Spend some time in the Son

The Knights of Columbus run a wonderful website, the CERC, which I try to visit every week or so. They always have an assortment of articles ready to go for me to read, or to print off for others, on living the Catholic faith in our lives and on issues that matter to Christian families. One of the better ones I've come across today has this very thought-provoking analogy - our taking time to come before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration and do "nothing" will indeed have an effect on our being, as our sitting in the sunshine will inevitably have an effect on us!

Granted, I did think as I was reading it that the analogy definitely falls short in one respect - if you sit in front of the sun for too long, something very bad happens too you, which I doubt would happen if you were in Adoration too long. Though, now that I think about it, maybe something similiarly bad WOULD happen if you truly spent more time than you should in Adoration, instead of being with your family or fulfilling your responsibilities. Maybe the analogy doesn't fall apart that much after all.

From the article:

Dan Rather once interviewed Mother Theresa. It was always a delight to watch cynical journalists interview Mother Theresa, because she would invariably make them look like fools. He asked Mother Theresa about prayer:

"What do you say to God when you pray," he inquired.
"Nothing," replied Mother Theresa. "I just listen."
"What does God say to you?" he responded, rather derisively.
"Nothing," replied Mother Theresa. "He just listens."

That's what prayer before the Blessed Sacrament can become. We are still, silent, and we listen to God listening to us. And the more time we spend before the Blessed Sacrament in silence, the more we will begin to hear God listen, the more aware we will become of his presence in our lives.

...Now it might feel that there is no point to just sitting down in front of the Blessed Sacrament, doing apparently nothing, but doing so is really the most fruitful of actions. Consider how many people love to sit in the sun. What possible effect can sitting in the sun have on a person? But if a person sits in the sun for a time, it will soon be obvious just by looking at him. He or she will have acquired a healthy and beautiful countenance.


Read the rest at How to Explain the Importance of Praying Before the Blessed Sacrament