Adoration and Rejuvenation
“When I am in adoration,
what matters is not my capacity to be lucid for an hour,
but rather the fact that in accounting for life,
I have chosen that all of myself should be His.
I am not there with my head, nor with my senses, but I am there,
and I am there, my God, because I have chosen to be there with you.
Whether I succeed or do not succeed at this is your business.
The important thing is that
— even if I lose my initial lucidity —
I must recall the days of my youth.
The youth that we must recall before God
is not our biological youth,
but rather the youth of the “Yes” we said to God.
To rejuvenate means to be always young before God.”
Antonino Grimaldi, La sfida del puro amore,
Itinerario umano e spirituale di Madre Mectilde de Bar (1614-1698)
(Portalupe Editore, 2006, p. 131).
It is not for nothing that the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar of the Tridentine Missal begin with the words, Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam, “I will go up to the altar of God, to God who makes glad my youth” (Ps 42:4).
Spiritually, we grow old and stiff-jointed when we forget the “Yes” that first brought us to the foot of the altar in adoration. The recovery of a youthful spirit — not to be confused with an impulsive and immature spirit — but of the freshness and wisdom of spiritual childhood is intrinsically related to the recovery of adoration.
Communities (and individuals) grown old, and stiff, and resistant to change, that is, to conversion, can recover their youth, their suppleness, and the élan of their initial “Yes” by exposing themselves to the glorious Body of Christ in Eucharistic adoration.
In response to Thy presence, O Lord,
I offer Thee my presence.
In response to Thy silence,
I offer Thee my silence.
In response to the gaze of Thy Eucharistic Face,
I offer Thee my eyes.
In response to Thy Eucharistic Heart,
I offer Thee every heartbeat of mine.
In response to the mystery of Thy Eucharistic poverty,
I offer Thee my poverty.
My one desire is to remain before Thee
even as Thou remainest before me
in this the Sacrament of Thy Love.
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Thank you Father Mark. This is what I needed today, when struggling to remain before the Blessed Tabernacle for the full hour before Holy Mass. I was wrestling. Now when this happens I will think of this beautiful message and the words of this Holy Priest who lived so long ago. It is simply my Yes that Jesus wants. Aridity, etc, these things really don’t matter that much. It is only the Yes that matters. Jesus will do with my soul whatever He chooses whether or not I am feeling as if the time in prayer was effective. Just Yes, just my willingness is all that He asks. Thank you for the this today. It really is simple isn’t it?