A Holy Hour – is an uninterrupted hour of prayer and meditation in the presence of the Blesses Sacrament, which may be exposed on the altar or reserved in the tabernacle. “Could you not watch on hour with me?” Our Lord ask us (Mt 26: 40). A Holy Hour is an affirmation of our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist1. This allows us to enter into a beautiful relationship with our God.
Background:
Eucharist – For everyone to understand Adoration and a Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament, first one must understand the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ really, truly, and substantially under the appearance of bread and wine1. This is His true flesh.
This truth that the Church teaches is all through Sacred Scripture (John 6 is completely dedicated to it, and Paul talks about Communion, the breaking of the bread throughout most of the New Testament, if you cannot except this teaching and do not believe, then you eliminate all of Paul’s credibility and therefore reduce the majority of the New Testament) 2. The Eucharist is the way God physically (since we are physical people) makes himself present to us and within us. That, by its definition is grace!
Definition of Grace (hint – not amazing) - it is God’s presence within us! The Greek word for grace charis hence EuCHARISt 2. This Eucharist is the means by which Jesus makes himself physically present to us and within us as was promised in scripture and as Jeremiah prophesized 800 years before the birth of Christ.
More Scripture that supports the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist: Jn. 6:35-71; Mt. 26:26; Lk. 22-17; 1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; Jn. 1: 29 (Jesus being the Lamb of God, cross reference with Ex. 12: 8, 46); Jn. 4: 31-34; Mt. 16: 5-12; 1 Cor. 2: 14-3:4 (cross reference with Jn. 6:63).3
The Church operates by following two main criteria: Sacred Scripture, the living Word of God: and Sacred Tradition, the faith, customs, and well, traditions passed on from the early Church Fathers which came from Jesus himself. Once again, this is what the Church teaches and it is wholly Scriptural! Paul addresses the people of Corinth and says “hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you” (1 Cor. 11: 2)4. The Traditions have been a part of our Church before the Bible existed almost 400 years to be exact. So it is by the Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition that we live.
Adoration – An outward act of giving worship to a person or object. Both the Old and New Testaments give clear indications that God requires exclusive adoration from His creatures. The most perfect form of worship is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because it is the representation of Christ’s paschal mystery (passion, death, and resurrection). CCC 2096-2097
Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever.
Your Holy Hour
Some people think that spending an hour in prayer is an impossible task, or a waste of time. Truth is, it is something that can be uncomfortable, unsatisfying, boring, etc. but in prayer, just as in Mass (which the same things could be said about it) you get out of it what you put in to it. You go to the gym and lift 2 lbs. dumbbells, you probably won’t get much out of going to the gym either, go for the 50’s.
The following is a method of how to spend your Holy Hour that has proven in my life to be very effective.5
Step 1 (5 minutes): Adore- Definition - to worship or honor God, to regard with loving admiration and devotion, to be very fond5. Walk in and be silent, be in awe, breathe, calm yourself, block everything else out and simply focus on Christ truly present before you.
Step 2 (10 minutes): Acknowledge- Speak to Him by acknowledging who He is, so you can put into perspective who you are (humility). You have to establish that relationship in the beginning, it is important be humble before God.
Step 3 (3 minutes): Silence- Listen for Him to acknowledge you. It is cliché, but God did give you two ears and one mouth, so truly, you are to listen twice as much as you talk. In this noisy world, it is important to step away and enter the silence.
Step 4 (10 minutes): Gracious and Repent- Reflect over everything that has happened in the time that you were last in Adoration. Focus specifically on the things that happened in your day; thank him for the things that happened in your life and repent for the times that you did not do His Holy Will. Humbly being GRACious allows us to be prepared to receive his Grace, which he is ready to offer!
Step 5 (2 minutes): Adore- worship and honor God, regard Him with loving admiration and devotion, be very fond of Him.
Step 6 (15 minutes): Knowledge- Read holy scripture, St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or some holy spiritual book, so that you may know the God is you are trying to have a relationship with.
Step 7 (5 minutes): Adore- Continually take you attention and place it back to the Monstrance and worship and honor God, regard Him with loving admiration and devotion, be very fond of Him.
Step 8 (5 minutes): Intercession- Thinking of the people in your life and intercede (pray) for them. Continue praying for as many people in your life until there are no more names in your head. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. When praying for a specific person, name the person and a specific intention.
Step 9 (10 minutes): Future- Think about the time in your life that will occur between adoration visits. Specifically offer each thing that you anticipate happening in your life to Him and ask him to guide and direct it. (These will be a lot of the same things you say in step 4 during your next visit).
Step 10 (5 minutes): Listen, Pray and Adore – At this point you have surpassed the hour part of your Holy Hour and you can just spend some listening, praying, and adoring. I always end this time of prayer saying, “I love You Lord, for You are my strength. Continue to be my strength in all that I do.”
The steps above are just a suggestion on how to spend time during Adoration. Truthfully I don’t care if you follow this or not, I just want you to have a closer, more intimate relationship with Christ the Lord. So, please, brothers and sisters in Christ. Go to your local Adoration Chapel or visit your parish when they have Adoration and spend time with Jesus. There are a million and a half other things that we can be doing and God knows that, but He longs to be with you, please be with Him.
The Blessed Sacrament is to be adored with the same worship due God. CCC 1373-1381
The Divine Praises6
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.
May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Our God...
What can you say about our God? Who is He?
Our God is:
Our God is:
- All-powerful, all-knowing, all-some!
- Our God is good (all the time).
- He is Holy.
- He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- He is three in one.
- He is the living Word.
- The Word became flesh.
- He reigns.
- King of Kings
- The Lord of Heaven and Earth
- He is Love.
- He is Life.
- He is Relationship.
- He is Passion.
- He is The Christ,
- Emmanuel
- The One who was, who is, and who is to come.
- His name is Jesus.
- Redeemer
- Master
- Servant
- Giver
- Alpha, Omega.
- King of Glory
- Conquerer of Evil!
How can this God we claim to "know", claim to be in a "relationship" with, be all these things? How can this God be noun, adjective, and verb? These questions flood our minds, our lives, and our society!
He is Love. He creates, its what Love does.
I see people all the time on Facebook, write "what is love anyway" or "love - what is that". Those 25 terms (and we could come up with countless terms that identify Our God) are Love, they are God. In who God is, is Love. Sometimes that can be difficult to understand how He can be someTHING AND someBODY. Simply, He is God. That's what a God is, not just a person, not LeBron James, the Basketball god, not Tiger Woods, the golf god. This somebody and something IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE. Allowing you, His son or daughter to be at peace when you turn your life over to him.
CHALLENGE
Give Him a chance. Truly enter in to a week, "a God one week trial version".
One Week Trial:
- Go to Church. Truly Pray, listen to the readings from sacred scripture, apply the sermon to your life.
- Do good deeds throughout the week. Pick up trash, talk to someone lonely, write your Youth Minister or Priest a letter, feed the hungry, for more examples, see The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, see what Jesus had to say.
- Be nice to your brothers and sisters and people who annoy you!
- Read the living word of God, Sacred Scripture.
- Above of, PRAY!!! How are you going to know someone without ever talking to them.
If you do these things with an open heart, truly entering into His life, you will be changed. You cannot help but to sing His name and praise. How do you know there is a God? By experiencing His Love for you!
God Bless your week!
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