Live with Fr. Josh Johnson: All about Adoration

We know that spending time in Eucharistic Adoration is an incredible thing, but it’s so easy to get distracted! And when it comes to the practicals, should you sit, stand or kneel? Should you read a spiritual book or write in your journal? What kinds of things should you pray about? How can you listen better and actually hear God’s voice? 

Father Josh Johnson joins me live at the SLS20 FOCUS conference in Phoenix to share helpful advice on how exactly to spend your time in Eucharistic Adoration. In our conversation, Father Josh shares insights from his own Adoration experiences, the writings of the Saints, Church tradition, and Holy Scriptures that will help you focus on the face of our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. 

 Snippet from the Show

If you wouldn’t look at your cell phone in the middle of your wedding ceremony, why would you look at your cell phone in the middle of your prayer time? 


SHOWNOTES

What We Know about the Eucharist:

  • Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist.
  • The Eucharist is Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity
  • In Adoration, we can encounter God in the Eucharist, in what’s normally called a “holy hour”

But the question is, what should we do in a holy hour?

What We Should and Shouldn’t Do in Adoration:

We should…

  • Pray vocal prayers: if you’re alone, take the opportunity to pray out loud
  • Bring our Bible: Fulton Sheen says that the Eucharist is the face of Christ, and scripture is the voice of Christ
  • Bring our thoughts and desires to the Lord, and listen to what he says: tell the Lord what’s on your heart and mind, but then stop and listen to what he has to say
  • Meditate on the Gospels: if you’re reading the Bible in Adoration, Fr. Josh recommends starting with the life of Jesus told in the Gospels
  • Have a resolution upon leaving Adoration: this is recommended by the saints and will help build upon the graces you received in Adoration
  • Be open to the Holy Spirit: it’s good to have a plan going into Adoration, but we have to make sure we’re allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us in our prayer

We shouldn’t…

  • Adore ourselves: know who you’re talking to, and what you’re talking about
  • Ignore the way we live outside of prayer: the way we live outside of prayer affects the way we live in prayer
  • Have our cell phones nearby: if you have to have it for prayers, put it on airplane mode to avoid distractions 
  • Turn Adoration into study hall: it’s okay to read in the presence of the Holy Sacrament, but we shouldn’t call it Adoration because we’re not adoring the Lord

Why go to Adoration?

Fr. Josh explains why Adoration is so important through the context of the mass. Not only does it intensify our relationship with God, but it causes us to long for him more. When we gaze on the Lord’s face in the Eucharist, we are drawn to him more, so much so that we want to experience his love in a more intimate way, such as in mass. Adoration calls us to live a life of worshiping God in everything we do.

“Adoration leads to imitation.”

The more we spend time with Christ, the more we become like him. You’ve heard it said that you become a combination of the three people you hang with most, and the same is true with spending time with God. If we want to imitate Christ in his thoughts, words, and actions, we have to spend time with him. 

Additional Tips from Fr. Josh: If you struggle with…

Getting distracted

  • Sit near the front of the chapel: This will prevent you from being distracted by others

Focusing too much on the discomfort of kneeling

  • Sit down or lay prostrate: It’s better to focus fully on the Lord than to do what you think is “correct” or “normal”

Staying focused for a full hour

  • Start with 15 minutes: begin with either Lectio Divinia or a rosary, and stay longer as you build endurance

Resources

1 Comment

  1. I’ve been told never to turn your back on the Eucharist and to enter an exit the church facing the Blessed sacrament. Is this correct?

    Reply

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