Ideas for a series of talks at Adoration?
St. Andrew's has received a Blue Ribbon Award for academic excellence; it is one of only two non-public schools in the area to receive such an award, and one of 400 total schools in the country!! As Ms. Kilty said at Back to School night, "This award was established by the No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program to honor those elementary and secondary schools in the United States that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. The program recognizes and presents as models both public and non-public elementary and secondary schools that meet wither of the two assessment criteria." Congratulations to our administration, faculty, parents, and students!
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Recently, I asked bloggers to submit suggestions on how to promote Friday night Eucharistic Adoration in a better way, and many excellent ideas were given. We will look to implement some of them in the coming year.
But, the thought has occurred to me lately that it would be good to offer a series of talks during nights of Adoration that might attract more people. I've heard of at least one parish that did this; they started doing a series of talks during weekly Adoration, and many more people came regularly.
Of course, it's the Eucharist who makes the Hour completely attractive to those of us who attend. But, for many people who don't know about Adoration or think that it's not for them, they might need some other "pull" to come. It's kind of like with the Youth Group: we have used other "pulls" like Chipotle or Ledo's dinners and Starbucks gift cards that gets them in the doors. Then, sometimes after dinner and before the raffle for gift cards, we introduce them to Adoration. Sunday night, we had almost fifty teens adoring our Lord with great reverence, thanks be to God. It is possible that Adoration is now the "pull" for them!
The main focus group with this is St. A's parents and adults. (We will hopefully have Friday nights when groups of our school students and their parents come to Adoration just like last year.) A few adults have asked when are we going to offer something for them like we do the youth; I have reminded them about Adoration, Bible Study, JustFaith, Fr. Mike's refresher course, etc. We said on Monday that our youth are hungry for Christ; our adults are hungry, too!
So, if we offered a series of interesting talks that took place with some regularity on Friday nights (once or twice a month), my guess is that there will be a good response among adults. Now, the question is, what would be some good topics for talks? We can have different topics throughout the year. I will leave some ideas and ask bloggers to leave their own. Thanks!
- Sacraments: 7 ways to get to Heaven
- 7 deadly sins
- virtues, vices
- moral issues (abortion, capital punishment, stem cell research, cloning, etc.)
- Ten Commandments
- prayer
- Beautitudes
- vocations / God's Will
- Advent and Lenten series
posted by Fr Greg @ 9:20 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I think you make a good point. It's not about the "pull", but more about the Eucharist. It would sadden me to think you're somehow lessening the reverance of the Eucharist by getting people to come to adore our Lord by offering them something other than coming to adore our Lord. If you have to do that, then I don't think Adoration is for them.
How about once a month you (and maybe other priests you know) hear confessions during Adoration.
Topics: Forgiveness, Chasity, Maturity in Faith, staying away from the occult/how damaging it can be and why kids should avoid it (I can think of a guest speaker for this)ad what the warning signs are.
One of the things that I appreciated about the groups of students and their parents going to Adoration last year was the further strengthening of community, for the perfect place to begin building community is with Christ and the appreciation we together share in His sacrifice. I don't know how (perhaps someone could offer a suggestion) it could/would come together, but maybe once a month that could be a focus- after Adoration, having something so that those in attendance could get to know each other and each others' families. Having a get together after (and before, during Lent) Adoration was the "pull" to get the kids to come last year, and it was great to hear their impressions of Adoration at the after-hour gathering. They were often suprised that the hour was actually meaningful to them (as were several of their parents).
The talks are a good idea, maybe offer confession once in a while?
For topics, I would suggest Chasity, the reasons behind tithing, how obedience to God brings happiness, That forgiveness isn't just the words "I forgive you", What Jesus meant by telling us to pray for those who hate us, the reasons behind the use of sacramentals, and that is all I can think of. . .
An interesting adoration web site, with a link to further resources: www.medjugorje.org/adore.htm
Can't Adoration consist mostly of just quiet time with the Lord?
(That's really what I would be after.)
An affirmation that teens are indeed hungry for Christ...
I visited my daughter at college, this past weekend. At the conclusion of Saturday mass, the priest made 2 announcements.
The first was that the Catholic Campus Ministry had outgrown the smaller chapel they had been using for mass. They are now going to hold all masses, permanently, in the much larger community chapel.
The second, was that students had requested that there be a chapel on campus which they could visit for prayer, 24/7. After talks with the Archdiocese in the area and with the person(s) at the college itself, the University contributed $9,000.00, so that such a chapel could be made available. I found this to be particularly fantastic! Perhaps this does not, or should not matter, but this college is not a Catholic institution.
In support of Marion's comment, I yearn for Friday evening's theme of silence, solitude and simplicity. I find the gentle lighting, tranquil music and short homilies refreshing. In today's fast paced world that is filled with noise and technology, the concept of "silence, solitude and stillness" as a state of being seem to have gotten lost.
As Phyllis Kreitzer-Schultz told the children at SAA school: "Be still and know God." For me, these five words summarize the essence of Adoration. What a beautiful comment to have left behind.
To marion (mael muire):
In order to have mostly quiet time with the Lord at Adoration, I would suggest to visit a parish that has an Adoration Chapel, which can be open at set hours of the day or be open 24 hours a day. The Immaculate Conception Parish in Towson, Maryland has an Adoration Chapel, that while I was in Towson, I visited many times when I wanted quiet time with Christ.
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