Rev. Michael Marotta, CRM, Novice Master

During my early years of formation, there are two instances that stand out in my mind and heart with regards to Eucharistic Adoration. The first instance occurred in the summer of 1982 at our chapel in Ramsey, on the very day that I was going to leave for my Novitiate in Anagni. Hours before going to the airport, the then superior, Father Thomas Barbona, CRM wanted to have a Holy Hour for us. During his reflection, he stressed the point that “the Lord who you are adoring here is the same Lord that you are going to find in Italy”. He is always with you. During the Novitiate itself, a second instance that has remained with me were the words of my Novice Master, Father John Paul Gasparini, CRM. One day, we were visiting a church and he noted that he wanted us (the Novices) to develop an “attitude” of being aware of the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle when we entered any church or chapel. These two simple occurrences have somehow stayed with me and have helped me greatly to focus on the gift that we have in the Eucharist along with the privilege of adoration.

On October 20, 2016 Pope Francis, reflected in his daily Mass homily in Santa Marta on the theme of knowing the Lord. He stated that Prayer, adoration, and acknowledging that we are sinners are the three paths which open a Christian to the knowledge and understanding of the mystery of God. With regards to adoration, he stated that “one cannot know the Lord without this habit of adoring, of adoring in silence”. The Pontiff observed that this practice is not always found in the Christian life. “I believe, if I am not mistaken”, he said, “that this prayer of adoration is the [prayer ] least known by us, it is the one we do the least”, as if it were a “waste of time before the Lord, before the mystery of Jesus Christ”. Instead, we should rediscover “the silence of Adoration: he is the Lord and I adore him”.

One of the things that I have been striving to do as a Novice Master is to allow our Novices to appreciate this great mystery and to incorporate it into their lives. Venerable Fulton Sheen, with regards to adoration, once stated, and I quote: The reason I keep up the Holy Hour is to grow more and more into his likeness. As Paul puts it: “We are transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to splendor.” We become like that which we gaze upon. Looking into a sunset, the face takes on a golden glow. Looking at the Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way as the face of Moses was transformed after his companionship with God on the mountain. Something happens to us similar to that which happened to the disciples at Emmaus. On Easter Sunday afternoon when the Lord met them, he asked why they were so gloomy. After spending some time in his presence, and hearing again the secret of spirituality – “The Son of Man must suffer to enter into his Glory” – their time with him ended and their “hearts were on fire” …… So the Holy Hour, quite apart from all its positive spiritual benefits, kept my feet from wandering too far. Being tethered to a tabernacle, one’s rope for finding other pastures is not so long. That dim tabernacle lamp, however pale and faint, had some mysterious luminosity to darken the brightness of “bright lights.” The Holy Hour became like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world. Even when it seemed so unprofitable and lacking in spiritual intimacy, I still had the sensation of being at least like a dog at the master’s door, ready in case he called me.

I asked some of our Novices to share with you their thoughts on the Eucharist and on Adoration as well. . Please continue to pray for them and especially for their perseverance during this most important time of the year.

The daily adoration allows me to experience God in a more personal way.  It is through the Eucharistic Adoration that He manifests Himself to me by allowing me to see the different gifts and blessing He bestows on me through the daily events in the formation.  It is through the adoration that i feel safe despite the struggles i encounter during the formation and especially during this novitiate formation.
-Novice Marlon Landicho

The Holy Eucharist is an inseparable part in the life of every Christian. In speaking of myself, when I sit in front to the tabernacle I feel a kind of shelter………..sometimes I ask myself, if God the Almighty, the creator of the world and the cause of all what was, that is, and that will be and the one who gave salvation to humanity at the cost of His life by becoming one of us….and as one who can even be as small as a what bread, why can I not follow the ways of God without deviating from his path……..Always we should remember that wherever we go, we should find our refuge in Him.
-Novice Ajay Augustine

Adoration before the Eucharist is at the heart of our religious life. As imitators of the Paschal Mystery, this devotion must transform us into another eucharist, a tabernacle open to all, a bread that is broken and shared for all. So let Christ take our heart and give us his heart, and let him take our mind and give us his mind.
-Novice Wilson Olea

If you want to hear Jesus voice, we have to open our hearts in silence. Silence is very important and it is before the Eucharist in silence that Jesus is speaking to us.
-Novice Albin James

As a novice, the Eucharist is at the center of my life……When we receive Holy Communion, we are entering the perfect life of the Eucharistic Savior. Christ dwells in others as he dwells in me. The Holy Eucharist should be my teacher and my model. During Eucharistic adoration, we can experience his life, death and resurrection. In holy communion, he gives us his divine life. Through the reception of Holy Communion, I should imitate his Eucharistic life. When I kneel before the Eucharist, I am truly closer to Christ.
-Novice Abin Joseph

In our own daily lives, we ought to place the presence of the Blessed Sacrament before any other good. We should instill within us the habit of prayer in our daily lives. Prayer is the greatest power in the universe capable of transforming each of us.
-Novice Restin Kurumuttath