Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The practice of Eucharistic Adoration
With the Synod Assembly, therefore, I heartily recommend to the Church's pastors and to the People of God the practice of Eucharistic Adoration, both individually and in community. (194) Great benefit would ensue from a suitable catechesis explaining the importance of this act of worship, which enables the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration more fully and more fruitfully. Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration. I also recommend that, in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for First Holy Communion, children be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before his presence in the Eucharist.
Here I would like to express appreciation and support for all those Institutes of Consecrated Life whose members dedicate a significant amount of time to eucharistic adoration. In this way they give us an example of lives shaped by the Lord's real presence. I would also like to encourage those associations of the faithful and confraternities specifically devoted to eucharistic adoration; they serve as a leaven of contemplation for the whole Church and a summons to individuals and communities to place Christ at the centre of their lives.
Forms of eucharistic devotion
68. The personal relationship which the individual believer establishes with Jesus present in the Eucharist constantly points beyond itself to the whole communion of the Church and nourishes a fuller sense of membership in the Body of Christ. For this reason, besides encouraging individual believers to make time for personal prayer before the Sacrament of the Altar, I feel obliged to urge parishes and other church groups to set aside times for collective adoration. Naturally, already existing forms of eucharistic piety retain their full value. I am thinking, for example, of processions with the Blessed Sacrament, especially the traditional procession on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Forty Hours devotion, local, national and international Eucharistic Congresses, and other similar initiatives. If suitably updated and adapted to local circumstances, these forms of devotion are still worthy of being practised today. (195
Labels: Adoration, Adoration/Holy Hour, Altar, Catechesis, Catholic Belief, Corpus Christi, Devotion/Devotionals, Eucharist, Holy Father, Sacramentum Caritatis
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Divine Mercy Sunday (15/04/2007)
The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercyis based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even beforeher death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us —no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us toothers. Thus, all will come to share His joy. It is a messagewe can call to mind simply by remembering ABC.
A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.
C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
The Divine Mercy Devotion
Devotion to The Divine Mercy involves a total commitment to God as Mercy. It is a decision to trust completely in Him, toaccept His mercy with thanksgiving, and to be merciful as He is merciful.
The devotional practices proposed in the diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in this website are completely inaccordance with the teachings of the Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior.Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.
There are two scriptural verses that we should keep in mindas we involve ourselves in these devotional practices:
1. "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts arefar from me" (Is 29:13);
2. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5:7).
Find out more at EWTN: The Divine Mercy Devotion
[SOURCE: EWTN]
Labels: Devotion/Devotionals, Divine Mercy
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