St John Mary Vianney is the patron saint of the parish priests of the whole world.
He was the parish priest of the small village of Ars in the middle of France for over 40 years. His was a ministry filled with the graces of God and the building up of the church. When he was a young priest, he used to go into Church to say Vespers in the late afternoon. He would see an elderly farm worker, kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. He would not, apparently, be saying anything. St John Mary was puzzled, because here was a simple farm worker, whose only experience outside the parish might have been as a soldier in Napoleon's armies, kneeling in adoration before our Lord. St John Mary's visits to the Church revealed that the old man spent an hour every day in front of the Tabernacle. Eventually, St. John Mary plucked up the courage to ask him what he prayed about for so long a period of time. The old man replied, 'I look at him and he looks at me: occasionally we say a word to each other.' The old man's comment is a definition of what adoration is all about. We are asked this week to reflect on how we can deepen and broaden opportunities for people to participate in the prayer of adoration. We are also asked to link this thinking to serving others. At first sight, these two suggestions appear to be very different from each other. Adoration is all about prayer: service to others is all about action. All too frequently, we fail to link these in our Christian thinking, and our Christian practice. There is also the danger that adoration can be seen as something reserved for people who are truly holy. It is a great mistake to think that it is not there for every single Christian believer. We need to react to the challenge from St John of the Cross., whose feast we celebrate this week. One of his poems is very short., very direct, and very helpful to lead us on: With the divinest Word, the Virgin made pregnant, down the road comes walking, if you're grant her a room in your abode. St John asks us to put ourselves in the presence of the Blessed Virgin as she travels to meet St Elizabeth and to be greeted by St John the Baptist from the womb. Our Lady carries within herself the divine Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. As we meet her, she asks us to welcome Jesus into our hearts in loving adoration. This we can do most powerfully, and most successfully, when we come into the presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle, and place ourselves in humble adoration before him. We don't necessarily need to use the picture which the Divine Mercy gives us, of the rays of our Lord's goodness and love reaching out from his Sacred Heart to meet us and enfold us. In placing ourselves in adoration before the Tabernacle, we can concentrate our attention on the way that we receive Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist. When we receive the Sacred Body, and drink the Precious Blood, our Lord remains within us. When we leave the church, when we go forth at the end of Mass, we carry Jesus Christ with us in our hearts, our minds, and our souls. That's the fruit of adoration. That's what gives power and strength and consistency to our Christian service for others. The presence of our Lord within us to shape our thinking, our speaking, and our doing is the way that we can give true Christian service to those whom we meet. Let's not deceive ourselves: Christian service does not need to be some sort of dramatic action or speech. By sharing the love and kindness and compassion of our Lord with those whom we meet, and those among whom we live, we serve their needs. We should remember that even a kind word, or a smile, may shed the light of Christ in a life which is dark with despair, or sin. If we deepen our adoration by coming to our Lord regularly in silent worship, then we build up seamlessly our service to others. The Immaculate Heart of Mary & St Dominic, Homerton Advent ii {B} 10.xii.23
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