICE!
What can be compared to His sacrifice?  Jesus gave up His Body on the Cross for love of you, that He may give His Body to you in the Holy Eucharist, making Himself one with you forever in everlasting glory. Like wheat which is beaten, broken and crushed before it becomes bread, Jesus was willing to be beaten, broken and crushed in His passion that He may become for us the "Living Bread come down from heaven" (Jn. 6:51a). He said, "The Bread I will give to you is My Flesh for the life of the world" (Jn. 6:51b). Jesus continues to immolate Himself in sacrificial love for us in the Holy Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus is the Immaculate Victim, the Sacrificial Lamb. Does the sacrifice of spending one hour with Him in the middle of the night in Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration even begin to compare to the Sacrifice that He has made and continues to make, for love of us in the Blessed Sacrament?  Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is when Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is exposed and adored in the monstrance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  This is the expression of our great love for Jesus, Who loves us so much that He never wants to leave us and so He stays with us day and night.

SACRIFICE IS THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE!
Without sacrifice, there is no love. A father and a mother make many sacrifices to feed, clothe and shelter their family. The spirit of sacrifice is the spirit of Christianity. Jesus sacrificed everything for love of you and your salvation.

The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of God's infinite generosity toward humankind. When we are generous in our response to Him in this sacrament of love, God pours out His infinite goodness upon all humankind. God will bless you, your family and the world ten times as much for your sacrifice because GOD CANNOT BE OUTDONE IN GENEROSITY! Whatever we give to Him, He gives us back ten, a hundred times as much. This is why Jesus said, "Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe" (Jn. 20:29b).  Those who are generous and willing to make a sacrifice by taking one of the difficult night hours of Eucharistic Adoration bring down God's greatest blessings upon the earth, like rain that pours forth from the heavens.  This is why Pope John Paul II exclaims: "Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him..." (Dominicae Cenae, Ch.  I, Sec.  2, Art.  3).  "Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt. 26:40)

SACRIFICE MAKES UP FOR THE INGRATITUDE OF OTHERS!
Jesus healed ten lepers. Only one came back to give Him thanks for the miracle of a clean body. Jesus said: "Were not all ten made whole? Where are the other nine?" (Lk. 17:17).  Every Sunday Jesus performs a far greater miracle for us. The gift of the Holy Eucharist makes us immortal with divine life. Each communion will leave our soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in heaven. In spite of the fact that Jesus asks us to give thanks for this great gift by coming back during the week and visiting Him in the Blessed Sacrament only a very few do. Your sacrifice will make up for the ingratitude of "the other nine," for the many who never think of visiting Him at all.

THE APOSTLE WHOM JESUS LOVED!
Whenever you see a picture of Jesus, you see a crown of thorns around His Sacred Heart. Jesus explains that these thorns symbolize the pain of rejection that He experiences in the Blessed Sacrament because of the indifference, coldness and ingratitude of humanity. Mysteriously, Jesus said that He suffers more now, because of humanitys ingratitude toward His love in the Blessed Sacrament, than He did during His entire passion. Your sacrifice of keeping Jesus company each week in the middle of the night, in Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, will change the many thorns in His heart into many flowers of consolation. Your willingness to do something extra will make up for those who aren't willing to do anything at all.  Archbishop Fulton  J. Sheen writes that, "The only time our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night when He went into His agony.  But as often in the history of the church since that time, evil was awake, but the disciples were asleep.  That is why there came out of His anguished and lonely Heart the sigh: 'Could you not watch one hour with Me?'  Not for an hour of activity did He plead, but for an hour of friendship."

At the Last Supper, how privileged John was to come close to the Lord and rest his head on the Heart of Jesus. The experience of the love of Jesus gave John--the youngest of the apostles--the spirit of courage and sacrifice that enabled him to follow our Lord all the way to the Cross. You are even more privileged than John in being invited to spend an hour with Jesus, especially in the middle of the night. From the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus calls you to come close to Him and rest your head on His Sacred Heart. His infinite love for you will make this sacrifice a joy.  Be willing to make a sacrifice by keeping Jesus company for one hour each week in the middle of the night and you too, for all eternity, will be known in heaven as "the Apostle whom Jesus loved" (Jn. 13:23).
 
MIRACLES OF LOVE!
Is there a relative, friend, or loved one, whom you are deeply concerned about? Put him, or her, or all of them, into the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Be convinced that Jesus will help them. Have absolute confidence and trust in the power of His love to bring them back to His Sacred Heart. For He promised: I will reign in every heart, in every home, in every country throughout the entire world. I will reign through the Omnipotent, all-powerful love of My Eucharistic Heart.

This is what Jesus meant when He said to St. Margaret Mary: If you believe in My love (in the Blessed Sacrament), if you really believe in My love, then you shall see miracles of My love.

THE OASIS OF HIS HEART!
The special delivery message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to you is: Behold this Heart which has so loved men, yet is so little loved in return. I thirst with such a terrible thirst to be loved by you in the Blessed Sacrament.  The Blessed Sacrament is Jesus, the God-Man--sacred in His divinity, sacred in His humanity. His Heart is the most sensitive of all hearts. The Blessed Sacrament is the infinite desire of Jesus to love and be loved. This desire makes Him a prisoner of love in the Blessed Sacrament. This desire makes Him vulnerable, capable of being wounded by humanity's indifference, capable of being healed and delighted by humanity's response. The divine vulnerability of the humanity of Jesus makes Him infinitely lovable, for it teaches us that His Heart is not made of wood, it is not a stone. It is a heart of flesh like yours. For this reason He is not indifferent to your love, like He could take it or leave it. Your love is meaningful to Him, so meaningful that He yearns for it; like one who searches for an oasis in the desert, Jesus searches for love in a cold world. Your sacrifice will make you 'the oasis of His heart.'

THE KEY TO REPARATION!
"The Holy Hour is not a devotion; it is a sharing in the work of redemption ... He [Jesus] asked for an hour of reparation to combat the hour of evil; an hour of victimal union with the Cross to overcome the anti-love of sin" (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). Evil must be overcome with good. Greater evil must be overcome with greater good. The extraordinary evils of the world today must be overcome with the extraordinary good of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration!  Your sacrifice in spending one Holy Hour each week, especially in the middle of the night, will repair for the evils of the world and open up the floodgates of God's merciful love upon all humankind.  This is why our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in calling for unceasing adoration asks us to be "ready" to sacrifice that we may "make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world" (Dominicae Cenae, Ch.  I, Sec.  2, Art.  3).

YOUR HOLY HOUR FULFILLS HIS LONGING!
If the thought of getting up in the middle of the night seems like too much of an inconvenience to you, the secret is to think of Jesus instead of yourself. Think of the scene in the gospel where Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem: "How I have longed to gather you together, as a mother hen gathers her little chicks, yet you refused Me" (Mt. 23:37). This scene is as true today as it was then. Jesus longs with infinite longing for everyone to come to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Yet, He is as rejected today as He was then. Your sacrifice will help bring all humanity to Him, and bring about that day "where every knee will bend ... and proclaim Him Lord" (Phil. 2:10,11).   Jesus longs with infinite longing to make all one in His Eucharistic Heart, but humankind is torn with war and division. Your sacrifice will help in a great way fulfill His theme at the Last Supper, "May they all be one" (Jn. 17:22).

THE HOLY HOUR WILL BRING UNITY & PEACE TO THE WORLD!
"Today solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is the grace and need of our time. Society will be restored and renewed when all its members group themselves around our Emmanuel" (St. Peter Julian Eymard).  "The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament ... will help bring about everlasting peace on earth" (Mother Teresa of Calcutta).

BE A PRAYER WARRIOR FOR PEACE!
Throughout the ages, countless people have made many sacrifices to go to war. How few are willing to make even a small sacrifice in order to bring about peace. There has never been a weak army that has ever won a battle against a stronger one. Evil prevails throughout the world today because those who are against God are willing to make more sacrifices than those who are for God! There is a spiritual war going on today between good and evil. This is the greatest war in the history of humanity because the destiny of The Church and the world are in the balance. This is a spiritual "red alert." Who will awake from the complacency of indifference and become a soldier for Christ, a prayer warrior for peace? Who will be a man of God and take up the spiritual arms of prayer and sacrifice? "Stir into flame the gift God has bestowed upon you ... The spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit but, rather, one that makes us strong" (2 Tim. 1:6-7). Who will answer the appeal of Christ who calls out in the middle of the night: "Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt. 26:40).  Peter Kreeft writes, "Adoration is more powerful for construction than nuclear bombs are for destruction."  Mother Teresa said that Perpetual  Eucharistic Adoration will "save the world."  Be a prayer warrior for peace!

BE NOT AFRAID!
Don't be afraid to come out in the middle of the night. There has never been a single case of anyone being harmed in going to, or coming from, night adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. On the contrary, the Blessed Sacrament is the safest place to be, the safest place to go, and the safest place to come from. Jesus is the Light that casts out all darkness. Where He is adored, the devil flees. The Blessed Sacrament is the same Jesus of the Gospel who cast out the demons, calmed the storms, cured the sick and raised the dead. He says, "Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!" (Mk. 6:50). Before going to make your Holy Hour, when you are lying in bed in the middle of the night, think of these words from Scripture: "You have nothing to fear from Him! Get up. He is calling you!" (Mk. 10:49).

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF HIS PRESENCE!
The Bible states that God will make the streets safe for His people when they become zealous for His glory in the sanctuary (see Haggai and Zechariah). Those willing to make a sacrifice and keep Jesus company in the middle of the night are the ones who are 'zealous for His glory in the sanctuary.' They are the ones that will release God's greatest power and make the streets safe for His people. When we unite ourselves with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we unite ourselves with all the power in heaven and on earth. When you go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, you release His power and His graces upon the whole world. This is why Jesus said, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'be uprooted and transplanted,' and it will obey you" (Lk. 17:6). Those who are willing to make a sacrifice and come to adore Jesus in the middle of the night have that faith! They put their faith in the greatest power on earth. This is why the crime rate actually goes down in those neighborhoods that have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

GOD IS THE GIVER OF TIME!
The sacrifice of time you give to Him in the middle of the night will come back to you. The joy you experience the next day in the gift you have given to God will make it seem as if you had made no sacrifice at all! People who make this sacrifice learn to adjust by going to bed earlier on the night before, or the night after, their Holy Hour.  Some get more sleep in this way than they ordinarily do on a regular night.  And, you will sleep more peacefully knowing that your sacrifice means so much to Jesus. Give Jesus the sacrifice of spending an hour with Him in Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration during the middle of the night, and it will be the perfect expression of your appreciation for the gift of His infinite love for you in the Holy Eucharist.  "Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt. 26:40).

HELP OUR LADY BRING SOULS TO HEAVEN!
Our Lady of Fatima said that there are more souls going to hell because there is no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. The sacrifice you make by spending a Holy Hour with Jesus in the middle of the night will save many souls from hell and bring them to heaven. The love you give to Jesus in this special sacrifice will win pardon and forgiveness for those who do not know or love Him. The value of your sacrifice is expressed in the Reparation Prayer of Fatima: "My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, do not hope and do not love Thee."  Our Lady taught the children of Fatima to pray, "O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee!  My God, My God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament!"

BE A MISSIONARY: BY YOUR HOLY HOUR CONVERT THE WORLD!
Our Ladys "Peace Plan" calls for prayer, penance and sacrifice. She said that if her requests were met, Russia would be converted, Her Immaculate Heart would triumph, and there would be everlasting peace on the face of the earth. Through the angel of Fatima, heaven taught us that the secret power that will convert the whole world is Eucharistic Adoration. The angel brought a Sacred Host and taught us this Adoration prayer: "O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. BY THE INFINITE MERITS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners." Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is the perfect fulfillment of all the requests of Our Lady of Fatima for prayer, penance and sacrifice. Your sacrifice will convert the whole world to Christ! This is witnessed powerfully in the life of the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux.  Although she never left her convent, and only lived to the tender age of 24, St. Therese accomplished great things through the power of Eucharistic Adoration.  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!

DIVINE MERCY--EUCHARISTIC  RAYS!
John heard a voice crying out from heaven, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor, glory and praise" (Rev. 5:12). Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is worthy of the unceasing Adoration of humanity for all that He has done for our salvation.  John saw the faith of the people in action. They were going before the Lamb on the Throne, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, day and night "without pause" (Rev. 4:8).  From the Lamb there flowed a river of grace and love that "healed all the nations" (Rev. 22:1, 2). This is the power, the value and the importance of your sacrifice. Your sacrifice will heal all the nations!

Through Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration with exposition we answer Jesus--love for Love, and He unleashes His rays of healing upon us, our families and the whole world!  In the words of Jesus to St. Mary Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament: "I desire that Adoration take place for the intention of imploring Mercy for the world."  Are you willing to make a sacrificeby spending one Holy Hour each week with Jesusso that your parish may give Him the glory of having Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration?