NGUYEN: Sweet Jesus, we adore you

The whole world is filled with joyful noises of Christmas, and one of them is the common Christmas song, “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Are you ready for this joyous season? Are you ready to adore Him, Christ the Lord?

We have often seen the message: “Jesus is the reason for the Season.” Certainly, He is! Besides, Jesus is “the All in all” (Colossians 3:11) and “the source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC #1324).

In solidarity with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) National Eucharistic Revival Conference in 2024, let us reaffirm our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist — particularly through Eucharistic Adoration — to deepen our love for this long-standing beautiful devotion in our Church.

Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus had come and made His dwelling among us as the Emmanuel (Is 7:14; Mt 1:23). The moment Jesus humbled Himself and was laid in the manger, Joseph, Mary, the host of Angels, the shepherds, and animals came to adore Him and give Him homage.

Today’s Catholics continue this form of prayer, which “acknowledges that we are creatures in the presence of our Creator… We glorify the God who made us. We adore God from whom all blessings flow” (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 467).

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a sure guarantee of His accompaniment with us as He promised, “I am with you always until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). St. Faustina described this great gift, saying, “You wanted to stay with us, and so You left us Yourself in the Sacrament of the altar, and You opened wide Your mercy to us” (Diary, 1747).

Emphasizing the devotion to the Eucharistic Adoration does not mean neglecting the Eucharistic Celebration — the Holy Mass — the greatest and highest form of prayer. Rather, according to Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the newly elected president of the USCCB, “Eucharistic Adoration is born of the Mass and guides us to the Mass. Evidently, it is impossible to have Adoration without first having had a celebration of the Mass.” Indeed, Eucharistic Adoration is an extension, a prolonging of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

The purpose of Eucharistic Adoration is, first of all, to give us the opportunity to worship God in the word made flesh for all that He has done to save mankind from damnation; and second, to offer us the opportunity to tell Him, as a friend, about our problems.

One time, during silent Adoration in our chapel, my eyes were filled with tears as I poured out my heart to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I let Him know how my day went: feelings of being misunderstood and unjustly mistreated. As some tears streamed down to my lips, I could taste the saltiness of the electrolytes in the tears; instantly afterwards, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. At once, my intuition told me that sweet Jesus had heard me and comforted me in my affliction (2 Cor 1:4).

Certainly, Jesus is present in our midst, in every tabernacle, to heal what is broken, to unify what is divided, to sweeten the bitter, and to validate the true meaning of our joys and sorrows (Archbishop Broglio).

St. Faustina once said, “All my strength is in You, O Living Bread… You are my shield; without You, Jesus, I know not how to live” (Diary, 814). Similarly, St. Alphonsus Liguori explained, “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the Sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us.”

Cultivating a devotion to Eucharistic Adoration strengthens our desire for an intimate relationship with Jesus, our best friend, who “awaits us in this Sacrament of love” (St. John Paul II). Come, let us adore Him during this season of Christmas and throughout the year during Eucharistic Adoration. 

Sister Maria Goretti Thuy Nguyen, OP, is an associate director in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.