Eucharistic Adoration at St. Ann

There’s a song by a priest, Father Stan Fortuna, entitled “Adoration”.  In it, Fr. Stan says:

“The more you look the more you see/ the more you see the deeper you will be in what it is you’re looking at.  Adoration is the looking of your being with new seeing/On the right side of the throne where Jesus sat”  Convoluted sentences, sure, but it really captures the essence of *why* we bother with Adoration of the Blessed SAcrament:  when we adore Jesus in the Mst Holy Sacrament of the Altar, we are sitting at the right side of the throne.  And we are as close to Jesus as we can be outside of Holy Communion where we actually take Him into ourselves to become what we receive.

Funny thing, though.  We have adoration for about 10.5 hours at or parish, St. Ann Bartlett, 6529 Stage Road, Bartlett, TN 38135 every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday almost without fail.  But the crowd is pretty thin!

This is why I am remarking on it.  We have a lot of things going on in our parish; there are a lot of needs at our place, both in individual families AND as a parish; and i may be just me, but I sense a spirit of at least mild unhappiness among folks I have known for years.  And yet, we don’t (and I include ME in that WE) take advantage of a *proven* and *time-honored * way of placing our petitions before the Lord, and ourselves at His service!

But this post is NOT just a beef session.  I’d like to issue a little challenge.

Our adoration time lasts, as I said, about 10.5 hours, 3 days a week.  Here’s the challenge:
I will spend One Hour in adoration of the blessed sacrament for every THREE people who respond to this post with a commitment of at least 30 minutes of adoration. If you are there 1/2 hour, I’ll stay an *hour*.  We’ll do this for one month, starting today, and then evaluate the results.

The purpose of our prayer will be three-fold.  First, we will pray for our own individual and family intentions.  Second, we will pray for an increase in devotion to The Blessed Sacrament in our parish.  Lastly, we will pray for our parish to “come alive”: we will pray for financial stability, for meaningful worship, and for a growth in the life of our parish.

If you will join me, please just post a comment to this post.  If you’re not a member of St. Ann parish, then commit to your 1/2 hour wherever you live.  Just Go.  And Pray.  Let’s see what God does. 

And y’all?  Don’t worry if you don’t “get it” at first.  as Father Stan said, “The more you look, the more you see/The more you see, the deeper you will be in what it is you’re looking at…”