How to Go to Adoration When You Can’t Go to Adoration

(gonzalesroman at Cathopic.com)

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the greatest gifts of the Church—and, sadly, one of the most underused. Although many parishes are now offering Adoration several times a week—some even 24/7—there are still far too many churches where it’s rarely available.

There are two Catholic churches located close to where I currently live, yet I’m still not able to attend in-person Adoration on a regular basis. At one church, Adoration is available only one day per week, on Thursdays. At the other, the only opportunity is on First Fridays, from 8pm until 8am the next day.

So what’s a person to do?

Adoration is one of the most peaceful, healing, and spiritually enriching ways to draw closer to Christ. As a trauma survivor, it’s a blessing I can’t live without. I’ve found that no amount of therapy, group work, books or other methods of self-care can even begin to heal the wounds imbedded deep within my soul. My heart has been scraped raw, shattered into sharp, painful pieces. How can I fix that?

In truth, I can’t. Only Jesus can fix me.

For a long time, I realized I needed to awaken from the numbing pain caused by domestic abuse and betrayal trauma. For too long I’d been broken, for too long I’d been in pain.

I could hear Jesus calling to me: Talitha cumi. Little girl, arise!

But how? I didn’t know how to arise from the ashes of my life, how to go about healing my woundedness and suffering. Still, I could hear God clearly saying,

Little girl, arise. Jenny, come out. Unbind her, let her go!” (Mark 5:41, John 11:43,44)

Only Jesus can unbind me from the trauma of betrayal and abuse. Only through His grace can I let the pain go and allow myself to rest in His healing touch.

Holy Mass is the primary way to receive the true Presence of God. Nothing can replace the celebration of the Mass and reception of the Holy Eucharist, the “source and summit of the Christian life.” Even so, by the grace of the One who loves us beyond our capacity to understand such Love, we’ve been given countless additional gifts to help us repair our tattered lives.

“Belief in the real, physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist grew out of the teaching of the evangelists and St. Paul. They made it plain to the apostolic Church that the Eucharistic elements were literally Jesus Christ continuing His saving mission among men.”

(Fr. John Hardon, S.J.)

My inner healing journey didn’t truly start until I began a daily practice of Eucharistic Adoration. It was there, sitting at His feet, enveloped in the warmth of His healing touch, that I began to feel a peace inside me that grew and strengthened with each passing day.

(©Keariel Peasley Photography, used with permission)

However, this realization took a long time in coming. Since Adoration isn’t locally available to me, I hadn’t been able to attend very often. I keenly felt the loss, but online Adoration wasn’t something in my radar.

It seemed so … weird.

It was only after talking to a friend about how much I thirsted for Adoration, but couldn’t go, that the prospect of online Adoration was brought up. “It may seem weird at first,” my friend said, echoing my own thoughts, “But just give it a try. Christ is still present. He doesn’t care about human time or distance. Just give it a try.”

So, I did. And I discovered immense blessings I never thought possible.

Whether you wish to dive deeper into your relationship with Christ, have a burning desire to “watch and pray” with Jesus (Mark 14:38, Matt. 36:38, Lk. 22:46), are in need of peace and healing, or for any other reason, Eucharistic Adoration is a sure way to enhance, enrich and enliven your spiritual life.

Livestream Eucharistic Chapels Around the World

“Oh come, let us bow worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”

(Ps. 95:6)