By Amanda Murthy
“Jesus wants everyone to know is that He is the easiest person to be with and He is absolutely the easiest person to please.
“For example, you may be so tired or troubled or worn out that you may want to come and sit and relax and just enjoy the sweet peace that comes from being in His Presence.”
“This is why Jesus simply says in the Gospel “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28) where in the Blessed Sacrament He transforms us into Himself with those graces that He won for us on Calvary.”
Glendalough Parish Priest Father Douglas Harris spoke about the significance of ‘spending time with Jesus in silence’ to a packed St Bernadette Church, during his homily at the 9am Mass followed by a procession and Adoration in conjunction with the Corpus Christi celebrations on Sunday 23 June.
Reflecting on the words of Saint John Paul II, who said, ‘A Parish is a house of welcome to all,’ Fr Harris said the late Pope often expressed that his prayer and desire for the whole Church was that every Parish throughout the world establish Perpetual Adoration.
Fr Harris added that St John Paul II also firmly believed that our communal worship must go together with our personal love for Jesus in Holy Hours of prayer in order that our love for Jesus may be complete.
“Perpetual Adoration is when a Parish has a Chapel, or sets aside a small prayer room that is open seven days a week 24 hours a day with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament to make it easy for anyone at any time to visit Jesus because our essential commitment in life is to grow spiritually in the climate of the Holy Eucharist,” Fr Harris said.
“This hour that Jesus wants you to spend with Him is spent any way you may want to.
“Some people bring their own prayer books, others pray the Holy Rosary or read the Holy Bible – Others speak to Jesus heart to heart as you would your best friend,” he added.
Reminding the congregation that Jesus often spent the whole night in prayer, Fr Harris went on to encourage those present to commit and participate in Adoration as it is “not difficult to find at least one hour once a week to be with Jesus.”
“Whatever hour you may choose morning, noon, evening or night would be most pleasing to the Lord,” he stated.
“But please volunteer for a night hour sometime between midnight and 6am, because these are the most difficult hours to fill, for it requires a sacrifice for anyone to be willing to get up in the middle of the night to be with Jesus.
“Because as St John Paul II says, ‘the radical transformation of the whole world will be brought about through Perpetual Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,” Fr Harris added.
Fr Harris ended his homily by saying that the Eucharist is, according to God’s Vision to St. John Bosco and other prophecies, the plan to be carried out in the fullness of time, namely, to bring all things in Heaven and on earth into one within the Sacred or Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.
Rockingham Parish Our Lady of Lourdes Church also held a procession in conjunction with the Corpus Christi celebrations. Click Here to watch.