Adoration
Adoration of the Most blessed sacrament
We are currently accepting sign-ups for our expanded hours of Eucharistic Adoration. If we are able to get enough parishioners signed up, we plan to have the Blessed Sacrament exposed starting on Mondays at 6:00pm and continuing through Tuesdays at 4:30pm, including the overnight hours. This means that the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for nearly twenty-four continuous hours in the monstrance, on the altar in our Adoration chapel. We are asking for volunteers to sign up for a one-hour shift for Adoration during this timeframe, in order to make this opportunity possible.
The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 9:00 will still remain, and you can sign up to commit to being present for these hours as well. Included as part of the 6:00 hour on Thursdays is a beautiful opportunity for praying the rosary for vocations as a large group, which is a treasured tradition of our parish.
As you may know, the Blessed Sacrament cannot be exposed in the monstrance unless at least one person is physically present at all times. As an extra precaution, therefore, we will be asking for at least two families to sign up for each hour in order to make this opportunity available to you.
We know that asking you to take any amount of your time from your day is a sacrifice, but we are confident that this sacrifice of your time will be of great value to your spiritual life. St. Alphonsus Ligouri stated that “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us.” This devotion is also particularly fitting given the Eucharistic Revival taking place in our country, where our Church has been seeking to return to a more intentional awareness of the role of the Eucharist in our lives.
To participate in perpetual adoration with us, please contact Jean Dahl, our Adoration Coordinator, 402-731-3144, or Tim, Director of Parish Life, at 402-493-2186 ext.14.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR HOLY HOUR
With an hour, there is enough time for multiple kinds of prayer. Ultimately, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to spend your holy hour. The decision is yours as to how to divide this time, but here are a few tips you may find helpful.
Structured Prayer – This includes prayers like the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and novenas. If you choose this kind of prayer, consider starting with this before moving to other kinds of prayer. The reason is that this consumes a lot of mental energy, so if you save it for the last few minutes of Holy Hour, it might be more difficult to focus.
Silence – We must be deliberate about making space for God to speak to us. In a conversation where one party has more authority than the other, that more authoritative party should do most of the talking. Thus, in our prayer conversation with God, we should let him do most of the talking, while we listen in silence.
Petition – God deeply cares about our needs, and we do need to ask him for his help all the time, knowing our human weakness. Even though God already knows our needs, they can still be brought to him in the context of friendship.
Intercession – We can all think of people who are in need of prayer. The Holy Hour is a great opportunity to bring our prayers for others to the Lord. The Prayer Line, which lists members of our own community who have asked for prayers, is available in our Adoration Chapel.
Praying with Scripture – The Scriptures are another way in which we can listen to God speak to us. Lectio divina (divine reading) with the Word of God is an essential prayer skill for all Catholics to practice. There are 5 steps to this kind of prayer:
1) Reading (Understanding the basic meaning of the text)
2) Meditation (Noticing elements of the text that apply to my life)
3) Conversation (Speaking with God about the text)
4) Contemplation (Spending time with God and appreciating His plan of salvation)
5) Operation (Resolving to change one’s life going forward)
Spiritual Reading – Many saints, like St. Ignatius of Loyola and Bl. John Colombini, report that a chance encounter with spiritual reading led to their conversion. Even for those of us who already take faith seriously, spiritual reading is extremely valuable for learning how to strengthen our relationship with God.
We have a brand-new library of reading materials now available in the Adoration Chapel, with many books specifically about Prayer, the Saints, and the Eucharist. You are welcome to take advantage of these amazing resources to assist your spiritual reading when spending time in Adoration.
