When we come to Adoration and sit before the monstrance, we gaze on the mystery that we are in the real presence of Jesus Christ. What I want to reflect on is the quality of this presence. Jesus’ presence here is not an empty presence, you wouldn’t say that he is merely present amongst us. 

Jesus is present

When I go to a family's house to hang out, I try to leave my clerical identity as Deacon aside. I’m not there to preach or minister or anything, just to be a friend and hang out. But Jesus’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament doesn’t leave aside any of who he is. He is present as Lord, Saviour, Healer, Truth, Love, Light, Friend, Master, Peace, Freedom, Crucified, Forsaken, Betrayed, Risen; you name it, if Jesus is ever at any time “that”, he is “that” in the Blessed Sacrament. So His presence with us is a full and rich presence. In Adoration we are in the full presence of Jesus.

How do we tap into that? Let’s consider a few aspects of Jesus’ presence.

Jesus as healer:

A different type of presence could be when we go to the doctor. We have a need of healing in some way, and our hope is that the doctor can bring about that healing. As we come into the doctor’s presence, this hope becomes closer to being realised. But still the healing is not there. Our hope is that the potential in the doctor, his expertise in healing, will translate into actual healing in our body. But the healing is not there yet, the doctor still has to make decisions and actions to effect the healing. It is different in the presence of Jesus. We come to him with our healing need, and there’s hope that we would be healed. The difference is that Jesus is already your healer; he has already done all that is necessary to make you whole. Jesus’ presence is the presence of your healing. While our situation is one of not yet seeing the healing worked out in our broken persons, His presence is an already kind of presence. His presence is the presence of our full healing. In Adoration we are in the presence of His healing.

Jesus as friend:

One other aspect of who Jesus is for us; he is our Friend. On our side, when we come to prayer, we’re not yet totally open to relationship with God. We want to grow closer to him, of course. But Jesus’ presence is perfect Communion (that’s what we call it anyway when we eat the Bread). Our place in relationship with the Trinity is actually Christ’s place, we become members in him. So the perfection of what our relationship with God will be is the very perfect Communion which Christ has with the Father and the Spirit. So while we come to prayer and are not yet perfectly right with God, our perfect communion is already present here in Christ. In Adoration we are in the presence of His friendship.

Jesus as fulfillment:

I’ve just illustrated this with healing and communion (friendship) but all aspect of your relationship with God is already fulfilled in Christ’s presence here. Forgiveness, truth, light, love, salvation, Resurrection. So… this means that there’s one thing I don’t want you to do in Adoration. That is to strive. We bring our not yet realities, but rather than striving to bring them up to scratch, this presence of the Lord is an opportunity to lay all of that down in the presence of the already. In Adoration we are in the presence of His love.

“When you see (the Body of Christ) exposed, say to yourself: It is on account of this Body that I am no longer earth and ashes, no longer captive, but free. This Body gives me my hope of heaven and the treasures there laid up for me: life without end, the company of the angels, familiar intercourse with Christ. This Body was pierced by the nails, torn with scourges, yet death has not taken it from me; … this is the very Body that was drenched with blood, pierced with the lance; the Body from which two springs of salvation gushed forth, one of blood and one of water… This Body he has given us to hold and eat - a proof of his ardent love.” St John Chrysostom, In I ad Cor., xxiv, 4. (From Mediator Dei, n. 142)