I, too, have a great devotion to the practice of spending close, personal time with Jesus in the Monstrance for Eucharistic Adoration, and I’ve had four articles recently published in my diocesan newspaper about Adoration. If you’re interested, I could send you the links to the issues, although I may be republishing these in my Substack. I was so pleased to see your article, I started to go through my millions of photos of saint’s quotes, words or advice, et cetera, and I found a few off the top that I would really like to share with you. Apparently sharing a photo is not done here. Poops! But I believe I’ll share these in an article. I would like to share two thoughts: reading Vinny Flynn’s book, 21 Ways to Worship, which led me to use much of my many hours a week in Adoration to write with Jesus’s help. I try to spend the first half of my time with Jesus praying a Rosary, reading scripture, reading about Saints or books by Saints, journaling about prayer requests I have received and more. Often when I am writing an article for the diocesan newsletter or on one of the three books the Holy Spirit has assigned to me to write, I write with Jesus’s help. Using what Vinny Flynn suggested, I invite our Lord to guide me and work through me, because what I write isn’t mine. The very fact that I have a little bit of talent (mostly a lot of passion!) and that I have words to express is all because of God. Your degrees well serve you, because knowledge is never wasted! As an elderly grandmother, I imagine that your parents are very proud of you for many reasons, most of all because you are their son. Peace🕊️
I should clarify that I was just being snarky—my parents of love me and never poke fun at my choice of study, for which I am grateful.
Thank you so much for this reflection, I will keep an eye out for Flynn’s book. It brings me so much joy to think about what Jesus will do in my heart over the course of years spent with Him, and hearing your story feels like getting to catch a glimpse of what’s to come. It reminds me of the refrain at the end of the Last Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia, where all the characters are running deeper and deeper into heaven, always shouting “Further in and further up!”
One of those things I could google..... but haven't because I would rather personally ask a real Catholic.... and am not sure how it's never come up to ask someone!
How does the concept of the Holy Spirit being in and with us fit into the practice of adoration? Like, I do understand the practice to some extent (and yes I've read Brant Pitre's book on the eucharist).... but struggle to understand how it fits with Christ saying it is better for Him to depart because we will be left with the Holy Spirit? And therefore we can commune with the Lord always?
Excellent question, I may come back with more thoughts later but I have two initially:
-Both/And! I think one thing going on in that passage is that Jesus is withdrawing his normal, visible presence from them as a kind of weaning for the disciples, so they can be forced to rely on the Holy Spirit and so be caught up into the life of the Trinity. That’s not incompatible with Eucharistic Adoration, since it is a difficult thing to see Jesus in what looks like bread—after all, it took the risen Christ an entire day’s worth of intensive tutoring before the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. And it’s clearly not simply impossible for Christ to be present at the same time as the Holy Spirit, since He appears to Paul well after Pentecost. Plus it’s not like when Jesus returns in glory we’ll all lose the Holy Spirit haha.
-I would argue that it probably takes the supernatural gift of faith to recognize Christ in the Eucharist. The heart that cries out to Him on the altar can only do so by the Holy Spirit. When we adore, we love with the charity given by the Spirit, and when we accept the Eucharist as a token of the glory to come in full, we hope with that same Spirit. So I don’t think it’s really possible to have Eucharistic Adoration without the Holy Spirit shed abroad in our hearts.
Happy to be helpful! I was thinking, Jesus also mentions He will be with us always, to the very end of the age. So it seems we should expect not only the Advocate, but Christ Himself! Albeit not in a way any of us would have guessed ahead of time—such is always the way with God haha
May I add a few words? Tiny bit of background on where I’m coming from: 71 year old grandmother of five, convert since 1991 going through RCIA (now OCIA) with my then 10 year old son, but I discovered Catholicism when I was a freshman in college. I was baptized “High Church” Methodist, confirmed a second time a Presbyterian. My mother pitched an ugly fit when I informed her I wanted to convert, so I was a closet Catholic for twenty years. A devastating legal issue prompted me to fly in the face of my mother’s disapproval and enter RCIA, to which she asked “what took you so long?” So I was practicing Eucharistic Adoration for years and years before becoming into full communion with Holy Mother Church. My soul cried out to be able to partake in communion, and when I finally could at 37, I cried big ugly tears, and I don’t cry. Ever. I was hoping I could find what I have written and published on your very question, but, of course, no, not quickly. Jesus may have said that He was leaving, but he actually never did. He figured out a way to be with us even better than being alive in one little part of the world. He comes to us in the form of nourishment for our bodies and our souls in the appearance to the naked eye of the bread and the wine, but it is transformed during the Sacrifice of the Mass, where we remember and celebrate what Our Lord, Jesus Christ, did for us, as well as worship Our Lord and Heavenly Father, who sent His Only Son to live among us, to know us, and to save us. But not only are we extraordinarily blessed to not only have “our Daily Bread” available via Eucharist every day of the week, if we are able, as prayed for in the Our Father prayer (the Lord’s Prayer), but we are also able to have Jesus present in the consecrated Host placed within a Monstrance (a stand to support the usually large, consecrated Host for everyone to be able to see). Whether waiting for us in the Tabernacle or in a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, we are able to be toe-to-toe with Jesus. We can see him, and He can see us; several Saints have remarked on this wonderful reality. If Jesus had remained a man in the Middle East even until the end of time, we would not have the uniquely, passionately, intimate relationship with Jesus through Eucharist, nor have the opportunity to be with Him at any time in any Catholic Church or Chapel around the world. My first published article about Eucharistic Adoration mentions these two ways that Jesus is remaining with us until the end of time on earth through Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. Don’t think of me as the author, but someone just trying to help you: https://files.ecatholic.com/3124/documents/2024/4/WTA2024-04.pdf?t=1712594757000. My article “Jesus asked about you today” is on page 7. I will include you in my prayers. Peace 🕊️
Humbled by your wisdom and generosity—thank you for sharing your story and encouraging us. It makes me want to get to Adoration as soon as possible! :)
This is a wicked awesome primer, Eric! Well done, brother!
Thanks! I will be delighted if it is even a minor help to someone :)
I, too, have a great devotion to the practice of spending close, personal time with Jesus in the Monstrance for Eucharistic Adoration, and I’ve had four articles recently published in my diocesan newspaper about Adoration. If you’re interested, I could send you the links to the issues, although I may be republishing these in my Substack. I was so pleased to see your article, I started to go through my millions of photos of saint’s quotes, words or advice, et cetera, and I found a few off the top that I would really like to share with you. Apparently sharing a photo is not done here. Poops! But I believe I’ll share these in an article. I would like to share two thoughts: reading Vinny Flynn’s book, 21 Ways to Worship, which led me to use much of my many hours a week in Adoration to write with Jesus’s help. I try to spend the first half of my time with Jesus praying a Rosary, reading scripture, reading about Saints or books by Saints, journaling about prayer requests I have received and more. Often when I am writing an article for the diocesan newsletter or on one of the three books the Holy Spirit has assigned to me to write, I write with Jesus’s help. Using what Vinny Flynn suggested, I invite our Lord to guide me and work through me, because what I write isn’t mine. The very fact that I have a little bit of talent (mostly a lot of passion!) and that I have words to express is all because of God. Your degrees well serve you, because knowledge is never wasted! As an elderly grandmother, I imagine that your parents are very proud of you for many reasons, most of all because you are their son. Peace🕊️
I should clarify that I was just being snarky—my parents of love me and never poke fun at my choice of study, for which I am grateful.
Thank you so much for this reflection, I will keep an eye out for Flynn’s book. It brings me so much joy to think about what Jesus will do in my heart over the course of years spent with Him, and hearing your story feels like getting to catch a glimpse of what’s to come. It reminds me of the refrain at the end of the Last Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia, where all the characters are running deeper and deeper into heaven, always shouting “Further in and further up!”
*honest question alert*
One of those things I could google..... but haven't because I would rather personally ask a real Catholic.... and am not sure how it's never come up to ask someone!
How does the concept of the Holy Spirit being in and with us fit into the practice of adoration? Like, I do understand the practice to some extent (and yes I've read Brant Pitre's book on the eucharist).... but struggle to understand how it fits with Christ saying it is better for Him to depart because we will be left with the Holy Spirit? And therefore we can commune with the Lord always?
Excellent question, I may come back with more thoughts later but I have two initially:
-Both/And! I think one thing going on in that passage is that Jesus is withdrawing his normal, visible presence from them as a kind of weaning for the disciples, so they can be forced to rely on the Holy Spirit and so be caught up into the life of the Trinity. That’s not incompatible with Eucharistic Adoration, since it is a difficult thing to see Jesus in what looks like bread—after all, it took the risen Christ an entire day’s worth of intensive tutoring before the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. And it’s clearly not simply impossible for Christ to be present at the same time as the Holy Spirit, since He appears to Paul well after Pentecost. Plus it’s not like when Jesus returns in glory we’ll all lose the Holy Spirit haha.
-I would argue that it probably takes the supernatural gift of faith to recognize Christ in the Eucharist. The heart that cries out to Him on the altar can only do so by the Holy Spirit. When we adore, we love with the charity given by the Spirit, and when we accept the Eucharist as a token of the glory to come in full, we hope with that same Spirit. So I don’t think it’s really possible to have Eucharistic Adoration without the Holy Spirit shed abroad in our hearts.
Is this helpful at all lol
Edit: fixed a typo
It's helpful. Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Happy to be helpful! I was thinking, Jesus also mentions He will be with us always, to the very end of the age. So it seems we should expect not only the Advocate, but Christ Himself! Albeit not in a way any of us would have guessed ahead of time—such is always the way with God haha
May I add a few words? Tiny bit of background on where I’m coming from: 71 year old grandmother of five, convert since 1991 going through RCIA (now OCIA) with my then 10 year old son, but I discovered Catholicism when I was a freshman in college. I was baptized “High Church” Methodist, confirmed a second time a Presbyterian. My mother pitched an ugly fit when I informed her I wanted to convert, so I was a closet Catholic for twenty years. A devastating legal issue prompted me to fly in the face of my mother’s disapproval and enter RCIA, to which she asked “what took you so long?” So I was practicing Eucharistic Adoration for years and years before becoming into full communion with Holy Mother Church. My soul cried out to be able to partake in communion, and when I finally could at 37, I cried big ugly tears, and I don’t cry. Ever. I was hoping I could find what I have written and published on your very question, but, of course, no, not quickly. Jesus may have said that He was leaving, but he actually never did. He figured out a way to be with us even better than being alive in one little part of the world. He comes to us in the form of nourishment for our bodies and our souls in the appearance to the naked eye of the bread and the wine, but it is transformed during the Sacrifice of the Mass, where we remember and celebrate what Our Lord, Jesus Christ, did for us, as well as worship Our Lord and Heavenly Father, who sent His Only Son to live among us, to know us, and to save us. But not only are we extraordinarily blessed to not only have “our Daily Bread” available via Eucharist every day of the week, if we are able, as prayed for in the Our Father prayer (the Lord’s Prayer), but we are also able to have Jesus present in the consecrated Host placed within a Monstrance (a stand to support the usually large, consecrated Host for everyone to be able to see). Whether waiting for us in the Tabernacle or in a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, we are able to be toe-to-toe with Jesus. We can see him, and He can see us; several Saints have remarked on this wonderful reality. If Jesus had remained a man in the Middle East even until the end of time, we would not have the uniquely, passionately, intimate relationship with Jesus through Eucharist, nor have the opportunity to be with Him at any time in any Catholic Church or Chapel around the world. My first published article about Eucharistic Adoration mentions these two ways that Jesus is remaining with us until the end of time on earth through Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. Don’t think of me as the author, but someone just trying to help you: https://files.ecatholic.com/3124/documents/2024/4/WTA2024-04.pdf?t=1712594757000. My article “Jesus asked about you today” is on page 7. I will include you in my prayers. Peace 🕊️
I appreciate this response, Suzanne!
Humbled by your wisdom and generosity—thank you for sharing your story and encouraging us. It makes me want to get to Adoration as soon as possible! :)