Eucharistic Adoration: Responding to Jesus' Invitation to Keep Watch with Him

This past week, Hannah, Abby, and I got together to record our July podcast.  It was so fun to get the three of us together for the first time in months!  We had some ideas of things we wanted to talk about, but somehow managed to focus on the Eucharist, which was kind of funny, because it was nowhere on the agenda! 

We all, at one point, remarked how Jesus sure wanted His Eucharistic Heart to be known, because it wasn’t planned on our part!

Hannah shared her experience serving on the diocesan planning committee for the Eucharistic Revival, and Abby and I shared our experiences with the Cor Jesu and the National Procession.

Leah's boys serving at the Farming Cor Jesu during the Eucharistic Revival

We discussed the impact of the 3-year Revival and concluded that the mission of the Eucharistic Revival was a success.

But I just don't feel quite done with this conversation. And as a matter of fact, I am writing to you during my shiny new Holy Hour!

I mention this story on the podcast, but it's worth repeating!

Last Sunday, I was sitting in my pew with 6 of my kids. 2 others were serving, and Johnny was with Adam, protecting bad guys from entering the crying room. Or eating a snack. Or doing whatever it is that 2-year-old boys do during Mass; sitting in a pew just isn't an option.

Anyway, I looked over at the few who were left in the pew and felt a strong sense of regret.

Over the past two summers, the Oratory of St. Catherine, 2 miles from our house, has had Eucharistic Adoration.  For whatever reason, they weren't able to do it this summer, and I was really missing it!

Then I thought about how I should take an hour at the big church in town. But that's a real commitment! At the Oratory, we only went for six months, so I always felt safe doing it.  Clearly, I have commitment issues!

I side-quested for a moment in my brain, considering my options. I flippantly thought that the 2 pm hour was the best, then (hopefully) turned my attention back to the Mass, assuming I would forget all about it like the million other ideas I have.

Every Sunday, I come home, drink coffee, and read the bulletin.

Guess who almost spit out their coffee when I read, "Adorers needed during the 2 pm hour on Mondays."  Seriously?

The bulletin announcement asking for new adorers at 2!

God doesn't always speak to me in neon flashing lights, but sometimes he does!

So it's now 2:30, halfway through my very first Holy Hour, and I want to write about how grateful I am for this opportunity! 

Eucharistic Adoration has always been a part of my life.  My parents had the 9 pm hour on Thursdays when I was in high school, and a different combination of my sisters, parents, and I went every week.

Since then, I've had 4 different Holy Hours.  Sometimes I lost my hour because I’ve moved parishes, or the Adoration schedule changed.  But every single time I sign up, I enthusiastically inform the coordinator that I'm willing to take the hour, but I'm super busy, so I will need a sub occasionally.  

With 9 kids, there will never be enough hours in the day!  Adding another commitment to my week is an insane idea.

But guess who RARELY EVER gets a sub? That's right. Once I experience the graces and peace of spending time with Jesus, I move mountains to protect that hour with Him.  

I'm telling you friends, if you are thinking about spending more time with Jesus, you have to take the plunge and commit to an hour.  

I know that our church has adoration on Mondays until 10 PM. I know this because it shows up on my calendar week after week!

Did I ever pop in? Nope. Because if I were already in town, I was then in a hurry to get back home.

There was a season when I would sneak in for an hour in the evening when my son had karate. So it IS possible, but I could easily convince myself that a good mom should stay and watch her kid, or that I should run home during practice to do x, y, or z.  As much as I hate commitment, I NEED commitment!

Perhaps you are like me and grew up with Eucharistic Adoration, but I’m going to speak to those who may not be familiar with this devotion.

During Adoration, Our Eucharistic Lord, present in the consecrated host, placed in a beautiful gold monstrance, is set upon the altar.  The same Jesus that we receive at Mass is always there in our Catholic churches, waiting for us to come.  

The Catechism states, “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship.  Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love and urges us not to refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration… let our adoration never cease.”

Adoration doesn’t compete with the Mass; rather, it is intrinsically linked to it.  This worship, outside of the Mass, reminds us of Christ’s continued presence and reminds the believers that in this Blessed Sacrament He dwells in His house.  He waits for us and stays with us.

Resting in the silence of His presence, we get to enjoy an intimate friendship with Jesus as we pour out our hearts before Him.

But why the hour?  Well, honestly, even 10 seconds in front of the Blessed Sacrament during Adoration is powerful.  But there is wisdom in this structure.  The Catechism links contemplative prayer directly to the moment in Gethsemane when Jesus asks the disciples to stay awake: “We must be willing to ‘keep watch with (Him) one hour.”

So an hour of adoration is a concrete way of responding to Jesus’ invitation to keep watch with Him, not just say words about Him.  That “hour” is still present, and your hour of adoration is a way of being there with Christ when He most needs it.  

But on a more practical note, during that hour, your prayer is more likely to become less about what you want to accomplish and more about letting Jesus’s own prayer shape your prayer.

So that hour of adoration, at its core, is an act of staying with Christ in his Paschal “hour,” so that your prayer can become a genuine communion of love- watching with Him, not just visiting for a few moments.

I love a good chit-chat, but we all know that it doesn’t build an authentic relationship like intimate conversation.

I’m here to argue the benefits of a Holy Hour, so don’t hear that as a defense against stopping in to say hi to Jesus for a few minutes.  If that’s all you have time for, please continue to do it!  But today, I want to ask you to ask Jesus to give you a neon sign, or a crystal-clear bulletin announcement ;) if He is calling you to more.  He is always there, waiting for you to come.  

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

O Sacrament most holy,

O Sacrament Divine,

All praise and all thanksgiving

Be every moment Thine.

Until next time, your sister in Christ,

Leah