Lofty View
Sponsored
Catholic365 is sponsored by
Road to Purity
I pour out my complaint before him, I tell my trouble before him. – Psalm 142:2 (RSVCE)
It was 3 a.m. and sleep was eluding me. I had received troubling news and it felt like yet another blow. As a new Catholic, I’d recently learned of a perpetual adoration chapel just fifteen minutes from my house. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was there – waiting for me. Pulling myself out of bed, I slipped on some jeans and a sweatshirt and headed out to the car. While driving I prayed, Lord, I would love to be alone with you, knowing this would be unlikely as the chapel scheduled “adorers” around the clock.
Through the double glass doors into the lighted hallway where a sign-up sheet sat upon a side table, ensuring that all hours with the Lord were covered. It was 3:50 a.m. I opened the chapel’s side door and was met with holy silence. One lone adorer sat praying quietly. I chose a pew on the opposite side, up near the Blessed Sacrament, and knelt in awed silence before Jesus. I had lived near this church my whole life. How is it that I never knew of this place? I pondered, reminded again of the gulf between Protestant and Catholic Christians. Adoration had quickly become my favorite place to be.
At 4:10 a.m., the other adorer stood up and approached me. “Are you planning to be here for a while?” he whispered. “The person who was supposed to arrive at 4:00 hasn’t shown up.”
I smiled, agreed to stay on for the next hour, and the man departed.
There I was, alone with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, just as I had so desired. I prayed out loud to the Lord, wept, and shared my heart without reserve. In His infinite kindness, God had shown me His fingerprint through the gift of time alone with Himself in the Host.
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for adoration. Thank you for showing us, in specific ways, that You care for us as we struggle amidst our human condition.
Thought: Reflect upon a special time you spent in adoration, perhaps alone. Thank the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for that time.
Quote: “The Eucharist bathes the tormented soul in light and love.” // St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879, canonized 1933)
Like this devotion? Find one-minute photo devotions by Lisa Livezey at lisalivezey.com/olivetree
Lisa Livezey writes from Pennsylvania where she found her way to Rome via the Anglican Ordinariate. She is the author of Minding Mom: A Caregiver's Devotional Story (En Route Publishing) and contributes to the National Catholic Register, Guideposts books and devotionals, and more. Her weekly photo devotions found at lisalivezey.com/olivetree are viewed worldwide and utilized by Visio Divina prayer groups. Lisa is a wife, mom, and grandma, volunteers in church and civic settings, and serves on the executive team at Heart of the Father Ministries. She credits her husband with giving her name alliteration and sometimes on summer weekends can be spotted sailing the Chesapeake Bay alongside her spouse.
