Note: Fr. Ed’s homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time is now available online! Click here to listen.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found….”
That is an interesting idea, because, is there actually any time in which He cannot be found? Strictly speaking, no; He is always available. But having said that, it is still the case that there seem to be different seasons of grace in which He seems to be particularly present.
I think a lot of folks are experiencing that our whole endeavor with Alpha is not only providing that for the guests that are attending, but it is also sparking a newness in many members of our teams’ relationships with the Lord Jesus. The videos are excellent. The whole Senior Leadership Team took the time to preview together all the Alpha videos and were amazed at how edifying and useful they were, even for us “old timers.”
Perhaps we should approach everything in our life with the attitude that says, “Even though I’ve ‘been here and done that,’ Lord, show me how You are present here so that I can use this as an opportunity to come closer to You.” The Lord Jesus usually wants to be far closer and more involved with us than we let Him. Let’s try to open our hearts even more to the presence of the King.
Adoring His Eucharistic Presence
One of the ways that we can do that, and a very special way to seek Him, is to spend time with Him in Adoration. To come into the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord and to worship Him there, opening our hearts to Him, sharing our needs with Him, just loving Him and being loved by Him—this is a great opportunity we have as members of a parish so gifted with His Presence in this way. It is also, after the Mass itself, one of the most privileged opportunities for intercession, to literally come before the Lord and offer to Him our pleas for those we love, that they would experience more of His Presence and grace in their lives. This is an incomparable gift that we can offer for those we care for. Many families who have regular Adoration times have mentioned to me how those opportunities for Adoration have had a transformative effect on their families and others that they have been praying for.
October 1st will mark the 16th anniversary of the beginning of Perpetual Adoration at Christ the King and it has been a great blessing for us. But it is a blessing that we should never take for granted. One of the conditions for continuing that blessing is that we have to have an adequate number of people signed up for Adoration to make sure that all the hourly slots are covered. This is the Bishop’s requirement for Perpetual Adoration to continue to be maintained at the parish.
Unfortunately, right now we have many, many slots that are open and without a scheduled Adorer. There are probably several different reasons for this, just the busyness of life being one of them. However, this is a very crucial time when we are in particular need of men and women to be interceding before the very Presence of the Lord Jesus. We need to pray especially for all of our hundreds of guests who are currently going through Alpha, that they would deeply and truly encounter the Lord Jesus. We have many families currently experiencing different levels of crisis that are in desperate need of prayer. And, of course, ongoing events in the world around us clamor for intercession.
I would invite all the parishioners of Christ the King who are not currently signed up for an Adoration slot to prayerfully consider signing up for one. Many folks have mentioned to me that they are very excited about the many things that are taking place in our parish at this time, but we should always bear in mind that what fuels so much of this activity is precisely the intercession that takes place to support it, especially intercession before the Eucharistic Lord Himself. Please help us continue this wonderful ministry of praise, worship, and intercession before the Eucharistic Lord! May He be glorified in all that we do! — Fr. Ed