All those who walk into Vineland’s Sacred Heart Church on Aug. 23 will find Jesus waiting patiently to speak with them.
“We spend one-on-one time with our friends and family – sharing, listening, caring. Jesus very much desires the same experience with us. Let’s make the most of our time to be there with Jesus. He truly is waiting for us all,” Donna Ottaviano-Britt, the Diocese’s head of the Secretariat for Pastoral Outreach, says in encouraging all to spend time in Adoration during the Diocesan Holy Hour.
The Holy Hour – from 7 to 8 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church, Christ the Good Shepherd Parish, Vineland – is among the Diocese’s numerous initiatives planned as part of the U.S. Catholic Church’s three-year Eucharistic Revival. In the Diocese of Camden, the revival kicked off June 18, with more than a thousand faithful joining Bishop Dennis Sullivan for a candlelight procession with the Blessed Sacrament on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
“The National Eucharistic Revival challenges us to re-ignite our relationship with Jesus, to spend time in Adoration, to pray, to listen,” Ottaviano-Britt says. “Each of us – through our Baptism – is called to be a disciple and witness to the Gospel. Spending time in Adoration with Jesus helps us to live that mission.”
She adds, “Part of our witness is invitation, so if you are planning to attend, make sure you invite someone to join you! Jesus wants him or her to come, too. It’s a wonderful moment to be in communion with our larger community.”
Andrés Arango, Bishop’s Delegate for Hispanic Ministry and diocesan director of evangelization, will lead the evening’s bilingual prayer and reflection. In addition to the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, there will be time for music, reflection – and silence.
“The silence may sometimes be difficult, as we open ourselves to what Jesus is saying to us,” Ottaviano-Britt says.
“Saint Ignatius of Loyola had a unique way of helping people who sought to know Jesus but found it difficult to begin,” she continued. “He placed people in a chair opposite an empty chair. He then guided them to visualize Jesus in that chair. His voice became the voice of Jesus to begin the conversation. Saint Ignatius would then help them share with Jesus what they most hoped to say. What a wonderful gift to talk to Jesus. Holy Hours are these types of opportunities.”
Praying the Holy Hours, Ottaviano-Britt believes, is also a way to help one better understand the Eucharist.
“There is much we can study, read and discuss as it relates to the Eucharist,” she says. “But time spent in Adoration, literally sitting face-to-face with Jesus, talking to him and listening to him in the quiet of a church are grace-filled moments, too. He desires for us to pour out our hearts to him – our fears, our cares and our people. He responds to all of that.”
Sacred Heart Church is located at 1010 E. Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ 08360. For more information of the Eucharistic Revival, visit camdendiocese.org/eucharisticrevivalsouthjersey.org.
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