Ecclesia semper reformanda: The Church must always be reformed. These words have hit home recently in the midst of a crisis of confidence in the Church. The sins of our leaders have discouraged us, although we can also recognize a profound crisis of faith and holiness affecting all the members of the Church. The Lord calls his entire Church to renewal through prayer and a life conformed to him. In this renewal, we must pray for our leaders especially, our bishops, priests, deacons, and religious, because we depend on them to model the Christian life for us and to support us in our own growth.
A Benedictine monk has shared profound insights on the importance of adoration in the life of priests and the need for everyone to pray for the holiness of priests. This anonymous monk has shared the inspirations he received of Jesus speaking to him in prayer: In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart: The Journal of a Priest at Prayer (Angelico, 2016, with imprimatur from the Bishop of Meath). Although the work addresses itself most directly to priests, I found much encouragement in the book through a call to a stronger friendship with Jesus through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
For instance, take this message from December 20, 2011: “The practice of adoration is not difficult. It is a gentle abiding in My presence, a resting in the radiance of My Eucharistic Face, a closeness to My Eucharist Heart. Words, though sometimes helpful, are not necessary, nor are thoughts. What I seek from one who would adore Me in spirit and in truth is a heart aflame with love, a heart content to abide in My presence silent and still, engaged only in the act of loving Me and of receiving My love. Though this is not difficult, it is, all the same, My own gift to the soul who asks for it. Ask then for the gift of adoration” (208).
We can be afraid of silent prayer because we do not know what to say or do. The book invites us simply to be with Jesus and to spend time with him in love. We do not have to worry about making good use of the time, as this puts the emphasis on us, but to allow Jesus to act in us as we fix our attention and our heart on him. “Give me your attention and I will work the wonders of My merciful love in your soul. Hold yourself facing Me. Abide in My presence gently, without forcing yourself to produce thoughts, feelings, or sensations . . . All that is necessary is faith, and with faith, hope, and with hope, the love that binds the soul to Me and makes union with Me a reality” (200).
Although the message of adoration applies to everyone, the author relates the development of his own vocation to form a Benedictine monastery dedicated to perpetual adoration for the sanctification of priests. “By the prayer of adoration for My priests, you are working with Me for them. You are working with Me to lift them when they fall, to bind up their wounds, to deliver them from bondage to evil, to open them to My gifts, and to obtain for them a great openness to the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit. Your union with Me in prayer lessens the resistance of many priests to entering resolutely upon the path of holiness that I am opening before them” (119).
The book contains many beautiful prayers (compiled also in an appendix), which guide us in responding to Jesus’ call for increased trust through prayer. Here is one example: “My Jesus, only as Thou willest, when Thou willest, and in the way Thou willest, To Thee be all glory and thanksgiving, Who rulest all things mightily and sweetly, and Who fillest the earth with Thy manifold mercies. Amen” (131).
In addition, it proposes a Chaplet of Reparation, also called an Offering of the Precious Blood for Priests, which enables us to join the mission of praying for priests. “On the Our Father bead: Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Thy Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish or spot, in reparation for my sin and for the sins of all Thy priests. On the Hail Mary beads: By Thy Precious Blood, O Jesus, purify and sanctify Thy priests. In place of the Glory be to the Father: O Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named, have mercy on all Thy priests, and wash them in the Blood of the Lamb” (269).
In Sinu Jesu calls us to a deeper love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, as well as inviting us into the needed mission to pray for our shepherds. In a time of discouragement, it offers us hope through the power of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to renew his Church.