Adoration

I know it must seem strange, this concept of prostrating yourself before a piece of bread for an hour, contemplating the divine and communicating with an unseen God, And of course the whole idea of transubstantiation (the actual transforming of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ) is an absurdity to most Christians and horrific to non believers turning us into cannibals and vampires but still having grown up as a cradle Catholic, it is one of the few aspects of Catholicism that I still enjoy.

There is a quite peace in adoration that takes you out of yourself, in a world so filled with noise and confusion to sit in silence for an hour each week and talk to God, no distractions, no moving pictures, no cell phones, just calm, and silence, and peace. It recharges my batteries, and gives me a strength, that I don’t think I have without it. They often say that God speaks in the gentle whisper of the wind and in this world so filled with noise, it isn’t until you are forced into complete silence that you realize how distracted our lives truly are, not that I hear the voice of God, but that I open myself to the possibility. And in some manner I am transformed.

I always found the idea intriguing, that in Communion we, in a small way, become the body of Christ, the living example of his love on earth, that as bread is transformed into our flesh, by the simple act of eating, so too we are transformed into Christ. This cosmic circle, of bread into life, and life into bread, that we are, the body of Christ, and in such, we are compelled to act accordingly, to love more completely, to give more compassionately, and to sacrifice of ourselves, for the sake of others.

There are a slew if Eucharistic miracles that have occurred throughout the years, hosts that have transformed into human flesh, wine that have turned into blood, substances that defy scientific explanation, these tangible paradigms of theological dogma are often a comfort to my beliefs and an encouragement to my understandings but it is the intangible transformation of my psyche that heartens my weekly retreat and inspires my dedication.

I simply feel better about myself, about the world, there is a peace and a joy which I feel which I did not have before.

And so each week I return to the simple and uncomplicated act of Adoration, to quiet my mind, to open myself up, and to accept the presence of the Lord within my life.