Eucharistic Adoration is a Catholic devotional but an Hour of Power (Adoration/Prayer/time with the Lord) can be done by anyone anywhere. I liked how the author showed that the disciples became disciples by spending "time in a personal encounter with Jesus." The author also stated that "Once they encountered the Lord, Jesus took over their formation in discipleship." I think those elements are still true. How can we be disciples if we don't spend time in formation. It is both a head and heart things.... the encounter (intimacy) and discipleship (learning/experiencing). Intimacy with the Lord calls us to go deeper and deeper and that, to me, is what the extended prayer opportunity (Hour of Power) offers us. It takes time to clear the mind, get rid of the clutter of life's business and be available to the Lord. Just as we should spend time in the study of the sacred Scriptures we should spend time reflecting on them or other inspirational Christian writings and being open to the inspiration from the Spirit. It is a time of just "being" with the Lord. Distractions come and are pushed aside to refocus on the Lord.
As a Catholic who takes John 6 literally and the teaching of the Church, I believe in the Eucharistic presence of the Lord so Eucharistic Adoration allows me to be literally in His presence "deepening my personal encounter with Christ Himself." Since our sons are all adults now and I belong to a great parish that offers the opportunity, I am able to spend time each day in Adoration. The Eucharistic Lord is like a magnet that draws us closer, creating that yearning to walk humbly with our God.
On page 16 it states, "the measure of our holiness and effectiveness with others is the degree to which God becomes real in our lives." I don't know about you but there are times when I have felt like a fraud when people have asked me for prayer support or spiritual help and I have been "disconnected" from my God. God did not move, as He is always waiting for us" but I distanced myself by not spending time by just going through the motions. Our relationship with God is very much like our relationship with our spouse. The relationship dries out if there is no time for communication and intimacy. So, as stated on page 18, I believe that yes, "He will daily recharge the batteries of our life and ministry during the hour of power." Most people have to work up to taking a full hour but it is worth the efforts. I was looking for a quote by Bishop Sheen that I could not find but I did find this online: "Bishop Fulton Sheen was the great apostle of the importance of the daily holy hour. He said, I am convinced that if it were humanly possible to fully understand the value of a holy hour, everyone would either find time or make time to do it. The difficulty of finding time in today's busy world makes the daily holy hour that much more precious and meritorious in the eyes of God."
I look forward to hearing if the "Hour of Power" is a something new for you, something you do or struggle with, hope to do or think you could never do.
As a side note: The Christian holy hour is different than New Age meditation that wants to empty the mind or fill it with the positive energies of the universe. With Christianity we want to meditate on Lord the creator of the universe. This is confusing to some people.
1 comment:
Thank you for your take on the Hour of Power. I thought it only meant Adoration. This blog is great in getting us to understand what each person is getting from the readings. Great choice of book!
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