My niece Jenny has been telling me about a lovely Carmelite Convent which holds a weekly Holy Hour. Only a handful of people regularly show up, so the priest takes the Monstrance to everybody, one by one, and holds Jesus right in front of them for a full five minutes. For five glorious minutes it is just you and Jesus, face to face.
So last night I made the half hour trek out to Jenny's house and then we drove another 15 minutes to the convent. My excitement and anticipation quickly led to disappointment. The priest wasn't there, so the people in the chapel were just saying the rosary and a few other prayers. No priest, no Jesus.
This morning, my son Joe, the 13 year old, was asking me how the Holy Hour was. I told him what happened. I told him that after the rosary, Jenny and I went out for a drink and a nice long visit, what we like to call "free therapy". Always the clever child, Joe said, "Well, if you can't have Jesus, at least you can have a drink!" I told Joe that I worry about him. He said he worries about me, too. What would I do without my family?
But, tonight I know that I will not be disappointed in my efforts to adore my Lord and Savior! One hundred parishes in our Archdiocese will be holding a Holy Hour for Life tonight. My parish is one of them! I've been a parishioner at my church for the past 17 years, and there has never been a Holy Hour there in all that time. I am very excited that I will be able to adore Jesus and pray for the innocent lives of sweet children in my very own church, my home.
But if those plans fall through, I can always have a drink, heh heh.
No priest, no Jesus...so true! God bless you and your family. Thanks for always spreading the Good News!
ReplyDeleteNo priest no Jesus- just what the devil would love which is why we need to pray for our priests. I love your son's sense of humor. What an awesome holy hour this must be!
ReplyDeleteI do have saints left. If you would e-mail me her first name so I can pray for her first before letting the saints do their choosing.
Thanks for stopping by my blog this morning.
No priest, no Jesus...but know a Priest, Know Jesus :)
ReplyDeleteFunny :) We have a little chapel in town and you can kneel right before the Monstrance. When I clean the church and have to clean the altar area I have to pretend Jesus isn't there for a few minutes [after I kneel and chat] so I can get my work done :) When I think about it, I don't know why it's so hard, since I receive Communion often which is even more intimate. They are having Adoration at my parish this week, too.
ReplyDeleteDear Anne- laughed out loud at Joey's remark! Did your "glorious moments", alone with Jesus, face to face, just happen to be with Jenny this time? Instead of the Eucharist? :)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, not many Carmels in the USA have a weekly Holy Hour with the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Your niece is a very fortunate child. You may not have "seen" Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, but He was truly present in the midst of the prayerful. Enjoy the Holy Hour at your parish church. May it be the first of many, frequent Adoration opportunities for the faithful with the Blessed Sacrament exposed.
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDelete"No priest, no Jesus." You should put a badge with that quote on your sidebar, Anne, before somebody else steals it! ;)
Of course, it was St. Jean-Marie Vianney who said it first, though he put it more elaborately. Yet as a priest friend of mine pointed out, the beautiful thing about the Catholic Church is that everything worth saying has already been said so many times that we don't need to worry about plagiarism!
I hope you get your Holy Hour face to face with Jesus someday! =)
This post made me smile.
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog. Found it through Embretheliel's blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts. They made my day.
I hope you made it to your holy hour. My parish had one but it was from 7 to 8 as usual with all the things I'd like to attend. No way I can do that. That's bedtime. Three small ones depend on my being here. Oh one day they won't be so small and then I'll be able to get away every once in a while for such delights. Now I struggle to see Jesus among the diapers and pajamas and sippy cups. Oh I know the disappointment of not getting to see him face to face. But perhaps after all his plan is better for me. I mean of course it is. What do I know?
ReplyDeleteOh Melanie, I remember those years when my children were little. It felt like it would never end! I remember standing in the hallway at the back of church during Mass while my toddler ran around burning energy and crying to God, "If you want me to spend time with you, why did you give me all these children who keep me so distracted and far away from you?" What I didn't know then is that all I had to do was to enjoy those little ones and their sippy cups and diapers because God was right there in that moment, just like he is right in this moment of teenage trials with me right now. He's in those children he sent us to love and cherish. As with all things, some days it's easier to see Him than on others.
ReplyDeleteYour children are beautiful and everytime you wipe their little tears,you're wiping His tears. You are blessed to see Him face to face every day in those sweet little faces!