Today at work I was visiting with a fellow teacher and we began to discuss his concerns about a son who is exploring his own spiritual roots and direction. Our discussion led me to share some of my own journey and to suggest that the young person was or at least could be a contemplative. I’m not sure if my friend completely agreed, but we had a delightful conversation which really was a great way to end the work day and begin the weekend. Speaking about my own journey I shared that I really love to visit monasteries and that silence and stillness speak more to me about the presence of God than other forms of liturgy and ritual. When I go to Mass I prefer smaller, more intimate settings. Big churches and thirty minute liturgies leave me cold. I don’t want to sit through a boring sermon, but I enjoy the intimacy and discourse of shared homilies. More intimate settings for the Eucharist make it seem more like being in the upper room with Jesus himself. Quiet reflections after communion are also some of my favorite moments.
Every month at our Secular Franciscan meeting we begin with 30 minutes of Eucharistic adoration. This too is a special time for me. I love sitting in a small chapel with incense and just the quiet presence of the Body of Christ. When I visit Genesee Abbey or Mt. Saviour I love to sit in their chapels quietly for minutes and sometimes an hour or more.
And The Son Who reigns on high,
With The Spirit blessed proceeding
Forth, from Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty. Amen.
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spiritual, contemplative, mystic
I take my kids with me to Benediction and Eucharistic Adoration. They seem to enjoy it, and they’ve cultivated a respect and reverence for the Eucharist. Sadly, very few young people are seen at Adoration anymore.
My kids are altar servers too, so during Lent they often help with Benediction and the Stations of the Cross. They think it’s “really cool” that St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the Tantum Ergo.