Children of Hope - Fostering Eucharistic Adoration among Children

I was listening to Catholic Answers on the radio and heard Fr. Antoine Thomas of the Community of St. John. I've heard him a number of times, and he does a wonderful job of explaining the faith to young children. He is working on a new project, Children of Hope, which encourages young children to adore Christ in the Eucharist. There are many good things at the website: http://www.childrenofhope.org/index.html. I highly recommend checking out this website and using it to either promote adoration with groups of children, or at least among the children in your life.

Gimme Shelter

I continue to think of the theme of shelter in the birth of Jesus. I wrote about this earlier today. I then began to think about different ways in which we give shelter to Jesus. Mary sheltered Jesus in her womb, which is why she is sometimes referred to as a "living tabernacle." Visiting Jesus in the tabernacle for Eucharistic adoration is another setting where Jesus is being sheltered. Of course, receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is a crucial way of sheltering Jesus. Yet another way that we give shelter to Jesus is through spiritual Communion, where we ask Jesus to come into our heart.

We must also not forget those fellow children of God who do not have shelter. Fr. Benedict Groeschel has a recording of the Rosary (The Rosary is a Place) where he meditates on the the Third Joyful Mystery, the Birth of Jesus, as a reflection on how Jesus came in poverty, and how we are to be moved to help those in need. We should be especially mindful of the homeless during this Christmas season. Not only was the Holy Family without a home at Jesus' birth, but they were refugees in Egypt as they sought to escape Herod's slaughter.

While I would not generally look to the Rolling Stones for spiritual inspiration, I find the title of their song, "Gimme Shelter," to be relevant here. Jesus is asking us to give Him shelter. How can we say no?

St. John of the Cross on the Eucharist

I have started reading the writings of St. John of the Cross in The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D. After reading St. Therese, I find myself going to her Carmelite forebears as I seek to increase the fervor of my spiritual life. This is a struggle for me, because my spiritual life (such as it is) often stays on an intellectual, abstract plane (this is my comfort zone).

I was reading St. John's poem, Stanzas of the soul that suffers with longing to see God. The first stanza begins:

I no longer live within myself
and I cannot live without God,
for having neither him nor myself
what will life be?
It will be a thousand deaths,
longing for my true life
and dying because I do not die.

The goal of our spiritual lives must be to go outside of ourselves and into God. The paradox of dying to ourselves and living for God is that we find ourselves, our "true life." As St. Matthew writes, "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it'" (Matthew 16:24-25). The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that this is not an either/or proposition, but a both/and one. Quoting St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the Catechism tells us that immersing ourselves in God puts us fully in touch with our humanity: "The grace of the Kingdom is 'the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity...with the whole human spirit'" (CCC, paragraph 2565).

St. John has an interesting perspective on Eucharistic adoration in stanza 5 of this poem:

When I try to find relief
seeing you in the Sacrament
I find this greater sorrow:
I cannot enjoy you wholly.
All things are affliction
since I do not see you as I desire,
and I die because I do not die.

We learn about how deep this affliction was by how much he loved Jesus in the Eucharist. In the Biographical Sketch in The Collected Works, we are told that Corpus Christi was one of his favorite feast days (p. 27). "On arriving at a monastery he always made it a point first to greet the sick after his visit to the Blessed Sacrament" (p. 24). "His greatest suffering during the imprisonment in Toledo was being deprived of the Eucharist. The Blessed Sacrament was 'all his glory, all his happiness, and for him far surpassed all the things of the earth.' The one privilege he accepted when major superior in Segovia was the cell closest to the Blessed Sacrament" (p. 27).

I find such solace and peace most of the time in Eucharistic adoration. However, St. John reminds me that if I truly perceived (as much as we finite creatures can perceive) Who is before me and how much He loves me, then I would ache with love to be united with Him.

While I enjoy the solace and peace, I pray for the ache and longing, so that I may progress along the road of spiritual growth.

Where Am I? Look at Me

My daughter sometimes finds it difficult to look a person in the eyes when she is talking to that person. When she does that to me or my wife, we often say, "Where am I?" or "Look at me."

I was at Eucharistic adoration recently. I did what I usually do: I look at the tabernacle, then close my eyes and bend my head downwards. But then, it felt as though Christ were saying to me those words that I have so often said to my daughter: "Where am I?" and "Look at me." So I raised my head, and opened my eyes, and looked at Him. It felt like a clear reminder of His Real Presence. Of course, the whole reason I was there was because I believe that Christ is really and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament. However, that does not mean I always feel His presence or even that I am intellectually aware of His presence. But He was reminding me of why I came there, reminding me of who He is and where He is, and reminding me of who I am and my relationship with Him.

Eucharistic Adoration and the Readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Here is a very good article by Father Thomas Rosica, CSB about this week's readings for Sunday mass. I am particularly interested in what he has to say about Eucharistic adoration:

Adoration rediscovered

Here is one concrete example to illustrate the above point about liturgy and devotion. [Fr. Rosica had just finished saying that there should be no dichotomy between liturgy and devotion, charity and justice.] Many of my generation have responded very negatively to the younger generation's rediscovery of Eucharistic adoration and devotion.

Benedict XVI has put a great emphasis on Eucharistic adoration and devotion in Catholic life. Many of us have failed to see that our public worship is intimately related to adoration, so much so that that they could be considered as one. Piety and devotion can be springboards to mature faith. Each time we gather together to celebrate the Eucharist as the Christian community, we profess, together with the whole Church, our faith in Christ the Eucharist, in Christ -- the living bread and the bread of life.

"...they could be considered as one." That idea is expressed in the Sacred Congregation of Rites' Eucharisticum Mysterium:

The mystery of the Eucharist should therefore be considered in all its fullness, not only in the celebration of Mass but also in devotion to the sacred species which remain after Mass and are reserved to extend the grace of the sacrifice. (Section 3g)

Pope Paul VI called attention to the importance of Eucharistic adoration in Mysterium Fidei:


And they [the faithful] should not forget about paying a visit during the day to the Most Blessed Sacrament in the very special place of honor where it is reserved in churches in keeping with the liturgical laws, since this is a proof of gratitude and a pledge of love and a display of the adoration that is owed to Christ the Lord who is present there. (Section 66; this passage is also quoted in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments' Redemptionis Sacramentum, section 135)

If we see Eucharistic adoration as "a proof of gratitude and a pledge of love," then we see how important it is, and how it is a way to stay close to Christ between sacramental receptions of the Eucharist.

Father Rosica also refers to Philippino Bishop Louis Antonio Tagle's address to the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City. Father Rosica quotes a wonderful passage from Bishop Tagle's address:

In the Eucharist, the Church joins Jesus in adoring the God of life. But the practice of Eucharistic adoration enlivens some features of worship. We believe that the presence of Christ in the Eucharist continues beyond the liturgy. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament connotes being present, resting, and beholding. In adoration, we are present to Jesus whose sacrifice is ever present to us. Abiding in him, we are assimilated more deeply into his self-giving. Beholding Jesus, we receive and are transformed by the mystery we adore.

I love the idea of "being present, resting, and beholding" as the disposition for fruitful adoration. Such simple words. Such challenging actions.

The Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration

I came across an interesting article, "The Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration," by Susan Benofy from May, 1999 in the Adoremus Bulletin. Adoremus - the Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy promotes authentic reform of the liturgy.

Benofy does a very good job of addressing concerns that the Rosary is not an appropriate devotion done before the Blessed Sacrament. Benofy shows how the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) and various popes have explained what the Rosary is and how that is thoroughly compatible with Eucharistic adoration, given the proper disposition of the faithful. This was, apparently, a bit of a reversal of position by the CDW from a 1968 statement which concluded that the Rosary was a prayer addressed to Mary and therefore not appropriate for Eucharistic adoration.

However, in a 1999 document, the CDW cites Paul VI's Marialis Cultus , which affirms the Rosary as Christ-centered:

As a Gospel prayer, centered on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation, the Rosary is therefore a prayer with a clearly Christological orientation. Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany-like succession of Hail Mary's, becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object both of the angel's announcement and of the greeting of the mother of John the Baptist: "Blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Lk. 1:42). (section 46)

In his apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, John Paul II writes:

The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer.... With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. (section 1)

Brant Pitre discusses the Jewish roots of the Eucharist, and in doing so highlights the bread of the presence in the temple as a type of the Eucharist. The word for "presence" in that phrase can also be translated "face." Both John Paul II and Pitre show us that the Rosary and the Eucharist are complementary ways of encountering the face of Christ.

John Paul II goes into great depth connecting Mary and the Eucharist in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, where he speaks of "Mary, Woman of the Eucharist" (Chapter 6). Of course, his addition of the Luminous Mysteries includes the Institution of the Eucharist, which makes the Rosary even more obviously Eucharistic. However, even in the original mysteries, he sees profoundly Eucharistic connections:

In a certain sense Mary lived her Eucharistic faith even before the institution of the Eucharist, by the very fact that she offered her virginal womb for the Incarnation of God's Word. The Eucharist, while commemorating the passion and resurrection, is also in continuity with the incarnation. At the Annunciation Mary conceived the Son of God in the physical reality of his body and blood, thus anticipating within herself what to some degree happens sacramentally in every believer who receives, under the signs of bread and wine, the Lord's body and blood.

As a result, there is a profound analogy between the Fiat which Mary said in reply to the angel, and the Amen which every believer says when receiving the body of the Lord. Mary was asked to believe that the One whom she conceived “through the Holy Spirit” was “the Son of God” (Lk 1:30-35). In continuity with the Virgin's faith, in the Eucharistic mystery we are asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, becomes present in his full humanity and divinity under the signs of bread and wine.

“Blessed is she who believed” (Lk 1:45). Mary also anticipated, in the mystery of the incarnation, the Church's Eucharistic faith. When, at the Visitation, she bore in her womb the Word made flesh, she became in some way a “tabernacle” – the first “tabernacle” in history – in which the Son of God, still invisible to our human gaze, allowed himself to be adored by Elizabeth, radiating his light as it were through the eyes and the voice of Mary. And is not the enraptured gaze of Mary as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive Eucharistic communion? (section 55)

Finally, there is a good address by Cardinal Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston on "Mary and the Eucharist." He gave this at a Eucharistic congress, and it is specifically on the the Sixth Chapter of Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Cardinal O'Malley is clearly comfortable combining the Rosary with Eucharistic adoration:

Allow me to share with you some of my personal meditations on the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary. These are the mysteries I like to use when I am praying the rosary during a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament.

It is important that we think about what we are doing and saying when praying the Rosary in Eucharistic adoration. Such clarifications are important, given the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi (literally "the law of praying, the law of believing," meaning that how we pray forms what we believe). We can be thankful for the clarifications given by these people and others, which help us to draw closer to our Savior in the Blessed Sacrament.

Mystery

While saying a family Rosary the other night, we were telling our children about the Trinity. We said that God was one god in three persons. Without any further explanation, our five-year old son started to think about this and then said, "Jesus is his own father? That's crazy!"

A few days ago I was at Eucharistic adoration with my daughter and son. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed in front of us, but my son wanted to go back to the tabernacle as we usually do. I tried to explain to him that Jesus was right in front of us in the monstrance, so we did not need to go to the tabernacle, although he was in both places. He found that concept confusing.

Leave it to children to lead us to the core of Mystery, and to remind us that while there is much God has revealed to us and much that reason can make out, in the end God cannot be comprehended by our limited minds, no matter how much we may think we have the idea of of God under control.

Some Excellent Posts on Eucharistic Adoration

At her blog, "Practicing Catholic," Heather Barrett has a thoughtful posting on Eucharistic adoration. She rightly indicates our need to "question the Eucharist," not in the sense of doubting it, but in the sense of seeking a deeper understanding of that ultimately unfathomable mystery. Think of how St. Thomas Aquinas structures the Summa Theologica with questions, objections, and replies. He questions not to cast doubt on sacred matters, but rather to apply reason to make sacred matters more accessible and more firmly held.

Heather also points to another enlightening blog entry on adoration, this one by Julie at "Happy Catholic." She re-prints there a handout from a parish that actively discourages Eucharistic adoration. Her rebuttal to that handout is very well done. Certainly anyone who thinks of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who made Eucharistic adoration a central event in the daily lives of the Missionaries of Charity, should be convinced that Eucharistic adoration neither detracts from the Mass nor excludes the community.

Many thanks to Heather and Julie for these insightful posts.

Pope Benedict XVI's Call for Authentic Eucharistic Adoration

Pope Benedict was promoting Eucharistic adoration today:

PROMOTING AUTHENTIC EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
VATICAN CITY, 13 MAR 2009 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who have been meeting to consider the question of Eucharistic adoration.

The Pope expressed the hope that collegial reflection upon this theme "may help to clarify, within the limits of the dicastery's remit, the liturgical and pastoral means by which the Church of our time can promote faith in the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Eucharist, and to ensure that the celebration of Mass fully incorporates the aspect of adoration".

"The doctrine of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine, and of the real presence, are a truth of faith, already evident in Holy Scripture and later confirmed by the Fathers of the Church", said Benedict XVI.

After then explaining that, "in the Eucharist, adoration must become union: union with the living Lord and with His mystical Body", the Pope recalled words he had pronounced at World Youth Day 2005 in the German city of Cologne: "God no longer simply stands before us as the One who is totally Other. He is within us, and we are in Him. His dynamic enters into us and then seeks to spread outwards to others until it fills the world, so that His love can truly become the dominant measure of the world.

"On that occasion", he added, "I also reminded young people that in the Eucharist we experience the fundamental transformation of violence into love, of death into life. This brings other changes in its wake".

The Pope highlighted the importance of a renewal of Eucharistic adoration. This, he said, "will only be possible through a greater awareness of the mystery in complete faithfulness to Sacred Tradition, and by enhancing liturgical life within our communities". In this context, he also expressed his appreciation at the fact that the plenary had examined the question of "the formation of all the People of God in the faith, with particular concern for seminarians, favouring their development in a spirit of authentic Eucharistic adoration".

"Recalling three penitential practices particularly dear to biblical and Christian tradition (prayer, almsgiving and fasting)", he concluded, "let us encourage one another to rediscover and practice fasting with renewed fervour, not only as a form of asceticism but also as a preparation for the Eucharist and as a spiritual weapon to fight against any disordered attachment to ourselves".

The Incarnation made God more accessible to human beings, and the Eucharist makes God more accessible still. I especially like the Pope's comment that "in the Eucharist we experience the fundamental transformation of violence into love, of death into life. This brings other changes in its wake." If we want to end abortion, if we want to transform that violence into love, that death into life, then let us all spend more time before Jesus in the Eucharist. And by doing so, such adoration will bring other things in its wake.

Eucharistic Adoration and Pilgrimage

It is difficult to find Catholic churches open in my area in the afternoon during the week, when I usually try to go to adoration. Tomorrow, in solidarity with the March for Life, the Bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, Roger Foys, has ordered all churches in the diocese to remain open all day. I wish that our churches were all open more often. There is a parish near where I work that has Eucharistic chapel, but it is not open during the afternoon most days. There is a parish near where I live that does have perpetual Eucharistic adoration, and it is a great blessing to us. Today I went for adoration to a church where you have to go sign in through the school to get into the church during the week (and they are always surprised when I come in and ask to go to the church). I understand the issues, but it shouldn't be this hard to worship the Lord in the Eucharist.

However, I have also come to see the value of these hardships. When I come to a church for adoration and the church is locked, I think of the woman who suffered from “a flow of blood” for twelve years but touched the fringe of Jesus’ garment and was healed (Luke 8:43-48). Even if I cannot get closer to the tabernacle, merely touching the handle of church door can be close enough, and I hope also thereby to be the recipient of Jesus’ words to that woman: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (48).

One of the few places I can count on for access to a tabernacle during a weekday afternoon in the area where I work is at a Catholic hospital. I spend about 45 minutes of my 60 minute lunch hour traveling to and from the hospital to spend 15 minutes with our Lord. Today as I was going to a different church for adoration, I heard on our local Catholic radio station a segment about pilgrimage. Then it dawned on me that I was on pilgrimage. If I look at the travel to a tabernacle not as wasted or delayed time (as if I were commuting to work) but as a pilgrimage, as a prayerful journey to a holy site, then that travel becomes transformed, and hopefully, so do I.

Listening is an Act of Love

There is a wonderful contemporary oral history project called "StoryCorps," which can be heard on National Public Radio (NPR). There is a book created by the project called Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project."

The title of the book is particularly appropriate both for thinking about Mary in the wake of her Solemnity as Mother of God and for how we should approach adoration of her Son in the Eucharist. The Gospel reading for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God shows the contemplative nature of Mary, who is a profound listener: after the shepherds come to adore the infant Jesus, "Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

So, too, when we go to adore Jesus in the Eucharist, we need to do less talking and more listening. I know I need to do that. We need to hear what it is that Jesus is trying to tell us, where he is trying to lead us. Our faith will grow once we start letting God speak to us, for we will be more firmly convinced than ever in his presence and his great love for us.

As StoryCorps reminds us, listening is an act of love.

In the Bleak Midwinter

I've been reading Christina Rosetti's poetry recently. Rosetti was a nineteenth-century English poet (1830-1894). She was a High-Church Anglican, and her religious sensibilities were often very consonant with Roman Catholic belief and practices, although she broke off an engagement with a man who became a Catholic because of his decision.

Her best known poem is probably "A Christmas Carol," which was put to music by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) and is known as "In the Bleak Midwinter." I had never noticed this carol until this year. The music especially is so moving. Here is the poem:

A Christmas Carol

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

This is a good hymn for Advent, too, because it focuses not only the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus, but also on his second coming ("Heaven and earth shall flee away/When He comes to reign"). My favorite stanza is the one about the angels and Mary ("Angels and archangels"). I love the contrast between the adoration of the heavenly host of angels--the worship of the King by his subjects--and the silent, hidden love of a mother for her child. This two-fold nature is what we are called to: we are to worship the Lord who is transcendent and infinite, but we are also called to love him in a close personal relationship, and we can do that because he took on an intimate, finite, human nature, in addition to his divine nature. And it is this bodily worship through the kiss that brings us back to the Incarnational and Eucharistic nature of this great feast of the Nativity of our Lord. Through Eucharistic adoration, we are able today to do what the Magi and the shepherds did so long ago. And in the reception of the Eucharist, we are able today to do what his mother did so long ago.

There are many beautiful versions of this carol, but here is one of my favorites, by Corinne May.

Cara Study of the Sacraments - Adoration

Let's continue with the CARA study of the sacraments as it relates to the Eucharist. This time let's look at questions about Eucharistic adoration. The question was asked: "Does your local parish offer opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration where the Eucharist/Holy Communion is
displayed and people come to pray and worship?" Of those surveyed, 47% responded "Yes," 6% said "No," and 47% said "I don't know." A more meaningful picture is developed when the responses are broken down by Mass attendance. Not suprisingly, the more people go to Mass, the more they know whether their parish offers adoration or not.

• For those who attend weekly or more: 83% - Yes; 7% - No; 10% - I don't know.
• For those attending less than weekly but at least monthly: 59% - Yes; 10% - No; 31% - I don't know.
• For those attending a few times per year or less: 28% - Yes; 3% - No; 69% - I don't know.

The good news here is that it would appear that Eucharistic adoration of some sort is going on in the vast majority of parishes. Jesus is inviting us to come to him.

The breakdown by generations regarding those who responded "I don't know" is:

• Pre-Vatican II - 36%
• Vatican II - 46%
• Post-Vatican II - 52%
• Millennials - 52%

As a reminder, the generation breakdowns are:

• Pre-Vatican II (Born in 1942 and earlier, or 66 years old and older in 2008)
• Vatican II (Born between 1943 and 1960, or 48 to 65 years old in 2008)
• Post-Vatican II (sometimes called "Generation X," born between 1961 and 1981, or 27 to 47 years old in 2008)
• Millennial Generation (Born between 1982 and 1990, or 18 to 26 years old in 2008)

CARA suggests that these results may be due to lower Mass attendance by younger generations.

Then CARA asked about participation in Eucharistic adoration: "Have you participated in Eucharistic Adoration at your parish or elsewhere within the last year?" (this was for those respondents who said that their parishes did offer Eucharistic adoration):

• Yes - 29%
• No - 71%

Again, as one would expect, the more one attends Mass, the more people participate in Eucharistic adoration:

• Weekly or more: Yes - 43%; No - 57%
• Less than weekly but at least once a month: Yes - 35%; No - 65%
• A few times a year or less: Yes - 8%; No - 92%

The more one attends Mass, the more one realizes the nature and importance of the Eucharist. The more one realizes the nature and importance of the Eucharist, the more one is drawn to the Eucharist.

There were very interesting results in a breakdown by ethnicity for those who have participated in Eucharistic adoration:

• Hispanics: 37%
• Non-Hispanic whites: 26%

Clearly, Hispanic Catholics have much to teach Non-Hispanic white Catholics about the value of Eucharistic adoration in our faith lives.

The breakdown by generation for those who responded yes to participating in Eucharistic adoration is:

• Pre-Vatican II - 37%
• Vatican II - 30%
• Post-Vatican II - 27%
• Millennials - 21%

This breakdown is not surprising in the decreasing percentages from older to younger generations. On the other hand, one could argue that 21% among the Millennials is better than one might have thought it would be.

According to the question, I would not be able to respond "yes." I go to visit Jesus in the tabernacle, but it has been some time since I have made it to adoration when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. But that will change on May 25. My parish is having a Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. I have been organizing it, which has been a wonderful experience (more on that later). I have had adoration in front of a webcam of the Eucharist (see my blog entry of 4/4/08), which is a different 21st century twist of a very old practice.

My final entry on the CARA study will look at the statistics about belief in the Real Presence.

Father Victor Brown and the Importance of Eucharistic Adoration

I just read a very good blog entry by Father Victor Brown about the value of Eucharistic adoration. He is the chaplain to a monastery of contemplative nuns whose primary responsibility is Eucharistic adoration. To those who say, "What's the use of that?", Father Brown responds, "Questions like this betray a failure to understand the very nature of God and man and prayer." He concludes his entry with this wonderful analysis:

Have you ever wondered why the American government pays military personnel
to do nothing but stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington
National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.? Is that a waste of money, and the time
of the ceremonial guard? Those who see no reason for the contemplative life
would say YES! Those who understand adoration, tribute, and prayer say NO! These latter know perfectly well that no one in the world does things more “practical”
than our Sisters here, who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him. Like
Saint Mary of Bethany, they have “chosen the better part, and it will not be
taken away from them.” Thank you for seeking God’s truth. God bless you.

You can read Father Brown's entire blog entry here.

Thank you, Father Brown, for reminding us of the importance of these sisters. What a wonderful testimony to the value of such a vocation in particular, and vocations in general.