By Ainish Philip
Ever since I moved to the US, I have been humbled by the devotion of a devout Catholic priest, Fr Jose Uppani towards the Blessed Sacrament. He insists on spending an hour with the Lord before every Holy Mass. I felt a great peace and power penetrating me from the Blessed Sacrament. And one time, my eyes welled up when he gave the Eucharist to a person who was unable to walk and upon receiving Jesus, the man walked! What a powerful healing; and Father very humbly said, its Jesus! It’s His power! He touched!
That is what our Lord does to us when we sit in His holy presence during the adoration. He longs to touch and heal each one of us in His love. Once Jesus revealed to St. Faustina during an Adoration that ‘beneath the rays from the Eucharist, a heart will be warmed even if it were like a block of ice; or hard as rock..’ Many teens have experienced that no matter how far away they have been from God, no matter how worldly they might have been in their past, the mercy of the Lord transforms their heart during Adoration. And once the love of the Father pierces their hearts, they lose no time in dancing and praising and loving their Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop Fulton J Sheen was one person who popularised ‘The Hour of Power’- his daily dose of one hour with Jesus for 50 years as a priest and later, as Bishop. On being asked what inspired him to spend one hour with Jesus daily in the Blessed Sacrament no matter how busy he was, he said to everyone’s surprise that an 11 year old Chinese girl inspired him to pray! When the communists took power in China, they made a certain priest prisoner in his own house. He was able to see the church from his window. He saw the communists break open the tabernacle and spill out all the hosts on the floor. The priest had counted the hosts- 32 of them. A little girl who was praying at the back of the church saw the horrible desecration of the Eucharist. That night, and for 31 more nights, the little girl would come and pray before the hosts for an hour and would lean down to receive a host with her tongue (since lay people could not take host in their hand). On the last night, after she had received the last host, one of the guards noticed her and beat her to death. The priest watched this in horror. Ever since, Bishop Fulton J Sheen resolved to spend one hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament.
Talk things over with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. His love and mercy for you surpasses your ability to understand it. He realizes how difficult it is for you to love the Blessed Sacrament as much as you would like, He knows all your distractions and all of your temptations. He knows. He understands. He will touch you. That is all.
And so, visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Empty yourself before your God. He wants to look upon you with His love. Let your God love you.
“There are two things the devil is deadly afraid of - fervent Communions and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament.” -St. John Bosco
Stay in peace. Stay with Jesus.
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