The reflections in this column covering the last three weeks have focused on the Eucharistic Revival currently taking place in our parishes. That revival begins with the reality of the Eucharist which recent studies and experience show is either misunderstood or not believed by a majority of self-identified members of the faithful.

 

Once again, it is our Catholic faith that, in a manner which is sacramental but true, teaches that during the Mass the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine becomes His blood. This statement is not one describing a symbolic reenactment. It is the truth even as the bread retains its sensible characteristics of bread and the wine the physical expression of wine.

 

Some might ask, why is this so important? Even if one were to believe that the bread and wine after the prayers of the priest at Mass are only symbolically the body and blood of Jesus, one can be reverent toward them. They were after all part of a sacred, if only memorial, ritual. In that sense can’t one make use of them in imagination and in one’s own spiritual reflections to be a better person? To come closer to God?

 

As noted in last week’s column, the natural reaction of being in the presence of God is something entirely different than mere memory or reverence. It is to worship God, acknowledging Him as our loving, eternal and all-powerful maker.

 

At the Vatican this past week, Pope Francis addressed a group of those working to organize the Eucharistic Revival in the United States. He commented specifically on adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist. He urged, “Catholics throughout the country to discover anew the sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of Himself and to spend time with Him in the celebration of the Holy Mass and in personal prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.” He went on to say, “I believe that we have lost the sense of adoration in our day. We must rediscover the sense of adoration in silence. It is a form of prayer that we have lost.”

 

Pope Francis made an in important observation. Our adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist is not simply during the Mass. The presence of Christ in the Eucharist remains after Mass and is placed in the tabernacle in our churches. We can make visits to Christ there to spend time in prayer and adoration.

 

As well, many diocesan parishes have times or even special chapels established for silent and continual prayer and adoration of the Eucharist. Pope St. John Paul II strongly recommended this time of prayer as a part of the spiritual life of the faithful. Writing in his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, the Holy Father stated, “The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church.” And he quotes St. Alphonsus Liguori who wrote, “Of all the 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.”

 

Pope Benedict XVI also recommended the practice of Eucharistic adoration, writing “Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration. … The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, ‘only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception [of the Eucharist] mature.’”

 

It is worth asking ourselves: when was the last time we stopped in church to pray before the tabernacle? Or when was the last time we made a point of going to the Eucharistic adoration chapel in our parish or in one nearby? The True Presence of Jesus, that is to say Jesus Himself, awaits us. In silence we can pray, adore Him and place our joys and sorrows before Him. This too, is an important part of the Eucharistic Revival in our parishes and in our lives.

 

Editor’s note: On June 9, The Observer Catholic newspaper printed a special bilingual booklet titled “Holy Time With God,” a guide to all Eucharistic Adoration Chapels in the Diocese of Rockford. To read and download that guide to use on your pilgrimage to an adoration chapel near you go to https://observer.rockforddiocese.org/