Why do we go to adoration? Can't I just pray in my heart?
It’s good to pray in all places, but there’s something uniquely powerful about spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at adoration. Fr. Dave Tomaszycki explains why, explaining that Jesus’ presence in adoration has real effects on our lives, as we radiate his presence wherever we go.
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Why do we go to adoration? Can't I just pray in my heart?
Some years ago, I was with a group visiting the Holy Land and a handful of us got to spend the night in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built over the Sepulchre, the tomb of Jesus. We were literally locked into one of the holiest places on earth.
When we attend Eucharistic exposition, it's like we have climbed inside the tabernacle and are just hanging out with Jesus. On our lord's very last night walking this earth, he asked his favorite disciples, Peter, James, and John to spend one hour with him in prayer. We get to do what Jesus' favorite disciples got to do: we get to pray in the Presence of the Son of God.
The Son is a lot like the sun. If you spend the day at the beach, just by looking at you people will say you've been in the sun. So too when you spend time in adoration people will notice, "he's been with Jesus."
Why do you think we put the Eucharist in a sunburst? Jesus cannot be contained. He bursts out. He is radiant. So too the more we spend time with Jesus, the more we radiate his love, his joy his actions, even his speech. We begin to radiate him.
Why do we go to adoration? The shorter answer is because Jesus is there. With today's technology, we tend to think we have mastered space and time. But we really haven't. There is something special about praying where Jesus is. The Holy Sepulchre is where Jesus was 2000 years ago.
Adoration is where Jesus is right now and he's waiting there for you.