Friday, April 20, 2018

Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations

Dear Parishioners,

On Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, St. Jane Frances is having 24 hour Adoration in the Chapel. Many of you signed up for it last weekend. Adoration has as its basis, our call to praise and worship God. As Psalm 34 states:
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall always be in my mouth. My soul will glory in the Lord.”
Christ’s first commandment is that we should love God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. As we enter Church, we genuflect to the presence of God in the tabernacle which is a sign of adoration. Let me share with you a description I have seen of Adoration: Adoration, Reparation, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. These terms point to the adoring attitude we are to have in the presence of the God of the Universe. We seek his healing and perfection as antidotes to our brokenness. We give thanks for his many gifts. Finally, we recognize our unworthiness in the face of His creative, healing and merciful power. All of these come together when we are in His exposed presence in the chapel during Adoration.

Now people do many things during their Adoration hour. Reading scripture or religious material, praying a rosary, going down the list of friends and family you know in need of prayer, making petition to God for the needs of our faith, community, country, world, and the poor and homeless, going over our joys and failures, giving over to God a problem we are having, seeking input from God, or just sitting in silence and listening for the movement of the Spirit within us. Please find time to sit with Jesus. Lay out your life before Him, not in shame but in thanksgiving. Adoration goes on until 6pm on Sunday. The chapel is always open from 9am to 3pm.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve