Adoration

If you’ve ever been to Eucharistic Adoration, you know that it’s an intensely personal experience; it’s an encounter that’s hard to put into words. It’s an opportunity to pour out your heart to Jesus as He pours His love into yours. It’s a chance to reflect, to listen, to praise, to honor, and – most of all – a chance to simply be with the One who loves you the most.

There is something uniquely special that happens when this intensely personal experience happens in community, especially when that community is over 5000 people who approach the opportunity full of hope and expectant faith.

As Jesus entered the arena, everyone knelt. And when the monstrance was placed on the altar, we all knelt in silence, which was stunning – considering that most of our participants are teenagers. It’s the part of the conference that blesses me the most…thousands of teenagers in silent prayer. It was a silence that spoke volumes. Love, honor, faith, reverence. Adoration.

After a few minutes of silence, Father Mike offered us a beautiful reflection before the procession began, and I would highly encourage you to listen to his powerful words by clicking on the audio player at the top of this blog post, perhaps even the next time you go to Adoration.

During the Eucharist procession, Jesus moved among us into every section of the arena, up and down the stairs, and was brought close to every single person here. And as he drew near, everyone in that particular section knelt, and almost everyone reached out their hands toward Him, reflecting the great hope of the woman in Scripture who reached out to touch the hem of His garment and was healed. Jesus’ movement throughout the building was a powerful manifestation of the reality that even before we seek Him, He is seeking us out and wants to draw near to us.

In over thirty years of youth ministry experience, I’ve heard countless stories of teens, many of whom are now adults – who have had life-changing encounters with Jesus during Adoration on a Saturday night at a Steubenville youth conference. And it’s an intensely personal experience with the One who is madly in love with everyone who is here.

Please keep God’s kids in your prayers. And never underestimate the power of our God who has promised that He will be with us always, even until the end of time.