Mary Eileen Schricker | October 18, 2023
St. Luke the Evangelist | Raleigh, NC
The word “adore” is often used: “I adore your outfit!” “Your baby is adorable!” So what does it mean when we say, “Eucharistic Adoration”? The word “adoration” comes from the Latin “ad oratio,” literally “mouth to mouth.” As a retired pediatrician, I have done mouth-to-mouth resuscitation many times. It is intimate (obviously) and administered when someone is in distress, unconscious, dying. In Eucharistic Adoration, we are not administering mouth-to-mouth but are being ministered to by the True Presence of Jesus! We are the ones spiritually dying! We are the ones needing resuscitation! Jesus, in His True Presence—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—is intimately “connecting” with us in Adoration, reminding us that we should surrender our will, become conscious of His Presence (not unconscious!) and trust in Him. Let Jesus vivify, bring back to life, our hope in Him. Seek His “resuscitation” when you are in despair, as so beautifully depicted in the I Am Here video—despair from a miscarriage, lost job, or parenting difficulties. Let Him help you carry the burden. Jesus is the Divine Physician. Let Him give you “mouth-to-mouth” (ad oratio) in Eucharistic Adoration!
I AM HERE was a campaign by the Archdiocese of Detroit and Hallow App in support of the National Eucharistic Revival.
