The Holy Eucharist, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Confession, reading the Holy Scripture, and performing acts of mercy
are the pinnacles and key ways of encountering Christ.
The Holy Eucharist
Pope Benedict XVI teaches us that the Eucharist is “the greatest gift that Jesus left us.” St. Thomas Aquinas also said: “The Eucharist is the Sacrament of love, it signifies love, it produces love.”
The Eucharist is a perfect gift of perfect love from the perfect God for His imperfect creatures.
Come to the Holy Eucharist daily or at least on Sundays to participate in the greatest banquet and partake from the richest table of heavenly food of love. Once you get to taste and appreciate its sweetness, you won’t desire anything else in this world.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
“I so ardently thirst to be loved by men in the Most Blessed Sacrament that this thirst devours me.” /Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque/
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: “The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth.”
Why shall we come to adoration?
– Jesus is our God and Savior Whom we love dearly. When we love someone, we adore them with our actions of respect, kindness, gratitude, commitment, readiness to sacrifice everything for them, willingness to die to self for the one whom we love. We take them seriously, we want to attend to their needs, meet them, support them, be with them in good and bad times, stand by them not only with our words but also our actions, think of them and speak to them.
– Adoration means to behold the Lamb of God who died for us and secured our heavenly life. It means to express our gratitude for God’s great gift of love and mercy, by forsaking everything of the world for the time with Him. It shows our love for Him – the One Who loved us first.
– Our Holy Mother Mary showed us, with her example of life and prayer, how to adore Jesus. Mary was the first adorer of Jesus since the moment of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, and throughout her life.
– Adoration is our ‘Fiat’ and expression of readiness to be with God and to be sent where He orders, saying: “Here I am Lord, do with me as You wish”, “Here I am, send me.”
– Angels and heavenly hosts – who are without sin and have no need of forgiveness – adore Him continually because they know God’s great Greatness. How can we (who are sinful and in need of God’s mercy) fail to adore Him?
– Jesus asked us to stand by Him and remain vigilant in prayer (when He was praying in Gethsemane). [Jesus said to His disciples] “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour? he asked Peter.” /Luke 22:38,40/
– God grants special graces to those who adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
– Adoration is a pre-taste of Heaven where our full attention will be devoted to adoring God, praising, and thanking Him unceasingly for His great love and mercy.
– Adoration is a personal audience Jesus extends to each one of us and a personal blessing He grants during the Benediction. Jesus comes to heal us on our bodies, minds, and souls like He healed the leppers and the crippled during His ministry on earth.
– Adoration gives us strength (mostly imperceivable with human senses) to continue our earthly journey toward Heaven. It gives us divine energy to get up in the morning with zeal and joy to encounter the Lord in our daily activities and people we meet.
Visit a chapel with perpetual adoration, e.g., in the OKC metro area: at the Holy Innocents’ Foundation of Oklahoma, in Oklahoma City, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond, OK, St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, OK or St. Joseph Catholic Church in Norman, OK.
Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation)
Come to meet Jesus (and His mercy), God the Father (and His forgiveness of sins), and the Holy Spirit (and His eternal love) in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Acknowledging one’s sins and the desire to improve are the prerequisites to be cleansed anew and strengthened for the daily journey on earth.
The preparation for confession is not difficult:
– Acknowledge your sin and wrongdoing toward God and the neighbor (i.e., humble yourself)
– Regret your wrongdoing (repentance)
– Desire to improve and avoid the mistakes in the future
– Acknowledge your need for God and His healing
– Believe in God’s healing power
Don’t be afraid of the confessor – he is the representative of God on earth. He is there to help you, advise you and provide support, not to judge or condemn you for your faults. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and through the ministry of the Church, he will absolve you from your sins and trespasses. He will bless you with God’s blessings and bestow on you God’s peace and love.
Be simple, honest, and totally open in confession as Jesus instructed St. Faustina Kowalska: “My daughter, just as you prepare in My presence, so also you make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light.” /St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, 1725/
Holy Scripture
Reading the Holy Scripture or listening to it during the daily Mass is equivalent with listening to Jesus speaking to us.
St. Jerome said in his ‘Commentary on Isaiah’ (4th century): “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
God’s words are holy; thus by reading/ listening to His holy words, we become holy as He is holy.
“The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye. In it we see our inner face. From the Scriptures we can learn our spiritual deformities and beauties. And there too we discover the progress we are making and how far we are from perfection.” /Pope St. Gregory/ (6th century)
Acts of mercy
Practice acts of mercy every single day. Each moment brings along opportunities to practice mercy, either spiritual or corporal acts of mercy. Make sure to accomplish at least one act of mercy from each group every day, but preferably aspire to become such a zealous apostle of mercy, so that all your actions and words are imprinted with God’s mercy toward others.
More resources coming soon ...