Adoration Testimonies

Why I Adore Him

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior! One of the great mysteries of our faith is the Priest performing a miracle during every Eucharistic Celebration — what are earthly products of wheat and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is an incredible blessing that we have the opportunity to participate in this Sacrament and receive His Body and Blood so regularly, every Sunday I trust, and perhaps many weekdays. This “transubstantiation” is what differentiates us as Catholics from our brothers and sisters of other Christian denominations.

But we can do much more. That is what I’ve found to be true for me in the Adoration Chapel. He IS present in the Monstrance! There is indeed a physical entity that does not just represent God — it IS God! As much as I pray in solitude at home and recite the Rosary during my walks, my mind is always pulled in other directions. The agenda of the day makes its presence known. And Mr. Worry becomes active wondering how things will go. When I am in the Chapel I am isolated with just my God. Not just physically, in a hexagonal room. But also mentally, emotionally, spiritually. During my initial genuflection upon entering, I tell my mind and my heart to be still, to be open to the experience of being in God’s presence. What can I tell Him? Nothing that He does not already know, admittedly. But as a mini-Reconciliation or beefed-up Examination of Conscience, it is the time and place for me to share all with my Redeemer. And after that, it is the ideal setting to be quiet and listen. God, what do you have to tell me today?

The above is quite a change from what I would or could have expressed not too many years ago. I joined the Catholic Church through RCIA in 2000. For the first ten years or so I was merely a Census Catholic. Eventually, God chipped away at my stony heart and my faith became more important, more of what I wanted myself to be and become. I wondered what else I could do to further the Church’s goals. As a teacher, my “Treasure” was limited, and I have no rock-solid “Talents” as others in our Church do. Is there more of my “Time” that I can contribute? There was, and is. I admit, mea culpa, that the driver for much of what I did at first was born of a sense of duty, an attitude inherent in my nature, and something my military service did much to strengthen. Adoration was an hour on my Calendar because a warm body was needed. Aye, Aye, Sir! Reporting for Duty! But it became more than that. I was in the presence of Our Lord and allowed His saving Grace to do what it can so wonderfully do. This has helped me so much in the other activities I do at OLMC; nothing may have changed by appearance, but please believe that I am (I hope) exercising more effectively what Christian Charity consists of.

I encourage everyone to visit the Adoration Chapel, to put themselves in the presence of God. It is so much more than what we do on our own, even more than kneeling in a pew at Mass. It is the Nutrient our Spiritual being needs to thrive; I’ll leave it to the theologians to determine the Recommended Daily Allowance! And I ask that you go that small step further and commit to one hour each week. You can spare the time. The regularity of the habit makes it easier to build your life around. Think of how much better our physical bodies are once we get into a routine of exercising at the same time every day. I can tell you that those who coordinate Adoration will be ever so thankful for what you do. And by the way, I always offer a Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Koehl’s for their work being the scenes — they make the “We Adore Him” scheduling process so easy.

I’ll go further and ask you to consider signing up for one of the overnight hours. These are difficult to fill for obvious reasons. This, however, is where I have myself scheduled for Adoration. Yes, sometimes sleep is in short supply. And yes, sometimes I find it difficult to stay awake with Jesus, just as the Apostles did in Gethsemane. But these quiet times of the day make it easier for me to focus my heart, mind, and soul on what I share with and learn from God in the Monstrance. There are fewer distractions. I came to realize this many years ago while working graveyard shifts and standing mid-watches; this appreciation of the stillness is what prompted me to sign up for an oh-darkthirty time slot in the Chapel.

Thank you for your attention and consideration of this opportunity to further reflect the importance of our Faith and to demonstrate it to our world. 

Discovering The Mystery of God’s Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist

A key feature of our Catholic Faith is the belief in the presence of Jesus in body, soul, and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. A sacrifice that He instituted before heading to Golgotha to die a terrible death so that we may have eternal life. This explains why so many of us devote a full hour to mass every week. We love our Lord, we are thankful to Him for His love and faithfulness. Strangely enough, though, too many Catholics have a hard time acknowledging that the same Jesus we receive in Holy Communion is fully present in body, soul, and divinity in the Adoration Chapel.

As far as I can remember, I have used the Adoration Chapel on and off, mainly when I was younger in my faith on special occasions-- when I needed a specific, urgent favor from the Lord such as passing an exam or obtaining healing for a sick family member or friend. Then, during my first Holy Thursday mass at OLMC, the words of the Lord admonishing his disciples because they couldn’t spend an hour praying with him while he was in agony struck a chord with me: “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Mk 14:34).

At first, these words made me giggle as anything serious and deep does to me. Then, I cried because I realized that I was merely like Jesus’ first disciples. I took His love for me for granted, and I couldn’t do the simplest thing for him: stay in His Holy Presence for one hour out of the 168 hours He gives me to live every week. On that day in 2008, I made the resolution to show the Lord my gratitude and prove to Him that he is my true King, my All in All. I signed up for a weekly hour of adoration. Well, guess what? It has been one of the best decisions of my life. I am safely and powerfully “hooked” on Jesus and I can’t imagine myself living without visiting the Adoration Chapel on a regular basis anymore. I would be a wreck!

The adoration chapel is my lifeline. My adoration time is a rejuvenating and restorative spiritual therapy session with the Chief Healer, the Lord of Lords: Jesus. At the Holy Sacrament, I open up to Jesus and tell Him about anything that has happened since the last time we’ve met. I thank Him for his goodness and faithfulness. I present to Him my latest or lifelong petitions. I cry, I sob, I smile, I giggle, I nod to what He tells me, which is pure truth and wisdom. Truly, “God always speaks to you when you approach him plainly and simply” (Saint Catherine Labour ). It is not a joke. Jesus is there. As stated in the famous song Adoro Te Devote, he is the “Godhead ... in hiding, ...Masked by the bare shadows...” of the monstrance.

My weekly Eucharistic Adoration brings me a tremendous amount of peace. Peace in the midst of a beautiful, but troubled, challenging and harsh world. Jesus supplies me with sheer fortitude to carry my cross on a daily basis through the time I spend with him weekly. Thank you Jesus! Didn’t Jesus Himself say: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). He surely gives me that rest. You equally deserve that rest. Please, go adore Him and receive that Peace in return!

Going to the Adoration Chapel regularly has intensified my Love of God and neighbor as well as my patience in suffering. The Adoration Chapel is also a place of silent fellowship for me. I can’t be there without silently lifting up the other people present in their petitions, and I am sure other people do the same for me. It’s heavenly! It has been a transformation chamber for me. I am sure that you’ve said to Jesus several times that you love Him, but when you adore Him regularly that sentence takes a new meaning. Whatever you were doing that brought you so much “joy”, “relief”, the sinful crutch that you were hanging on to get through life will fall and disappear. Indeed, you will end up loving Jesus MORE and His Grace will be enough for you. You will surely feel that supernatural power that will protect you from falling into your worst temptation.

With time, I came to realize that being an adorer is a pure blessing. And, why? After all, there, you meet the King of kings in person and spend time with Him. If you walk by Faith as a follower of Christ, you know that you’re spending time with Jesus in the Adoration Chapel. Imagine what you would do to have the opportunity to be with a favorite celebrity, a star for an hour. For us Catholics, Jesus is the ultimate star. He is our Savior. We live because He breathed His life in us. Someday, He will take away that breath and we will have to give Him an account of what we’ve done on earth. So, why not try to allow Jesus to know us deeply, personally, so He could easily remember us at that crucial hour of death. He is our advocate, sent by the Father in heaven to redeem us and give us “Peace that surpasses every understanding”. Do you know what St. Alphonsus Liguori said about the Eucharistic Adoration? “Our Lord hears our prayers anywhere, but He has revealed to His servants that those who visit Him in the Eucharist will obtain a more abundant measure of grace.”

Clearly, you love God. You wouldn’t come to Mass if you didn’t. But, let Jesus take you to a new height in your relationship with Him. Listen to your heart. I know that it thirsts for something more than what the world has to offer us. Undoubtedly, life is too busy with all our commitments as a priest, mother, father, employer, employee, student, and so forth that we can’t seem to find the time to spend an hour with the Lord. But let the Lord’s wisdom guide you: “Seek first the kingdom of the Lord and everything else will be given to you” (Mt 6:33). Sign up for an hour of total bliss in the Presence of your Lord. Pick if you can those hours that are more demanding like the early morning ones or the nocturnal ones. Add a bit of sacrificial offering to this devotion and be at Peace. You deserve your Peace.

Deciding to give up one of the few hours you have to rest might seem costly and overwhelming at first, but I guarantee you that you will quickly forget about that “cost” because of the benefits you will be reaping from spending an hour with the Lord. Daughters and Sons of the Almighty, snatch your Peace and live!

I am so thankful to all our priests (past and present) and to Rhonda and Steve who make it possible to have such devotion to our Lord as a parish. Let us support them all in that effort. You may feel lost in the beginning of your adoration journey, but persevere and you will be pleasantly surprised. Don’t worry about the distractions, sometimes you are so focused that you don’t see or hear anything going on around you.

All in all, through the adoration of the Holy Sacrament, we Catholics become Christ-like as we receive the Holy Spirit and Its gifts. Everybody receives different gifts, but there will be plenty of love, joy, and inextinguishable hope there for you to claim as yours. Will you simply give it a try? Jesus, touch the hearts of your faithful, give them the blessing to know you better, and experience your love, divinity, and power through a weekly adoration time. Amen! Thank you, Jesus!

I've been blessed over the last 19+ years to be a part of the adoration chapel since its construction in 2002.  Though I'm a small part of the volunteers here, the adoration chapel has been a BIG part of my life.

When the chapel was completed back then, my wife and I were still recovering and mourning the loss of our son Adam.  I needed the Church to help me through this difficult time and my time at the chapel has certainly delivered on that expectation.

Since then, my life has had its ups and downs, with other family losses, job changes, health challenges etc, like everyone else.  But the one constant still in my life today is my one hour with the Lord each Monday at 7 a.m.  So blessed to have this opportunity each week, and for me a great way to level set and establish my priorities for the week. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to invite guests to join me there. Since Covid, that obviously hasn't happened much, but now with recent vaccines, I'm expecting I'll have more of my friends and family join me there when they are able.

This provides me the quiet time I need to learn from the day's scripture readings, or a new book that helps me on my spiritual journey. Somehow along the way, I've learned to pray the rosary again and dedicate each decade of the rosary to five people or causes that need our prayers each week.

Thank you Msgr. Duncan for having the vision 20 years ago to include the Perpetual Adoration chapel in the Church's expansion plans. What a blessing we all have to take advantage of something so powerful at OLMC. I will be one of the first to say, this time has had a profound impact on my life.

I love my time in adoration for many reasons. We live in such a fast-paced world with so many distractions and adoration affords me the opportunity to just stop, reflect and be at peace with Christ. I am often so busy that I forget to stop and tell God how thankful I am for the many blessings in my life and to praise Him. But mostly, to be able to sit for an hour with Christ, I mean really sit with Him, is an awesomely beautiful experience and one I wouldn’t trade for anything. 

The Adoration Chapel is where I spend my hour with the Lord unconditionally since the chapel opened.  The graces I have received are innumerable.  The peace that comes from the quiet solitude in the presence of Him is priceless.  By quieting the noise and busyness of our life, one can truly focus on Him.