Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament

This continues a series of ideas to use in your parish and area to promote belief in the Holy Eucharist and Adoration.

Week 73: “Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14:33) “I heartily recommend to the Church’s pastors and to the People of God the practice of eucharistic adoration, both individually and in community.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67) Have a parish Holy Hour and model prayers of adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. (Our A-13 “How to Make a Holy Hour” pamphlet is available at www.ACFP2000.com)

Week 74: “And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.” (Matthew 28:9) “Great benefit would ensue from a suitable catechesis explaining the importance of this act of worship [Eucharistic adoration], which enables the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration more fully and more fruitfully.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67) Guide parishioners in meditating with Scripture before the Blessed Sacrament.

Week 75: “Who will not fear you, Lord, or glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:4) “Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67) Contact us for a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Starter Kit and assistance in beginning 24/7 adoration in your parish.

Week 76: “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:48) “The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 1) Schedule a specific time (or times) each week to spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. During your adoration, spend some of the time simply talking with Jesus heart-to-heart and resting in the silence with Him.

Week 77: “Therefore, we who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28) “Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 66) Take a few minutes after Mass to offer thanksgiving prayers to Jesus for the gift of His most holy Body and Blood.

Week 78: “This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:58) “The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, ‘only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another’” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 66) During your time of Adoration, ask our Lord how He is calling you to serve others.

Week 79: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” (John 6:53) “I also recommend that, in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for First Holy Communion, children be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before his presence in the Eucharist” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67) Bring your children or grandchildren and their friends to Adoration and teach them how to talk with Jesus and listen to Him. (Resources for children, including books and DVDs are available at www.ACFP2000.com)

Week 80: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.” (John 4:23) “Besides encouraging individual believers to make time for personal prayer before the Sacrament of the Altar, I feel obliged to urge parishes and other church groups to set aside times for collective adoration. Naturally, already existing forms of eucharistic piety retain their full value. I am thinking, for example, of processions with the Blessed Sacrament, especially the traditional procession on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Forty Hours devotion, local, national and international Eucharistic Congresses, and other similar initiatives.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 67) Plan a special time in your parish for a Eucharistic procession and/or Forty Hours devotion.

Week 81: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54) “The relationship of the Eucharist to the various ecclesial vocations is seen in a particularly vivid way in ‘the prophetic witness of consecrated men and women, who find in the celebration of the Eucharist and in eucharistic adoration the strength necessary for the radical following of Christ, obedient, poor and chaste’” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 81) Invite priests, consecrated, and those in lay movements to offer testimonies about how the Holy Eucharist has transformed their lives at special gatherings.

Week 82: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” (John 6:57) “The Church is able to celebrate and adore the mystery of Christ present in the Eucharist precisely because Christ first gave himself to her in the sacrifice of the Cross. The Church’s ability to ‘make’ the Eucharist is completely rooted in Christ’s self-gift to her. Here we can see more clearly the meaning of Saint John’s words: ‘he first loved us’ (1 Jn 4:19). (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 14) Spend time reflecting on how when we come to the Eucharist we come to the Cross and all that Jesus suffered to give you this gift of Himself.

Week 83: “Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.” (John 6:49)  When, in adoration, we contemplate the consecrated Host. . .we discover the greatness of this gift, but we also discover the Passion, the Cross of Jesus and His resurrection” (Pope Benedict XVI, Corpus Christi, 6/15/06). Meditate on the resurrection of Jesus and how He waits to renew you in His love.

Week 84: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in my and I in him.” (John 6:56) “The feast of Corpus Christi is a propitious occasion to deepen one’s faith and love of the Eucharist . . . . [Nourish yourselves] frequently with the Body and Blood of Christ, our spiritual food. You will advance on the path of holiness.” “I invite the Christian community to join this ceremony of profound faith in the Eucharist which is the precious treasure of the Church and of humanity.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 6/14/2006). Help plan Corpus Christi devotions in your parish and invite others to attend.

Week 85: “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (John 6:55) The Eucharist is “support, light and consolation in trial and suffering.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 6/14/2006). Find in this sacrament “the spiritual energy to live the great love of Christ of which he gave us proof when giving us his Body and Blood.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 6/14/2006). Make a Holy Hour for someone who is struggling and give them a card with a note that you offered your time in Eucharistic Adoration with Jesus for them. (Small business sized cards and larger greeting cards for this purpose are available at www.ACFP2000.com)