Last Sunday, we celebrated the beautiful feast of Corpus Christi.
We brought the Blessed Sacrament in a Eucharistic procession around town, so that He may bless our homes, and rekindle in us faith in His real, substantial and enduring presence in the Sacred Host. I would like to keep us, for one more Sunday, in the topic of the Eucharist. Specifically, I would like to speak to you about the practice of Eucharistic Adoration.
We return to regular time, with this, the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The colour green returns to the altar. Our readings speak to us about discipleship. The prophet Elisha is called by the prophet Elijah. St. Paul asks the Galatians to “not use your freedom for an opportunity for self-indulgence”. Our Lord calls people to follow him in the Gospel, but it seems that there are obstacles in their acceptance of that call. To use an often-repeated phrase “it is not easy to be a Christian”. Each day we are faced with choices, many of them moral choices: what to do with our time; how to respond to requests that people make of us; how to behave in certain situations; how to interact with people, whether these people are family, co-workers, or strangers.
True Christian discipleship needs focus. Sadly, most of us live in an environment of distraction, an environment where we lack focus. We need to concentrate on that which is most important: our relationship with the one, living, and true God, and the discipleship that flows from the great privilege of knowing the one, living and true God.
Here, the practice of Eucharistic Adoration comes into play. Eucharistic adoration is that prayer when we are present in front of the Blessed Sacrament, exposed in the monstrance. We have over 30 hours of Eucharistic adoration weekly, here at St. Hedwig’s, Monday through Friday, from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. The current adoration in the church grew out of the Eucharistic Adoration chapel. What do people do in Eucharistic adoration? The most important thing is to be present before the Lord, and to pay attention to Him, to concentrate on Him. One is able to read the Bible, pray the Rosary, do other devotions, as long as there is also a period of silence, a time for listening. We need to not only speak to Christ, but also allow Him to speak to us. Adoration focuses the eyes of faith, and enables the mind to grasp that which is truly important. St. John Paul II, in his letter Dominicae Cenae, wrote, “The Church and the world have a great need of eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease” (St. John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, 3, Feb. 24, 1980). By our adoration, Christ fills us with His graces, focuses us, as we also help to atone for, make reparation, for the sins of the world.
When I was thinking about my vocation, and working at Pearson Airport, many times after my shift I would visit the perpetual adoration chapel of St. Maximilian Kolbe church in Mississauga. I believe that this chapel was an instrument, a place where I was able to focus on my vocation and receive the strength to ultimately pursue it. I hope and pray that adoration at St. Hedwig’s may also be a place of focus, of concentration, for people, who are discerning their vocation, or seeking help to remain faithful to their vocation.
Eucharistic adoration requires dedicated coordinators, who make sure that the Lord is accompanied by committed adorers. MaryLou Mackenzie has been coordinating Eucharistic adoration, with the help of her husband Gordon, for the past 15 years. Mackenzies, may God reward you for this ministry, which now will be taken over by another couple. Perhaps someone here has felt the call to become a committed adorer – that is, to commit to one hour a week of adoration.
St. Peter Eymard wrote, “Jesus has left us His Divine Mother to be the Mother and Model of Adorers … It was Mary who first adored the Incarnate Word”. The statue of Our Lady in the sanctuary is a visual reminder of the closeness between the Lord in the Eucharist, and His Blessed Mother. We ask you, Mother Mary, draw more people to your Son with the practice of Eucharistic Adoration, also here in our parish.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, June 26, 2022)