This year our community has adopted the practice of all-day exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Mondays, with the particular intention of praying for our Holy Father and for priests.  Spending extra time in adoration is like giving the widow’s mite, because as everyone knows, time is one of the most precious things to us.  So when we give the little that we have, it is no small thing.  

It’s so difficult today to be a priest, and equally so to be a religious.  It’s just not so valued, and it’s even fought against.  And so we need to pray, because we are the heartbeat of the Church with our prayer.  A strong heart brings gives to all the members; without that, major organs die.  That is how important our prayer is.  So when you go to adore Christ in the Eucharist, it makes no difference if you feel glorious about it or if you feel just the opposite; the important part is just being there.  Whatever prayer Christ puts in your heart – if you say the rosary, if you just sit there and be with Him, if you read the Scriptures – whatever it be, do it wholly.  Even if you sit there and just repeat the words of St. Thomas, “My Lord and my God,” that would be enough.  But let your heart say it.  And the priests, our pope, in their hearts will hear that heartbeat.  May we help it to beat strong.

About the photos: In honor of the National Eucharistic Revival (running from Corpus Christi 2022 to Pentecost 2025), we recently changed the décor of our chapel, hanging behind the tabernacle the tapestry of the Last Supper.  This tapestry, hand woven by a nun at our motherhouse in Germany, was originally in our chapel at Boulder, but when we moved to Virginia Dale it would not fit in the space along with our large clay crucifix.  But by replacing that large crucifix with the smaller one we had been using in our refectory, we were able to have the Last Supper tapestry return to the chapel sanctuary.