Adoration

I would like to put in a plug for Eucharistic Adoration. Our family has been part of weekly adoration for the past six years and I can't even begin to know the number of ways in which it has helped us, saved us, brought us back, snapped us out of it and filled us with the grace of God. I have often likened adoration to a drug. It seems that once you get a "taste" of it, you have to keep going back for more. If we happen to miss going one week, I definitely notice it.

My first experience with adoration was over 14 years ago when I didn't even know what it was. The parish we were attending was having 40-hours devotion and for some bizarre reason I signed up (I know now, divine inspiration!). Well, this was pre-conversion so I went to my hour thinking two things: 1. Aren't I a good Catholic to be doing something like this? and 2. What is it I am supposed to do here for one hour? So on my way in I stopped to look at some books that they had sitting out for people to use while they were in adoration. One book I picked up was an examination of conscience. A What? Oh well, I picked it up and went in and started reading it. Well, let's just say that by the time my hour was up, I certainly wasn't feeling quite so proud of myself. But more than that, I had a lot of questions. There were a lot of things in that book that I didn't agree with. Why were they asking me about things like contraception and other denominations? Weren't all those okay?

Well, God is good. What He started in Adoration, He followed up on in a relatively short period of time. I went out shopping with a long time friend of mine that was "Very Catholic" so I started asking her all these questions. She very graciously answered them all. Not that I believed she was right, of course, but at least what she said sounded like it had some merit. It was on the way home that night, in the car by myself, on the highway with the song, "I Can See Clearly Now the Rain Has Gone" playing that the Holy Spirit made a visit and in one fell swoop wiped away all of my misconceptions and errors in judgement about the faith. I got home, walked in the door and started sobbing. Of course my husband had no idea what was going on, he thought something terrible had happened. Through tears of joy I was able to relate to him all that had happened and, thanks be to God, our lives have never been the same.

So, if you've never been to adoration, find the nearest church that is offering it and go. Don't worry about what to do, just let God show you. You might be surprised at what He will show you, but I think that once you go, you'll be hooked. I believe that Eucharistic Adoration is one of the main reasons why I can continue to do all that I do AND maintain some semblance of sanity.