Scripture
“Hear, O Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.”
Saint
The Apostle of the Eucharist, Saint Peter Julian Eymard was born in France in 1811. Before his birth, his mother had borne three children who had died in infancy. But Peter flourished, and his mother often took him in her arms when she went to pray in gratitude before the Blessed Sacrament. When Peter was five, he disappeared one day. His stepsister discovered him in the church. He was standing on the top of a ladder that he found and leaned against the high altar. “I can listen better to Jesus from here,” he told his sister.
Eventually, Peter entered the seminary and was ordained. Five years later he received permission to join the Marist order. But after a few years another desire took hold of him, planted in his heart on the feast of Corpus Christi, 1845: “to bring all the world to the knowledge and love of our Lord; to preach nothing but Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Eucharistic.”
Personal Testimony
Today, our parish is blessed with a Eucharistic Adoration chapel. I began adoring Jesus when I was a parishioner at St. Timothy’s Parish. Prayer and Adoration, like the liturgy, are work. Often, I’d dose off in the chapel after work, but then I read that our Lord worked some of his greatest miracles while others were sleeping, remember Adam, Samuel, Joseph…
When my family moved to this parish, I went to the chapel one Wednesday before work, I don’t remember why. Toward the end of my time in the chapel I silently prayed to the Holy Spirit, “Come Holy Spirit, ask me whatever you want, and I’ll do it.” Almost immediately, another adorer turns around and asks, “Can you come here every Wednesday?” What could I say at that point?
Invitation/Challenge
After our meeting, I’ll be upstairs in the chapel. I invite you to join me, and Jesus, but be careful what you ask for!
Prayer
My Lord in heaven, through the intercession of Saint Julian Eymard, ignite within our hearts a fervent love for your Eucharistic presence.