Eucharistic Reflection - Son Bathing

There is a famous story from the life of St. John Vianney. He noticed a farmer who spent many hours in the parish, praying before the Blessed Sacrament. When St. John Vianney asked him what he did in this time of prayer, he answered, “I look at Him, and He looks at me.”

In my experience of Eucharistic Adoration, I have come to a surprising and somewhat startling discovery: I often do not feel anything happen during that time of prayer. Sometimes that time feels dry and seems fruitless. If I am in the presence of God Himself, spending direct time with Jesus physically before me, how come this is not the most fruitful and consoling time of prayer? How come I can often feel very little or nothing at all?

Despite this, I still find it important to be with Him in Eucharistic Adoration. I imagine that people who go sunbathing do not feel themselves getting tanned. They may feel the warmth of the sun, but do they perceive the chemical changes that are occurring to change the tone of their skin? From being accidentally darkened by too many hours in the sun myself, I think the answer is no (at least for me!). And yet, the change happens—silently, gradually, almost imperceptibly.

I believe Eucharistic Adoration is much the same, and perhaps can be colloquially called “Son bathing.” I may not perceive any change in myself, but I am confident the change is occurring. In fact, many times, I have felt the fruit of prayer not during the time of prayer, but after it has concluded. In this time of Eucharistic Adoration, it is not the skin that changes but our souls that are altered in appearance, more closely resembling Jesus the more we spend time in His presence. Perhaps St. John Vianney’s farmer understood this and did not feel anything in his long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, yet remained faithfully before Him.

Jesus said to St. Faustina, “The flames of mercy are burning Me—clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don't want to believe in My goodness.” Centuries earlier, He revealed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque as a burning furnace of Divine Love, both verbally and visually. Are the Eucharist and His Sacred Heart not one and the same? In Eucharistic Adoration, let us bathe in this flame of love, regardless of what we perceive to be happening. Let us walk away with hearts that are inflamed with Divine Love like His, as we slowly become more like Him through the furnace of the Eucharist. 

(Benjamin Dominic, St, Louis Bertrand Fraternity, Syracuse, NY, from Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration)