Catholics need to recover a sense of awe and adoration before the Eucharist, knowing that it is "the real and loving presence of the Lord," Pope Francis told members of the committees organizing the National Eucharistic Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States in June of 2023.
To Bishops gathered for World Youth Day in Lisbon this week, he once again reflected on the urgency of taking up again “the prayer of adoration” before the tabernacle to recover “the taste and passion for evangelization".
"Only in adoration, only before the Lord can the taste and passion for evangelization be recovered,” the pontiff said during his Aug. 2 homily for vespers at the Jerónimos Monastery.
“Curiously, the prayer of adoration - we have lost it. We
have lost it, and everyone - priests, bishops, consecrated men and women,
laypeople - have to recover it. It’s to be in silence, before the Lord.”
The Holy Father gave the example of St. Teresa of Calcutta who was “involved in so many things in life, never gave up adoration even at times when her faith wavered and she wondered if it was all true or not.”
More and more I am hearing of young priests setting up chapels
to the Blessed Sacrament where people can come to pray and just be quiet in the presence of the Lord, even through the night.