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Hour
of Eucharistic Adoration
"Glory
to Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever!"
Allow for
silent prayer, so that all who gather to adore the Lord will have
sufficient time to quiet their minds and hearts, the better to receive
his Word. If this time of prayer is part of prolonged adoration
of the Eucharist exposed in the monstrance, the usual liturgical
guidelines should be observed. The reader should have the Scripture
passages prepared beforehand; they will be read through at two different
points in the hour. The music suggestions are all available in cassette/CD
form as sung by the Daughters of St. Paul in the album "Millennium:
Out of the Ruins."
Leader:
The gift of the Lord's abiding Eucharistic presence allows us to
return again and again to the font and source of all blessings:
the celebration of the Mass. The Liturgy of the Word feeds us with
the bread of God's truth: it is light for our minds, guidance for
our life's choices, comfort for our times of difficulty and a joy
for our days of gladness. Jesus, with us as Living Bread, is the
Father's eternal, Living Word. Together, let us adore him:
Praise
and glory to you, O Christ, today and forever!
Opening Song: "I Am with You" by David Haas.
Leader:
Jesus, you are with us. You have called us to come apart for a while
to be with you. Here, in this time and place, you want to renew
your gifts in us. You want to enlighten us, and you want to enlighten
others through us.
Together:
Lord Jesus,
You are the fullness of time and Lord of history.
Prepare our minds to celebrate with faith
the Great Jubilee of the year 2000,
so that it might be a year of grace and mercy.
Give us a pure and simple heart,
so that we might contemplate with ever renewed wonder
the mystery of the Incarnation,
when you, the Son of God,
in the womb of the Virgin, sanctuary of the Spirit,
became our brother.
Praise and glory to you, O Christ, today and forever! (John Paul
II)
Leader:
Let each one present his or her prayers of adoration and faith.
(Whoever wishes to allow others to share his or her motives of praise
may offer them aloud.)
Leader:
Venerable Father James Alberione, Founder of the Pauline Family,
wrote: "People need two kinds of spiritual nourishment: God's
Word-the Gospel-and the Eucharist. The Gospel lights up the road,
but the strength to run along it comes from Communion. Communion
brings the true life who is Christ. Jesus said, 'I am the Life'
(Jn. 14:6). This life has to grow daily: Jesus came 'that they might
have life and have it to the full' (Jn. 10:10)." Here before
Jesus in the Eucharist, let us ask Jesus to open our minds and hearts
to his Word of Truth and Life. (Pause to allow for personal prayer.)
(Reader:
proclaim the Word of God from the Letter of Paul to Titus: chapter
1:1-4; chapter 2:11-14; chapter 3:4-8.)
After sufficient
time for reflecting on God's Word, it would be well to offer an
application to our own faith:
Leader:
Sometimes it is easier to believe that God's Son came to us in history
at Bethlehem, in a public ministry, and in his redemptive suffering
and resurrection, than to believe that he comes to us in our own
history. Guided by the light of the Holy Spirit, let us each, in
the depths of our heart, name three times in our life which were
marked by God's presence and action. Let us thank God for coming
to us in those moments. (Pause for a good five minutes.) Do
we often let God act in our lives? (Pause.) What is
there in us that may be keeping God seemingly at a distance? (Pause.)
The Eucharistic Lord could be calling us to a change of heart on
that very point. (Pause.)
Together:
Jesus, beginning and fulfillment of the new man,
convert our hearts,
so that, having abandoned the ways of error,
we might walk in your footsteps on the path which leads to life.
Make us live our faith steadfastly,
fulfulling our baptismal promises,
testifying with conviction to your word,
so that the life-giving light of the Gospel
might shine in our families and in society.
Praise and glory to you, O Christ, today and forever! (John Paul
II)
(Reader:
Re-read the passages from the Letter to Titus, pausing between each
selection.)
Song:
"Abundant Life" by David Haas.
Leader:
The Rosary is a prayer that allows us to contemplate God's action
in history and in the personal lives of the people who were so involved
in our salvation. In this Rosary, we will meditate on some of those
people, and on their response to God. Let us ask each of them to
pray for us, so that we can allow God to enter into our lives-and
even to change our well-made plans-for the sake of his kingdom!
Let us also intercede in a special way for people who are right
now experiencing the consolation and the crisis of God's action
in their lives.
(Begin
the Rosary in the usual way; it is the mysteries which are a bit
different.)
1st
Mystery: Our first parents. Created in the image of God, Adam
and Eve knew him as Father and constant companion. And when they
sinned, God went looking for them.
2nd
Mystery: Moses. From the burning bush, God called out to Moses,
revealed his true Name, and sent him on mission. Moses surrendered
to God and spoke to him "face to face."
3rd
Mystery: David. David was a man who lived so close to God's
truth that he did not hide from his sin. David was willing to repent
and be converted.
4th
Mystery: Mary. She received the surprising news with joyful
willingness to share in bringing about God's plan of salvation.
And even beneath the cross, she did not withdraw her yes.
5th
Mystery: Paul. Meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul began
to know the "breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's
love." He let the love of Christ set him on fire.
Together:
Jesus, only-begotten Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth,
the light which illumines every person,
give the abundance of your life
to all who seek you with a sincere heart.
To you, mankind's Redeemer,
beginning and end of time and of the universe,
to the Father, unending source of all good,
and to the Holy Spirit, seal of infinite love,
be all honor and glory, now and forever.
Praise and glory to you, O Christ, today and forever! (John Paul
II)
Leader:
Enter into stillness and spiritual communion with Christ, who
today has offered himself for us Eucharistically, and who continues
to nourish us with his Word and grace.
Song:
"Be Not Afraid"
Closing:
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to
everlasting life. (Amen.) Let us go now in the love of the
Lord, to bring his Word to the world.
This outline
for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is provided by the Daughters
of St. Paul, an international congregation of consecrated women
who serve the Church with the communications media. We ask that
you remember our congregation, mission, and special intention of
vocations in your prayer. When you are on-line, visit us at www.pauline.org
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