We suggest you use this guided meditation before the Blessed Sacrament, praying for the life and work of the Church.
God is everywhere, there is no spot in heaven or on earth where he is not present. From the first moment of our existence to this present moment, we have been in his presence. And yet we often forget this truth.
We forget this truth because we struggle to see him. Once, God became Man and all creation could see God with their eyes: the baby lying in the manger, the teenager in the Temple, the man in the Garden of Gethsemane. When men saw Jesus, they saw God in the form of man.
But that Jesus, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, is present with us now. God is before us in a visible form, the form of bread. Beneath this common element of bread are hidden all the splendours of the glorified manhood of Jesus as well as the glories of his divinity. Jesus, all he is today, glorified and enthroned in heaven, is before us here on the altar. He reigns here before us.
Jesus, our Saviour, our Lord, we adore you.
And yet despite all this, there are times, O Jesus, when we fail you, when we commit sins, the sins of which you felt the weight upon the cross. How many times have you filled us with joy when we have been fed by you in Word and in Sacrament, only to find us satisfying our desires and emotions with poisonous fruits? How many times have you enfolded us in the arms of your love, and like Judas, we have responded with the kiss of betrayal?
O Jesus, you know our sins too well, wash us again in your precious blood, may your countenance shine on us that we may go forward as your forgiven children in the world.
As we realize all the love and forgiveness which flows from his most Sacred Heart, let us turn our energy and desire to pray for others. Let us lift up before his majesty:
Our broken and divided world, its leaders and all those in authority.
The Church, Catholic and Apostolic, its bishops, priests and deacons, those called to the religious life and all God’s faithful people.
Let us lift up the parishes of The Society, praying for their renewal in faith and in number.
Let us lift up our enemies, those whom we naturally dislike, that we may learn to love them.
Let us lift up the sick and the suffering, the poor and the persecuted.
Let us lift up before the throne of grace, the souls of the faithful departed, all who have guided us on the pilgrimage of faith.
And as we have brought before his throne the needs of the world, let us remind ourselves that Jesus has invited us, you and me, to be with him at this moment. Let us ask him to feed our spiritual needs:
For light and grace to live faithfully
To develop in his love and service
To grow more and more like him
To meet the temptations and difficulties of life and to persevere in the Christian life until the end
Let us bring our requests before him now…
Dear Saviour, we have but a few moments left in your sacred presence in the Blessed Sacrament. We humble ourselves, we bow low in adoration. O Jesus, we adore you. You who are the source of all holiness, enter our hearts. So that going, we leave you not behind, so that going back into the world, you may go with us this day.
Jesus, our Saviour, our Lord, we adore you.
This devotion was originally given by Father Harri Williams, the Parish Priest of Walsingham, at the Forward in Faith National Assembly.