Bishop Michael Sheridan, S.T.D.
Mar 28, 2006 4:00 PM

One of the last gifts to the Church of our late beloved Holy Father Pope John Paul II was his magnificent encyclical letter on the holy Eucharist, "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" ("The Church Draws Her Life from the Eucharist"), issued on Holy Thursday, 2003.

The following year the Holy Father inaugurated the Year of the Eucharist and gave us his apostolic letter, "Mane Nobiscum Domine" ("Stay With Us, Lord"). In both of these documents Pope John Paul wrote not only of the centrality of the Eucharistic liturgy in the life of the Church, but also of the importance and benefits of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass.

In his encyclical the Holy Father wrote: "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 . . . It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn. 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. . . . How often, dear brothers and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support" (No. 25).

In John Paul's apostolic letter we read: "During this year [of the Eucharist] Eucharistic adoration outside of Mass should become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious communities" (No. 18).

I am very pleased to know that a number of our parishes responded to the call of Pope John Paul and either began or increased periods of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as inviting people to spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle. It has been my experience — and the experience of many other bishops — that in those dioceses where Eucharistic adoration increases, graces to the local Church increase. Most often these graces manifest themselves in an increase of vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated religious life.

While I had the habit of making visits to the Blessed Sacrament from the time of my childhood, I came to know the overwhelming joy of prolonged periods of adoration only in more recent years. In fact, it was His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali, now archbishop of Philadelphia, who promoted Eucharistic adoration when he was archbishop of St. Louis. Because of his words and example I committed myself to daily adoration whenever possible. I can testify that this has been the source of countless graces in my life.

In a recent article published in The Catholic Standard & Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper, Cardinal Rigali once again encouraged us to spend time with our Eucharistic Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. In this article, the cardinal reminds us that Eucharistic adoration is a particularly appropriate Lenten practice:

"Eucharistic Adoration is particularly appropriate for the season of Lent. By its very nature, Lent is a time of conversion, a turning away from sin. Contemplation of the Eucharist plunges us into the mystery of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, which is renewed in the Eucharist.

"Within the mystery of His Passion and Death, Jesus has obtained our Redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. Eucharistic Adoration, our contemplation of the face of Christ crucified, stirs us to deeper conversion.

"The contemplation of the Passion and Death of Jesus, our nearness to Him, motivates our personal transformation. The double element which St. Paul explains about Jesus — death to sin and life to God — can be encountered and assimilated through Eucharistic Adoration."

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Christmas address to the cardinals and the members of the Roman Curia last year, himself took up the call to Eucharistic adoration, while recalling that in the years following the Second Vatican Council there was not a little confusion as to the authentic relationship between the Mass and adoration outside of Mass. Cardinal Rigali shares this message of the pope with us:

"It is moving for me to see how everywhere in the Church the joy of Eucharistic adoration is reawakening and being fruitful. In the period of liturgical reform, Mass and adoration outside of it were often seen as in opposition to one another; it was thought that the Eucharistic Bread had not been given to be contemplated, but to be eaten, as a widespread objection claimed at that time. The experience of the prayer of the Church has already shown how nonsensical this antithesis was. Augustine had formerly said: '. . . No one should eat this flesh without first adoring it . . . we should sin were we not to adore it.'"

Throughout these days of Lent we focus on the suffering and death of Jesus. The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of the suffering and death of the Lord. What better way to grow in grace this Lent is there than to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice as often as possible, as well as to contemplate this great mystery of our salvation by spending time in prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.