Jesus Christ, who is in heaven, is also still on earth in our midst in the Holy Eucharist. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic Christian life and the very foundation of our faith. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical letter “The Redeemer of Man,” exclaims “By celebrating and also partaking in the Eucharist we unite ourselves with Christ on earth and in heaven who intercedes for us with the Father.”

At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and wine and said “Take and eat. This is my body . . . This is my blood which will be shed for you” (Mark 14:22-24). In this way Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrificial meal Catholics consume at each Mass.

“Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council (of Trent) now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” (Catechism No. 1376)

Jesus does not die again at each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar through the ministry of the priest by his repeating the same words that Jesus said at the Last Supper. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, “For with God all things are possible.” The Eucharist is Jesus’ Glorified Body. Jesus is spiritual food for our souls, and we are united to Jesus in Holy Communion.

So too when you spend time in the presence of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, your relationship with Jesus grows. In quiet prayer or just soaking in His Glorious Presence, Jesus speaks to you and heals your physical and spiritual ailments. Jesus pours many graces upon you, and His attributes will become yours. You will experience God’s grace, God’s love, God’s goodness and you will be transformed. Each visit in Adoration enriches your spiritual life and stores up treasures in Heaven when your soul will be glorious and beautiful. “Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Savior draws the whole world with him and raises it to God” (Pope John Paul II, Letter to the Bishop of Liege, May 28, 1996).

“The church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship . . . Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love” (Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae).