As Adoration began tonight, Fr. Chris Martin led us in a beautiful prayer and the Lord wants us to share it with you.

The Litany of Trust

From the belief that I have to earn Your love

Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear that I am unlovable

Deliver me, Jesus.

From the false security that I have what it takes

Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear that trusting You will leave me more destitute

Deliver me, Jesus.

From all suspicion of Your words and promises

Deliver me, Jesus.

From the rebellion against childlike dependency on You

Deliver me, Jesus.

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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.

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“Jesus in the Stairwell”- that was my immediate caption to this picture that my sister Lisa took during Saturday night Adoration. At first I thought the stairwell wasn’t the most becoming location for a photo op. I mean, stairwells are those places with no décor, full of brick and concrete. They are more out of purpose and less about “show”. Maybe I also kind of think of creepy stuff happening in stairwells. I’m sure that’s because I’ve seen too many movies where people are trying to escape some evil in places like that. When I’m in a stairwell, I usually want to get out of it as soon as possible and get to my destination.

My other thought about the picture was that there was no one around Him adoring him. Doesn’t he deserve a picture with at least some hands raised up towards Him? Some reverent faces gazing up at Him? He’s all alone! But then I thought again. How like Jesus to turn His back from the spotlight and to seek out the person at the bottom of the stairwell. How like Him to prefer this humble spot to reveal His glory. After all, He came to us from the womb of a humble virgin. And when he was laid in a manger, did you know that it is actually a feeding trough for animals?

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How do you describe what seems indescribable?

This is my sixth experience of Saturday Night Adoration at a Steubenville conference, and every time I try to describe the time, and every time words fail me. After some reflection, I realize that this inability to voice my encounters with Christ are normal. I am human, of course I can’t properly communicate a non-human encounter. I believe that each and every person in this arena tonight will agree.

But this is the beauty of Christ. Where words fail, God speaks. He reveals Himself to us in a way that we can receive and whether or not we can understand the encounter at the time, we know He is there. He understands that we, in our finite human capacity, need to encounter Him on our own level. He comes to each and every one of us in our own unique way, whether He brings us to our knees in tears, or He calms the seemingly unending storms within our hearts. He knows our hearts better than we ever will know them, so he speaks to each one individually because He is all-loving AND all-powerful.

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