Ave Maria Meditations
“My answer is prayer. What we need is for every Parish to come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Hours of prayer. ” “The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament … will help bring about an everlasting peace on earth” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta).
Nobel Peace Prize winner and foundress of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa brought the homeless, sick, destitute and dying home to “die like angels.” She attributed her many charitable works to her daily Holy Hours of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Mother Teresa said, “I know I would not be able to work one week if it were not for that continual force coming from Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
Reflections on Eucharistc Adoration from Mother Teresa of Calcutta :
“On the Cross Jesus said: ‘I thirst.’ From the Blessed Sacrament Jesus continues to say to each of us: ‘I thirst.’ He thirsts for our personal love, our intimacy, our union with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. His longing for us to be with Him in the Blessed Sacrament is infinitely greater than our longing to be with Him.”
“The Eucharist is connected with the Passion. If Jesus had not established the Eucharist we would have forgotten the crucifixion. It would have faded into the past and we would have forgotten that Jesus loved us. There is a saying that to be far away from the eyes is to be far away from the heart. To make sure that we do not forget, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of his love.”
“When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now. ”
“Our lives must be woven around the Eucharist … fix your eyes on Him Who is the light; bring your hearts close to His Divine Heart; ask Him to grant you the grace of knowing Him, the love of loving Him, the courage to serve Him. Seek Him fervently.”
“To be alone with Jesus in adoration and intimate union with Him is the greatest gift of love-the tender love of our Father in Heaven.”
“All of us know that unless we believe and can see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor. Therefore these two loves are but one in Jesus.”
“If we really understand the Eucharist, if we really centre our lives on Jesus’ Body and Blood, if we nourish our lives with the Bread of the Eucharist, it will be easy for us to see Christ in that hungry one next door, the one lying in the gutter, the alcoholic man we shun, our husband or our wife, or our restless child. For in them, we will recognize the distressing disguises of the poor: Jesus in our midst.”
“Through Mary the cause of our joy you discover that no where on earth are you more welcomed, no where on earth are you more loved, than by Jesus, living and truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament … He is really there in Person waiting just for you.” “Like Mary, let us never be ashamed to do humble work. Like her, let us always accept the cross in whatever way it comes. (We must) stand near Our Lady to listen to the thirst of Jesus and to answer with your whole heart.”
The Servant of the Poorest of the Poor, beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 2003
Eucharistic Adoration Increases Vocations
“If you are looking for vocations, as a community have adoration every day. It was not until 1973, when we began our daily Holy Hour that our community started to grow and blossom … In our congregation, we used to have adoration once a week for one hour, and then in 1973, we decided to have adoration one hour every day. We have much work to do. Our homes for the sick and dying destitute are full everywhere. And from the time we started having adoration every day, our love for Jesus became more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, our love for the poor more compassionate, and we have double the number of vocations. God has blessed us with many wonderful vocations. The time we spend in having our daily audience with God is the most precious part of the whole day.”
“Our holy hour is our daily family prayer where we get together and pray the Rosary before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, the first half hour, and the second half hour we pray in silence.”
“I am very glad to know about the perpetual adoration rnovement .. Thank God for His love for you-for His presence in you and the joy with which you love and serve Him in the Blessed Sacrament and in each other. Each one of us is a co-worker of Christ-we must labor hard to carry Him to the hearts where He has not yet been known and loved. But unless we have Jesus we cannot give Him; that is why we need the Eucharist. Spend as much time as possible in front of the Blessed Sacrament and He will fill you with His strength and His power. Tell Him, ‘Come to our hearts Lord and stay with us.’ Then you will become instruments of His love, peace and joy.”
“We cannot separate our lives from the Eucharist; the moment we do, something breaks. People ask, “Where do the sisters get the joy and energy to do what they are doing?” The Eucharist involves more than just receiving; it also involves satisfying the hunger of Christ. He says, “Come to Me.” He is hungry for souls. When the sisters are exhausted, up to their eyes in work, when all seems to go awry, they spend and hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This practice has never failed to bear fruit; they experience peace and strength.”
“Perpetual adoration with exposition needs a great push. Perpetual adoration is the most beautiful thing you could ever think of doing. People are hungry for God. Perpetual Adoration, Eucharistic Adoration offers to our people the opportunity to join those in religious life to pray for the salvation of the world, souls everywhere and peace on earth. We cannot underestimate the power of prayer and the difference it will make in our world. Ask your parish priest to have Perpetual Adoration.”
“Be only all for Jesus and give Jesus to others. That is why Jesus made Himself the Bread of Life. That is why He is there twenty- four hours. That is why He is longing for you and for me to share the joy of loving. And He says: ‘As I have loved you.’ If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist.”
“I beg the Blessed Mother to touch the hearts of all parish priests that they may have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in their parishes, and that it may spread throughout the entire world.”
The fruit of silence is PRAYER
The fruit of prayer is FAITH
The fruit of faith is LOVE
The fruit of love is SERVICE
The fruit of service is PEACE.
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY:
Mother Teresa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, died on September 5, 1997, in her convent in India. She was 87. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, Yugoslavia, she joined the Sisters of Loreto in 1928. She took the name “Teresa” after St. Teresa of Lisieux, patroness of the Missionaries.
In 1948, she came across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta hospital. She stayed with the woman until she died. From that point on, she dedicated the majority of her life to helping the poorest of the poor in India, thus gaining her the name “Saint of the Gutters.” She founded an order of nuns called the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India dedicated to serving the poor. Almost 50 years later, the Missionaries of Charity have grown from 12 sisters in India to over 3,000 in 517 missions throughout 100 countries worldwide.
In 1952, she founded the Nirmal Hriday Home for the Dying in a former temple in Calcutta. It was there that they would care for the dying Indians that were found on the streets. Mother would see Jesus in everyone that she met. It didn´t matter whether they were dying of AIDS or Leprosy. She wanted them to be able to die in peace and with dignity. For over 50 years, she worked selflessly helping the poor. That devotion towards the poor won her respect throughout the world and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
In the last two decades of her life, Mother had suffered from heart problems. She suffered a heart attack during a 1983 visit with Pope John Paul II. She suffered another, and more serious, heart attack in 1989. It was then that a pacemaker was installed. She also had suffered from malaria and was treated for a chest infection. Particularly recently it has come to light that she also suffered from great spiritual aridity or dryness. She lived for decades in great and heroic faith and trust in God from whom she was receiving no consolations. She is a wonderful example not only of heroic charity in dealing with the physical and spiritual needs of people, but also a pattern of spiritual greatness in the midst of many sufferings both of body and soul.
