In a number of published articles, it has been noted that, supposedly, 70% of the Catholics in this country do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion.
Just one Scripture quote can clear it up for them, namely, First Corinthians 11:27, which says, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.” It doesn't say, “...will have to answer for the bread and wine.” This is St. Paul writing in Sacred Scripture, the inspired Word of God, or the Bible. The doubters or non-believers need to re-examine their faith.
Jesus said He would not leave us orphans (John 14:18), and He is with us, physically, under the appearances of the bread and wine. And receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is not cannibalism either because cannibalism is the death of someone. Jesus says at least eight times in John 6:47-58 that we are sharing in His life! In First Corinthians 10:16-17 St. Paul is asking a Eucharistic, rhetorical question to which he is expecting the answer of “Yes!!”
As for making a holy hour, let’s say for one hour a week, people might want to start real slowly, right in the privacy of where they live, first. There are 96 15-minute segments in a day. For starters, why not just take one 15-minute segment, per day, and just put yourself in the presence of God for a minute or two? Use an egg timer or some kind of alarm so you do not have to always be looking at your watch or the clock.
After a week or so, expand your time in the presence and stillness and quiet of God by three or four minutes. Just gradually follow that routine until after six to eight or 10-12 weeks until you are up to one 15-minute segment out of the 96 segments in one day. You still have 95 other 15-minute segments left in your day to do other things.
After really getting into that daily 15-minute routine, then you can try a holy hour once a week in front of the Blessed Sacrament in Church. There are 168 hours in a week. Making a weekly holy hour would be less than one percent of a person’s week. During the gradual 15-minute “buildup,” one could just silently be in the Presence of the Lord and maybe reflect on a Scripture passage or two, also. In the holy hour, the quiet time in Presence of the Lord could be around 15 minutes or so, there could be some Bible reading, one could look at and reflect on the readings for the next Sunday Mass, perhaps pray a rosary or a litany as well.
Once a person gets used to sitting still quietly, they will discover that the time of one holy hour goes by quickly. It will eventually reach the point that a person really starts relishing that holy hour each week. And, of course, there are all kinds of people and situations we can pray for or be thankful for during that holy hour as well.
The “secret” is not to take on too much, too fast. People who try to start with just 15 minutes “cold turkey” usually give up after a week because they did not work at it gradually. It’s a lot like getting physical exercise. If a person tries to take on too much too early, “burnout” can result. We need to be like that little mustard seed that Jesus mentioned.
My mom, Helen Witt, has been faithfully making her holy hour at our home parish (St. Teresa in Lincoln) since 1958. She is a charter member of the three ladies that Father Stan Redmerski recruited to initiate holy hours for our parish. Mom has been making her 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday holy hour in the same front pew for 64 years now, and none of those ladies started gradually with just a 15-minute segment. They went “cold turkey” (one full hour) right off the bat!
The only time Mom ever missed was for a brief time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise, she is always there; and if for some reason she can’t make her weekly holy hour, she always finds a substitute. And since I retired June 15, 2020, I have been making the same holy hour with Mom. That means she has a “built-in sub” whenever she needs one. What a life!
Mom used to always kneel during her weekly hour. That’s not necessary, of course, but that’s Mom. She stopped that when she turned 90. Her 101st birthday is July 16 this year, and now she sits during most of her holy hour. Thank God, or that would make me look bad!
I used to serve as pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Plattsmouth, from 2007 to 2011. I am especially proud of that parish because they have had perpetual adoration long before I ever came, and this is a parish of around 600 households. They are well organized and very faithful. The only time they shut down while I served as their pastor was when we had a really bad blizzard, and for everyone’s safety, we didn’t have adoration for about four days. Otherwise, they are “around-the-clock” 365 days a year. And they’re a happy parish!
Making a “holy daily 15 minutes” gets us in touch with Jesus. And a weekly holy hour before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is putting ourselves in His actual, physical presence. Think about that. That means that any time we even come into a Catholic church where Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, we are in the presence of the One through Whom all of the world, the universe with all of its billions of galaxies and stars, has been made.
The Gospel of John says Jesus is the Word of God and “Through him all things came into being, and apart from him nothing came into being.” John 1:3. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Colossians, says this about Jesus: “In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, principalities or powers; all were created through him and for him. He is before all else that is.” And we can share in His life anytime through a worthy reception of Holy Communion. This is absolutely awesome!
