Eucharistic adoration has long-term effects, papal preacher says

Published: 2004-12-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Eucharistic adoration may seem like a waste of time to beginners, but experience demonstrates that it yields great spiritual gifts, said the preacher of the papal household. "To engage in eucharistic contemplation means, in concrete terms, establishing a heart-to-heart contact with Jesus, who is truly present in the host," Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope John Paul II and top Vatican officials. The preacher began his annual series of Advent sermons for the pope and his aides Dec. 3, saying he would focus on the Eucharist during the current eucharistic year. As a guide, the papal preacher was using the lines of the traditional church hymn, "Adoro te devote" (I adore you devoutly). Father Cantalamessa said eucharistic adoration and the Mass -- contemplation and celebration -- should complement each other in the lives of Catholics. He said the value of eucharistic adoration was not found in theological explanations but in the experience of many, many Catholics who have felt its profound effects.

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