I was finally able to get to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
today! If I can’t receive Christ
physically in the Eucharist, being able to just sit (or kneel) in His presence
and listen to Him speak to me spiritually is a very extraordinary alternative. If I were to say I heard Jesus’ voice in a
real sense, even I would question my sanity.
No, I’m no Joan of Arc. I’m just
an everyday sinner looking for forgiveness and consolation from the only One
who can give them to me. Rather, I
believe I hear the voice of Jesus through the workings of the Holy Spirit as I
read the Scriptures or meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary or—as happened
today—meditating on just being in His very Presence!
Adoration for me is a good
reminder of the Conversion of St. Paul. Once a murderous persecutor of Christ’s
followers, he encountered Jesus in a supernatural way and was forever changed.
Perhaps one could argue that because St. Paul had a supernatural
experience of God, it was easier for him than it is for us to mend our ways.
Though to some extent that might be true, it is still worthy for us to meditate
on how we encounter God and the opportunities the encounter gives us to
significantly change ourselves and others.
In truth, aren’t all encounters with God extraordinary? How about
the rising and the setting of the sun, the myriads of singing songbirds, the
variety and coloration of blooming flowers, and the uniqueness of each falling
snowflake? Aren’t these extraordinary experiences and manifestations of God?
If so, what then of the Holy Sacraments? Have they, like so many
other things, been relegated to the realm of the ordinary so that becoming an
heir of the Kingdom, having forgiveness of our sins, and receiving the Body and
Blood of Christ, are no big deal? Are Holy
Orders and Matrimony so disrespected that they are no longer the bedrocks of
society but its laughingstocks?
If that seems to be the case, let’s pray for the grace of
conversion, to get knocked off of OUR high horse, to be blinded by the LIGHT
and then healed not only for our own salvation, but as it was for St. Paul, for
the conversion and salvation of the world.
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