Introduction
Something has been happening in the Catholic Church over the last generation
or so. I wonder whether you’ve noticed. It’s been happening
very quietly – but there’s no mistake that it’s going
on, and that it’s making a difference. On the whole it’s
happening more in other countries than in England. But it’s happening
here too – and I’m sure it will do more and more in the
future. I’m talking about Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Sixteen months ago I took my last parish on pilgrimage to Rome and
Assisi. One of the things that made the greatest impression on them
took place one weekday evening. It was getting late – it was gone
ten, we’d gone for a stroll and for an ice cream in one of the
most fashionable and beautiful squares in cental Rome, Piazza Navona
– when my parishioners noticed people queuing outside the big
church, Sant’Agnese. They simply couldn’t believe that on
a weekday evening that people were queuing to get into church. And this
wasn’t a one off. It happens all the time. People were queuing
to get into church – to spend time praying, being silent, listening
to Scripture in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, in front of
Jesus truly present in the Sacred Host. And the other thing my parishioners
couldn’t get over was the fact that in this packed church, there
wasn’t an old person to be seen. These were all young people.
That’s not an isolated incident. From my time in Rome, I’ve
now got lots of friends who are now priests in the MidWest of the United
States. I’ve been over to visit them a couple of times. And one
thing in particular has struck me. Often you’ll find in every
city, every diocese, each parish in the last ten or twenty years has
built a chapel of Perpetual Adoration. In every church, at every moment
of the day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, parishioners are praying
before Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. Often it’s not
the priests who’ve been responsible for building these chapels,
the initiative’s come from the people. On the whole it’s
not priests and nuns who’re praying in those chapels, it’s
ordinary people – housewives, office workers, students, the retired.
They’ve got their rotas going round the clock, day and night.
Always someone with Jesus, praying for themselves, praying for the parish,
praying for the world.
Last summer our young people from Ruislip had the chance to experience
this for themselves. When we went to World Youth Day, it was a busy,
crowded time. But always there were churches, tents open, day and night,
to find peace, to spend time with Jesus. The most extraordinary moment
was the last night before the big Mass with the Pope. 1.1m young Catholics
sleeping outdoors in a huge field. And before we went to bed we shared
with Pope Benedict an hour’s Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
and then Benediction. Despite the crowds, despite the circumstances,
there was peace. Jesus was with us.
When the history of the extraordinary pontificate of Pope John Paul
II comes to be written, I’m sure that this tremendous growth in
the practice of Eucharistic Adoration will come to be seen as one of
the most significant developments of these years. Something Pope John
Paul himself strenuously promoted during his twenty-six years as Pope.
That was one of the things he emphasized in the Year of the Eucharist
which he proclaimed for the universal Church.
This is how Pope John Paul wrote about it :
“The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable
value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to
the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ
under the sacred species reserved after Mass… derives from the
celebration of the sacrifice and is directed towards communion, both
sacramental and spiritual. It is the responsibility of priests to encourage,
also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration,
and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer
of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species.
It is pleasant to spend time with Him, to lie close to His breast like
the Beloved Disciple and to feel the infinite love present in His Heart.
If in our time Christians must be distinguished by “the art of
prayer,” how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual
converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present
in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brothers and sisters, have
I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!”
The words of Pope John Paul II.
As Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, your ministry is to give
Holy Communion to the faithful at Mass, to take the Blessed Sacrament
to the sick and the housebound of the parish. That means a certain amount
of activity. But to appreciate more fully what it is we’re doing,
to ensure we have the right disposition, it’s necessary for us
to think a little more carefully about Eucharistic Adoration. Only then
do we make certain that our ministry is based upon prayer, upon true
worship of Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Development of Doctrine
Not everyone understands what Eucharistic Adoration is about. Traditionally,
it’s something Protestants were very opposed to. It’s condemned
by the very constitution of the Church of England :
“The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon or
to be carried about, but that we should duly use them.”
Basically, they’re saying Holy Communion is there to be eaten
and nothing more. Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, Adoration, Benediction,
the Forty Hours Devotion, Corpus Christi processions – these are
all very Catholic things, important to our Faith, important to our spiritual
lives. But are we on firm ground, Scripturally and doctrinally, when
we engage in these practices? As Ministers of Holy Communion, that’s
something we need to know and to be convinced of. Is Eucharistic Adoration
just another pious eccentricity, or is it founded on authentic Catholic
doctrine and the solid rock of Christian revelation?
Of course, it’s good Catholic doctrine and based on revelation,
but it needs to be explained and understood. Eucharistic Adoration is
a development of doctrine. That means that it’s a timeless, changeless
truth, but one understood more clearly today after centuries of thought
and prayer on the subject. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the
Church sees more clearly what she has always believed. Jesus promised
His Apostles the Holy Spirit “Whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things and bring to your mind all that I
have said.” The truth is what it has always been, only, led by
the Holy Spirit, we now understand it better than before. The remarkable
increase in Eucharistic Adoration is a result of that.
The whole point of Eucharistic Adoration is wanting to be close to
Jesus. It’s doing what Jesus asked His disciples to do in the
Garden of Gethsemane, to spend an hour with Him in prayer. It’s
wanting the same attitude as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus,
who wanted simply to sit at the feet of Our Lord, to be united with
Him in love and adoration, to offer Him her life, her heart. And Mary,
of course, is told, that she has chosen the better part. Eucharistic
Adoration is founded on the belief that when we’re before the
Blessed Sacrament, we’re just as close to Jesus as Mary was when
He visited her home in Bethany. So what’s our basis for that belief?
Scripture
Our belief is founded in Scripture. Don’t ever let anyone tell
you otherwise. Belief that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist
derives from the Gospels and the writings of St. Paul. It’s clear
from there that the first Christians believed that Jesus dwelt in the
Sacred Host and the Precious Blood, continuing His saving mission among
men. John and Paul are particularly plain. When you get a moment, go
back and read John Chapter 6. Jesus couldn’t have been clearer
:
“I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall not thirst… I am the living Bread
which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread, he will live
forever; and the Bread which I shall give for the life of the world
is My Flesh… For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink
indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I
in him.”
That’s pretty strong stuff. Many of the Jews, even Jesus’
own disciples thought so. We read :
“Many of His disciples, when they heard it, said, “This
is a hard saying; who can listen to it?... After this many of His disciples
drew back and no longer went about with Him.”
Jesus is saddened by their lack of belief in His teaching on Holy Communion.
But the interesting thing is it doesn’t cause Him to tone it down,
to change what He’s been saying. He doesn’t go running after
them, saying, “Hold on a minute. You’ve misunderstood Me.
I didn’t intend you to take Me literally. That language was just
a way of talking, it was just symbolic.” Jesus doesn’t say
that at all. Instead, He turns to the Apostles and asks them,
“Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have
believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”
It’s clear : being a disciple means having the faith that recognises
Jesus as the Son of God and recognising Him truly present in the Blessed
Sacrament.
St. Paul is equally clear in his first letter to the Corinthians when
he talks to them about the Eucharist. He warns of the dangerous consequences
of receiving Holy Communion as if it were just ordinary bread and wine
:
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you…
Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let
a man examine himself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and
drinks judgment upon himself.”
It’s the same in Luke’s Gospel. Just think of those two
disciples on the road to Emmaus. It’s in the breaking of bread,
in the Eucharist, that they recognise their Risen Lord.
The Church Fathers
St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the early bishops and martyrs of
the Church, living just a generation or two after the time of Christ,
someone who may well have known the Apostles. On his way to martyrdom
in Rome, Ignatius had to warn the Church in Smyrna, modern day Izmir
in Turkey, against the Gnostics, the New Agers of his day.
“The Gnostics withhold themselves from Eucharist and prayer, because
they do not believe that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, the same flesh as suffered for our sins, and which in His loving-kindness
the Father raised up.”
Ignatius is saying, within 70 years of the death and Resurrection of
Christ, that the Gnostics have lost the true faith, belief in the Real
Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Interestingly, he also says this
causes them to cease practising charity. They no longer help the widow,
the orphan, the starving. It’s through our belief, our participation
in the Eucharist that we meet Jesus and receive the wisdom and strength
then to do what’s right in the world.
Just a little later, another early Christian saint and martyr is saying
exactly the same thing. For the benefit of a non-Christian audience
St. Justin Martyr describes what the sacrament is :
“This food is called among us the Eucharist, and of it no one
is allowed to partake unless he believes that our teaching is true and
has [been baptised], and is living as Christ commanded. For we do not
receive it as common bread or common drink, but, just as Jesus Christ
our Saviour, made flesh by the Word of God, has both flesh and blood
for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food over which
the thanksgiving has been made, by the prayer of the Word that is from
Him, that food… is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus…”
The more the Christian community receives the Eucharist, the more they
reflect upon it, the more they pray about it, the stronger is their
faith that in the Eucharist they are really and truly receiving Jesus
Himself. This is what Pope Leo the Great tells his people in his sermon
:
“You ought to partake at the Holy Table as to have no doubt at
all concerning the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ. For what
is taken in the mouth is that which is believed by faith, and it is
vain for them to respond “Amen” who dispute against that
which is taken.”
This isn’t just some later invention of the Roman Catholic faith.
Belief in the Real Presence was just as strong in the Greek East as
in the Latin West. Thus, we get St. Cyril of Jerusalem instructing new
converts to Christianity :
“The bread and the wine of the Eucharist were simple bread and
wine before the invocation of the holy and adorable Trinity, but when
the invocation has taken place the bread becomes the Body of Christ
and the wine the Blood of Christ…
What seems to be bread is not bread even though it tastes like it, but
the Body of Christ, and what seems like wine is not wine, even though
it tastes like it, but the Blood of Christ.”
With this faith in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, we find from
the mid-third century Christian hermits, especially in Palestine and
Egypt, keeping the Blessed Sacrament in their caves. Partly, this is
in order that, in their isolation, they can continue to receive Holy
Communion. But also it was to enhance their spiritual lives throughout
the day. They were deeply conscious of being in the presence of the
Lord. When hermits began together as monasteries and convents, we find
the Blessed Sacrament being reserved there, both so that Holy Communion
might be given at any time to the sick and the dying, but also as a
focus for the prayer and spiritual life of the community. First, it
seems that the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a chapel just off the
main monastery church. Later we find the Blessed Sacrament reserved
in the church itself. There is a poem written in the year 802 telling
of the Blessed Sacrament being reserved on the high altar in the abbey
church at Lindisfarne.
In the liturgy itself, there is increased emphasis on the Real Presence
of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We’re so used to saying the
Agnus Dei, “the Lamb of God,” just before Communion. We
forget it’s a prayer to the Sacred Host – added to the Mass
in the fifth century – identifying the Host as Jesus, the same
Jesus addressed in those terms by John the Baptist. The Host is worshipped
and adored.
The Middle Ages
The eleventh century saw a crisis in Eucharistic faith both as a result
of those who took too literal, too physical a view of the Eucharist
and also those who were inclined to reduce it to something purely symbolic
and nothing more. But, as has happened so often in 2,000 years, controversy
forced the Church to articulate the faith that she has always believed
only in more accurate terms, ie doctrine is developed. That was the
case here as Pope Gregory VII ordered the following oath to be drawn
up :
“I believe in my heart and openly profess that the bread and wine
which are placed upon the altar are changed in their substance into
the true and life-giving Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ Our Lord, and
that after the consecration, there is present the true Body of Christ,
born of the Virgin Mary, which was offered, and hung upon the Cross,
for the salvation of the world, and which sits on the right hand of
the Father, and that there is present the true Blood of Christ which
flowed from His side. They are present not only by means of a sign and
the power of this sacrament, but also in the very reality and truth
of their nature and substance.”
That statement was drawn up over 900 years ago, but it reflects our
Eucharistic faith so accurately that Pope Paul VI had it reproduced
in full in his 1965 document, Mysterium Fidei.
With faith in the Real Presence thus accurately set forth, the period
that followed was one of great Eucharistic piety in the Church. Throughout
Europe there were Blessed Sacrament processions, the faithful were encouraged
to make regular visits to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, new services
were devised. Some say that Blessed Sacrament Processions were first
introduced into England, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, a former
Benedictine Abbot of Bec, ie our former patron here in Ruislip.
When we think of St. Francis of Assisi, we tend to think of his great
love of nature, of Creation, his embracing poverty for love of Christ.
That is certainly true. At the heart of what Francis tried to achieve
was his attempt to make Jesus real for the people – not just an
abstract belief or figure from history. Thus, it was Francis who popularised
the practices of the Christmas crib, the Stations of the Cross –
so people could draw close to Jesus. But he was quite clear that we
could never be closer to Jesus on this earth than when we approach the
Blessed Sacrament. He wrote to all priests to urge the greatest respect
for the Blessed Sacrament, to comply with the norms of the Church and
to end all abuses. He warned his fellow clerics :
“Man should tremble, the world should quake, all heaven should
be moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the
priest.”
Francis had a great love of the Eucharist. He would try to attend Mass
twice daily; he would spend hours in prayer before the tabernacle at
night.
As the Christian people showed their great love for the Eucharist,
God seemed to come to meet them in their devotion as a significant number
of Eucharistic miracles are recorded around this time. It was in response
to one such miracle that the Pope of the day, Urban IV, instituted the
great Feast of Corpus Christi, the official recognition by the Church
of the people’s faith. In giving this Feast to the Church, the
Pope wrote :
In the Eucharist “Christ is with us in His own substance.”
For “when telling the Apostles that He was ascending into heaven,
He said, “Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of
time,” thus comforting them with the gracious promise that He
would remain and be with them even by His bodily presence.”
Pope Urban had St. Thomas Aquinas write the prayers and hymns for the
Feast of Corpus Christi. We continue to honour the Blessed Sacrament
by singing them today : O Salutaris Hostia, Tantum Ergo and Panis Angelicus.
Our Eucharistic faith, the basis for Eucharistic Adoration found full
expression in the decrees of the Council of Trent in the sixteenth as
the response to the Protestant rejection of the Church’s doctrine
of the Real Presence. The Council Fathers decreed :
“The only-begotten Son of God is to be adored in the Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist with that worship which is due to God, including external
worship. The Sacrament, therefore, is to be honoured with extraordinary
festive celebrations [and] solemnly carried from place to place in processions
according to the praiseworthy universal rite and custom of the holy
Church. The Sacrament is to be publicly exposed for the people’s
adoration.”
Development of Eucharistic Adoration
Reservation and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament had been a part of
the life of the Church from her earliest days, but there was a considerable
development in practice from the time of the Council of Trent. Most
of these we would have grown up with ourselves – and either they
continue to be a part of parish life, or they are making a strong come-back
under the encouragement of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Quarant’Ore : How many of you remember the Forty Hours’
Devotion? The custom of arranging for people to pray continuously for
forty hours in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament began in Italy
in the sixteenth century and rapidly became a popular feature of Catholic
life. Forty Hours was chosen as the time that Our Lord spent in the
Tomb between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Forty Hour devotion
or something similar is recommended by the modern Code of Canon for
every church where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved :
“…there is to be each year a solemn exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament for an appropriate time, even if not continuous, so that the
local community may more attentively meditate on and adore the Eucharistic
Mystery…”
It was good to see the Forty Hour devotion revived in Westminster Cathedral
last year and to know that it was so well supported.
Perpetual Adoration : Beginning in the Middle Ages, increasing after
the Council of Trent and becoming widespread in the nineteenth century
was the practice of Perpetual Adoration – every moment, day and
night, throughout the year, people would organise so that there could
be unceasing prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The practice began
in the seclusion of cloistered monasteries and convents, but it was
rapidly taken up by priests and lay folk living in the world. Especially
in France in the nineteenth century Perpetual Adoration by the laity
was encouraged by orders like the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and the
Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Many lay associations were inspired
by St. Peter Julian Eymard, founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers,
who said :
“In the presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament,
all greatness disappears, all holiness humbles itself and comes to nothing.
Jesus Christ is there!”
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament : Before the Reformation England was
especially noted for its vibrant Catholic life, its devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament. When I was undertaking research up in my home county
of Lincolnshire, I noted that the first thing the town council arranged
to revive after the Catholic Queen Mary succeeded her Protestant half-brother
was the Corpus Christi procession. In this country as elsewhere, daily
– or more frequent – visits to the Blessed Sacrament were
a regular part of life. Encouraging the practice, this is what one Englishman
wrote in the fourteenth century :
Why? Because “in the Church is most devotion to pray, for there
is God upon the altar to hear those who pray to Him and to grant them
what they ask for and what is best for them.”
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament aren’t just a mediaeval custom.
The current Code of Canon Law requires,
“Unless there is a grave reason to the contrary, a church in which
the Blessed Sacrament is reserved is to be open to the faithful for
at least some hours every day, so that they can pray before the Blessed
Sacrament.”
Benediction : How many of you grew up with Benediction being part of
weekly life for every Catholic? It’s a sadness that Sunday evening
Masses mean that Benediction has all but disappeared from most parishes.
That was never intended to be the case.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, often connected with processions
and devotions to Our Lady, sprang up spontaneously across Europe in
the thirteenth century. Pope Pius XII spoke of the
“great benefit in that custom which makes the priest raise aloft
the Bread of Angels before congregations with their heads bowed down
in adoration and forming with It the sign of the Cross. [This] implores
the Heavenly Father to look upon His Son Who for love of us was nailed
to the Cross and for His sake and through Him willed… to shower
down heavenly favours upon those whom the Immaculate Blood of the Lamb
has redeemed.”
Eucharistic Congresses : Especially from the nineteenth century it
became common for great public gatherings to be held to demonstrate
faith in the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. The first international
Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881. Soon they were attended
by thousands of bishops and priests and hundreds of thousands of lay
people. The international Eucharist Congress held in Westminster in
1908 was a great coming of age for the Catholic Church in England. Despite
a run in with the Government of the day, it was the first time in 350
years that Catholics had been able to demonstrate such great devotion
to the Blessed Sacrament so publicly. International Eucharistic Congresses
have now been held in every continent, and many more locally, on a national
or diocesan level. Pope John Paul II explained their purpose :
“The Eucharistic Congress is first and foremost a great community
act of faith in the presence and in the action of Jesus in the Eucharist,
Who remains with us sacramentally to travel with us along our ways,
so that with His power, we can cope with our problems, our toil, our
suffering…
The Eucharistic Congress should demonstrate particularly and highlight
the fact that the People of God here on earth lives by the Eucharist,
that it draws from It its strength for everyday toils and for the struggles
in all spheres of its existence.”
Experienced Benefits of Eucharistic Adoration
In the sixteenth century, and in response to the errors of the Protestant
Reformation, the Council of Trent declared that in the Blessed Sacrament
“it is the same God Whom the apostles adored in Galilee.”
Eucharistic Adoration is, therefore, an article of the Catholic faith
to be believed by us all. But we not only adore Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, we pray to Him and we petition Him. We bring to Him all our
needs, our worries and our concerns, just as those who came into contact
with Him physically present in Palestine 2,000 years ago. It is the
experience of Catholics over the centuries that prayer to Jesus present
in the Blessed Sacrament has brought innumerable graces to themselves
and to others, it has given the supernatural strength to allow ordinary
people to do extraordinary things.
St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi was a Carmelite nun. She gave the following
advice :
“A friend will visit a friend in the morning to wish him a good
day, in the evening, a good night, taking also an opportunity to speak
with him during the day. In the same way, make visits to Jesus Christ
in the Blessed Sacrament, if your duties permit it. It is especially
at the foot of the altar that one prays well… You will find these
visits very conducive to increase in you divine love.”
St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, would often turn to the tabernacle
while preaching and say to the people, “He is there!” He
also told his people :
“Our Lord is hidden there in the tabernacle, waiting for us to
come and visit Him, and make our requests to Him… In heaven, where
we shall be glorious and triumphant, we shall see Him in all His glory.
If He had presented Himself before us in that glory now we should not
have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself like a person in prison,
who might say to us, “You do not see Me, but that is no matter;
ask of Me all you wish and I will grant it.””
Twentieth Century
In the mid-twentieth century Pope Pius XII wrote at length about Eucharistic
Adoration in his encyclical letter “Mediator Dei.” He reminded
the Church that, from the beginning, Christians had recognised that
Christ was equally present in the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood
as He had been when incarnate in Palestine 2,000 years. In both forms
Christ is equally deserving of our worship. Reflecting on this mystery,
the Church over the centuries had increasingly come to recognise the
presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species outside of the Mass. Of
course, He had always been present, but the prayer and practice of the
Church led the faithful to a greater understanding of this.
There have been some strange views espoused by so-called Catholics
from the 1960s, claiming – quite wrongly – that these represented
the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. To counteract them, while
the Second Vatican Council was still in session, Pope Paul VI had to
issue the document “Mysterium Fidei,” “The Mystery
of Faith.” In it Pope Paul reasserted without any ambiguity the
Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. He stated forcefully that in
any particle of the Sacred Host remaining after Mass, Christ remains
truly present with power to sanctify us, to give us grace. Thus is the
fulfilment of the promise of Emmanuel, “God with us,” God
continues to be present to us in the tabernacle to nourish, restore,
strengthen and console us. He awaits our response in faith. Of course,
Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict have continued to uphold and develop
this Catholic understanding of the Eucharist.
Why did Eucharistic Adoration go into decline for perhaps a generation
or so after the Second Vatican Council? Well, of course, it was never
discouraged by the Church – quite the reverse – but there
was the feeling among some Catholics perhaps that it was more important
to be doing things rather than praying, better to be running charities
or getting involved in social action than spending our time on our knees
in front the Blessed Sacrament. Fortunately, we’re now moving
on from such a simplistic view today. We need both prayer and action.
And we’re not going to get the action right unless we’ve
first brought it to God in prayer.
As Pope Benedict has pointed out in one of his most recent books, this
was the secret of all the great saints.
“The great socially committed saints were always great eucharistic
saints as well. I would like to mention just two examples, selected
entirely at random. First, the beloved figure of St. Martin de Porres,
who was born in 1569 in Lima, Peru, the son of a black mother from Panama
and a Spanish nobleman. Martin lived on adoration of the Lord present
in the Eucharist and spent entire nights in prayer before the crucifix,
whereas by day he tirelessly cared for the sick and assisted the socially
disadvantaged, to whom he, a mulatto, felt close by reason of his ethnic
descent as well. The encounter with the Lord, Who gives Himself to us
from the Cross and makes us all members of one body through the one
bread, was logically converted into service rendered to the suffering,
into care for the weak and the forgotten.
In our time, the image of Mother Teresa of Calcutta is right before
our eyes. Wherever she opened houses of her sisters in order to serve
the dying and outcast, the first thing she asked for was a place for
the tabernacle, because she knew that the strength for such service
could only come from there. Whoever recognises the Lord in the tabernacle
recognises Him in the suffering and the needy; he is among those to
whom the Judge of the world will say : “I was hungry and you gave
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink… I was naked and
you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you
came to see me” (Mt. 25:35-36).”
The saints show us that love of Jesus in the Eucharist and love of neighbour
go together.
The Fruits of Eucharistic Adoration
It is one of the ways of testing something in the Church, to decide
whether it is authentic or not, whether it is from the Lord or not,
to say to ourselves, by their fruits shall you know them. That’s
equally true of Eucharistic Adoration. By its fruit shall you know it.
I mentioned Eucharistic Adoration in Rome. When I first started at
seminary, at the English College in Rome – now the best part of
a decade ago – things weren’t exactly as they should be.
It’s probably fair to say, that looking at things as a whole,
there was too much socialising, too little prayer. And there were problems,
divisions in the community, too many people not staying the course,
other kinds of problems. A few of us were pressing to have daily Exposition
of the Blessed Sacrament in the College. But that only happened when
one day a young member of the Community of St. John visited the College.
He turned round and he said, “The problem with this place is that
there’s no Eucharistic heart.” And since that time there’s
been an hour’s Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the College
every day. I was back there last month. The majority of the seminarians
are there praying in front of Jesus every day. There’s a vastly
different atmosphere in the house. It’s more united, more studious,
more prayerful and also more joyful. Far fewer seminarians are dropping
out, a far higher proportion persevering to priesthood – and for
the right reasons.
I mentioned Eucharistic Adoration in the United States. In many of
those Dioceses were there is perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
there’s been a big upswing in vocations in the last decade or
so. Last summer I was in the Diocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. That’s
one of those places that’s experienced a huge increase in the
numbers of people adoring the Blessed Sacrament. Chapels are being built,
people are praying. Last autumn they had a huge Eucharistic Congress,
thousands and thousands united with their Archbishop in giving public
witness to their homage to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Paul-Minneapolis
has a similar Catholic population to the Diocese of Westminster. Last
year our number of seminarians was almost down to single figures. St.
Paul-Minneapolis have around 100 seminarians. The pattern is repeated
again and again in those dioceses, religious orders and movements in
the States and in France who give due honour to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament. Last month one of my friends was appointed chaplain to a
Benedictine Convent in the South of France, a community centred on the
Eucharist. There are seventy nuns – the number is growing and
almost all of them are young. None of this should surprise us when we
remember that Pope John Paul told us, “Only a Church in love with
the Eucharist generates holy and numerous priestly vocations.”
But we don’t just have to look overseas. Who’s been to
the Convent at Tyburn? It’s easy, even as a Catholic, to live
in London for years and not to know it’s there. But the Convent
is right in the heart of London overlooking Hyde Park, at the end of
the Edgware Road and just three or four minutes from Oxford Street.
Most people wouldn’t have a clue that it exists so close to hundreds
of thousands of shoppers. But close by the site where 105 Catholic martyrs
were executed there’s now a convent of Benedictine sisters, whose
main purpose is the service of God through perpetual Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament in the convent chapel. London can sometimes seem a
very godless place. It’s hugely reassuring, therefore, that day
and night, there’s always someone in front of Jesus, praying for
the city, its citizens and its visitors. It’s this that the sisters
feel called by God to do. And, unlike other convents in this country,
they’re doing well. The average age of the sisters is under 40.
There are 25 of them – and there’d be more, except a number
have been sent off to found other, similar convents around the world.
The Tyburn Convent Chapel is open to the public. Why not call in and
say a prayer when you’re next in Oxford Street?
Who’s heard of Youth 2000? We had two of them come to speak to
the parish Youth Group here just last Sunday. You might have heard of
the many new movements which have grown up in the Church over the last
generation. Well, Youth 2000 is one of the few which actually began
in this country. It was founded here in 1991 and since then it has helped
thousands of young adults to ‘come home’ to the Church and
to grow spiritually. This has happened through their experiencing the
love of God, through prayer and also a sense of belonging, leading to
a renewed faith in Christ and His Church. The best proof of its success
is the many young people who are at the heart of the initiative, and
who offer what they have received to others of their generation.
Youth 2000 don’t hide what’s at the centre at the movement.
“It’s all about Adoration” says their publicity. It’s
about prayer, an encounter with Jesus, especially in Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament. Youth 2000 are known for their weekly meetings at
Corpus Christi church, Maiden Lane in Convent Garden and for their annual
conference in Walsingham every August. Thousands of young people camp
out over the Bank Holiday weekend. Throughout this time there is constant
prayer, day and night, before the Blessed Sacrament. This allows lots
of time for both personal and group-based prayer in His presence, at
times accompanied by contemporary music. As Youth 2000 say, it’s
a bit like any other relationship – it’s great to talk on
the phone, but sometimes what you really want is a good chat in person.
That’s where Adoration comes in. It’s a truly wonderful
thing to see how young people have taken to Eucharistic Adoration. In
a world, and sometimes a Church, too filled with noise and talk, young
people instinctively respond to this opportunity to be quiet with Jesus.
I’m involved in a small way with something called the Good Counsel
Network. It was set up nine years ago by a lady from Wembley called
Clare McCullough, who felt called to do something about the hundreds
and thousands of young women – many of them immigrants, Catholics
from Eastern Europe, the Philippines and Latin America – who become
pregnant and, often against their wishes, feel compelled to have an
abortion. Sometimes they feel forced into it by their boyfriend, sometimes
it’s because they feel they can’t afford to have the baby,
there’s no help available. The Good Counsel Network advertise
as a women’s centre everywhere where abortion clinics advertise.
The women they see, therefore, come intending to have an abortion. Very
gently, very tenderly the Good Counsel Network offer advice. They explain
what an abortion actually involves, they offer medical advice and practical
help, financially and in terms of accommodation.
The Good Counsel Network began in a flat someone lent them in Earl’s
Court. Now they operate out of specifically-designed premises in Marylebone.
Over nine years they’ve counselled around 3,000 pregnant women.
Half of those kept in contact subsequently and, of those, 70% of women
have chosen to keep their babies. That means hundreds of lives saved.
The Good Counsel Network operates on a shoestring, on donations, with
volunteers. How has their achievement been made?
The Good Counsel Network is in no doubt. Even before financial donations,
they prefer that people pray for their work. Yes, the Good Counsel Network
offer information and practical help, they listen to and befriend the
young women, but, ultimately, they recognise that it is only God Who
changes a woman’s heart to decide to keep the baby. That’s
why they ask supporters to sign up to a rota, to commit to pray an hour
a week, at a location of their choice, before the Blessed Sacrament.
They pray for the women being counselled, for the lives of their babies.
It’s also their aim to have someone praying before the Blessed
Sacrament in the chapel at their premises as women are being counselled
next door. When the Good Counsel Network began their work, many people
told them it was worthwhile, but impossible. The Good Counsel Network
have proved them wrong, but believe that it is all thanks to the power
of prayer.
Many people have commented that the parish here in Ruislip seems to
have come alive in the last couple of years. You can see that –
in the numbers here on Sunday, in the young families at Mass, in the
growing number of groups and activities. In part, of course, that’s
down to the vision and hard work of a number of people. But I suggest
that it also has something to do with the fact that in 2004 we began
daily Eucharistic Adoration in this parish. Never under-estimate the
power of prayer, especially prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
I suggest that we are enjoying the fruits of the generosity and sacrifice
of a small number of parishioners who pray for us all in this way.
Summary
One of the last major acts of Pope John Paul II was declare the Year
of the Eucharist, to invite us to re-discover the power, the love and
the intimacy of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We need to commit ourselves
afresh as a people, as a parish of prayer. As Ministers of Holy Communion,
some of those who come closest to the Eucharist, it’s for us to
lead by example to experience the power of what Jesus can do through
prayer.
I’d like to like to finish with something from John Paul II’s
great encyclical on the Eucharist :
Eucharistic Adoration “is supported by the example of many saints.
Particularly outstanding in this regard was St. Alphonsus Ligouri, who
wrote, “Of all 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.” The Eucharist is a priceless
treasure : by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it
outside of the Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring
of grace. A Christian community wishing to contemplate the face of Christ…
cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which
prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the Body and Blood
of the Lord.”
O Sacrament most holy,
O Sacrament divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving
Be every moment Thine.
Bibliography
Fr. John Hardon, SJ, The History of Eucharistic Adoration : Development
of Doctrine in the Catholic Church, EWTN
Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP, The Holy Eucharist, Veritas, (Dublin, 1991)