Here you will find student reflections on how students believe that going to Eucharistic Adoration has helped in the development of their spiritual life. Please take the time to view each of them at your leisure.
Chris Falzarano '10
Jenn Malue '09
David G. Nally '10
Jill Snitzel '08
Taryn Sobczak '09
Chris Falzarano '10
Adoration means a variety of things to me. It is a time for me to escape my everyday life for a short retreat with my Lord Jesus Christ, a time for me to reflect upon myself, and a time for my to truly focus on what is important in my life.
When I attend adoration, I feel as though everything else going on in my life does not matter. It all seems to melt away for the time while I am kneeling before Christ. A sense of calmness overtakes my body allowing for all of my fears and worries to melt away. I can escape from whatever anxieties the week may have brought to me and I can look into myself. I have asked myself many questions while at adoration. I have answered quite a few while I was there as well.
While in an almost trancelike form, I have looked deep into myself to see what I truly want and what I truly need to do for myself. I looked beyond what I wanted and looked to see what was truly in my best interest. Many life decisions came while at adoration. It helps me to also see what I really think is important in my life. While at adoration, I find that I tend to repeat things within my prayers. I realized that it was these items that I feel are most important to me. I take the time to reflect on these people that are important to me. I think about how much I love them. I think about what they do that lets me know they love me as well and I think of ways that I can show my love for them as well. After leaving adoration, I feel that my relationships in my life have strengthened because I had the time to sort through them, weed out the bad and stress the good.
In all, adoration has played a huge role in my college career. I have gained a great deal of spiritual, mental and emotional growth because of it. I strongly recommend that any person who has the chance to attend adoration, even if it is for a short time, that they do so. You may find things about yourself and others that you otherwise would have never known.
Jenn Malue '09
"Be still and know that I am God." This is the psalm that is written in the chapel where I first went to Eucharistic Adoration. God just wants us to be still and feel His presence within us. Adoration is wonderful, because you can speak to God, a higher power who does not judge, just listen with open ears and an open heart. We just have to have those same open ears and open heart to hear Him calling to us to do His will. I have found that I have received a great deal of guidance at adoration. It gives me a chance to step back from my crazy life to take time to thank God for my life and all the blessings He has bestowed on me. Even a five minute prayer can mean so much in the physical presence of our Lord. The first minute spent in thanks, the second in petition, and the last three listening. God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason. We should do more listening than talking. God really calls us to be still and know that He is God. With Him we can do all things for He conquered the world!"
David G. Nally '10
As a high school student I considered myself very involved with my church’s youth group. I partook in a lot of church activities, meetings, ministries and attended a handful of regional and national conferences. Throughout all of my church activities I was never introduced to Eucharistic Adoration until I came to Canisius.
At first I found Eucharistic Adoration to be very different. I was unsure how to pray or what I should say. It took a while to adjust, but after some time I began to develop some favorable prayer techniques that I thought were beneficial during adoration. However, as time continued I again changed my prayer style. I now find it most beneficial to enter a state of near meditation. I begin by clearing my mind with the help of the incense and music present during adoration. I am able to completely relax which is often hard to do as a busy college student. Once relaxed I am able to think of all the blessings in my life and how the Lord has bestowed me with such graces. I thank Him for all that he has given me. The meditation allows me to get past the stresses of life helping me to realize that God has truly blessed me. When I leave adoration I feel relaxed and rejuvenated. It is a wonderful feeling during the middle of a difficult week.
Eucharistic Adoration allows me to become closer to God. That short time of peaceful meditation opens my eyes to the Lord and his kindness toward all people. Having that experience at least once a week keeps me in touch with my spiritual life that many students lose when they reach college.
Jill Snitzel '08
"El Paso is a place with a true identity crisis. It is technically part of Texas, the United States of America, but, day to day life tells me otherwise. I live in a city where Spanglish is the official language, pickup trucks are replaced by minivans, I can be in either Mexico or New Mexico within a 10-15 minute time frame walking, the biggest and most well known Mexican food joints are not Taco Bell though they have those too, America’s Independence day and Mexican Independence day are both celebrated with the same amount of flair, and for the first time in my life I am considered a blonde. Needless to say life here is much different than the life I was leading in Buffalo. I am no longer the college student seeking ways to incorporate justice, service, and spirituality into my life by what the college is offering. No, these are supposed to be values that are apart of my life as a Jesuit Volunteer. And although these values are supposed to be something that is much easier to live by when participating in community living this is not always the case. When first arriving in El Paso, my expectations for the year were high. I thought that everything would come automatically to me, I would be so connected to my spirituality, I would feel as though I was making a difference with my volunteer work, I would finally be living the life that I thought God wanted me to live. Wrong! I felt so totally lost when I got here, I was overwhelmed by the injustice in which the people of the border were experiencing, I was so deeply saddened to see the quality of life my clients at the homeless shelter were living, I felt so out of place in this world where Mexican culture is the norm and I am an outsider for not knowing it, and worst of all was my feeling of distance in my relationship with my Father.
I have been through some trying times in my life, situations in which I thought my relationship with my Father would suffer but instead it was strengthened… so why now, when I thought I was here to do His work did my faith start to waver? And how was I to fix it?
As I reflected on my past struggles and the choices I made that renewed my faith my mind returned to the one place and time that when I was at Canisius always offered me comfort and peace. Eucharistic Adoration. So I started spending time on my lunch break at a nearby chapel where there was Eucharistic Adoration. It was while I spent the time at adoration at this chapel that I started to feel connected to my God my Father once more. It was a time in which language was no longer a barrier, it was a time when the hundreds of miles that separated me and the people that I love no longer mattered, it was the time I needed with my Father, it was home. I did not start going to Adoration until late in my college career after going to a retreat with a friend, but once I started it was something that became so necessary to my faith life. And when Canisius started offering it once a week, I found myself looking forward to that hour of quiet prayer and solitude, and even relying on it. So now as I find myself seemingly worlds apart from the life I once led, I am once again reminded that, that quiet face-to-face time that I needed with my Lord in college is something just as necessary in my service journey, in my life long faith journey."
Taryn Sobczak '09
The first time I heard of Eucharist Adoration was when I was a junior in college. It is not often one is given a time and place to sit with God. Frequently, as busy college students, we take for granted that God is always with us and always listening. Sometimes all we need to do is remove ourselves from our schedules and spend time listening to God and realizing He is there.
During mass, we our presented with the Eucharist. This is a representation of Jesus showing His love in sacrificing His life for us. We celebrate this love by internalizing Jesus’ body and blood. During Adoration, we are given a different opportunity. We are placed in the presence of Jesus’ body and stay to contemplate His message, His love, and His understanding.
I attend Adoration because it helps me to channel my prayer life in a positive and constructive way. Prayer can be accomplished in many ways, but I often find that simply talking to God can be just as meaningful and powerful as reciting memorized verses. During Adoration, I am given the time to have a conversation with God. I may not receive His responses right then and there, but am spiritually reinforced in recognizing God’s continual presence. Other times, I simply sit, and let the feeling of God press upon me. Sometimes God does not need to hear your words to listen to you.
Going to Adoration also allows me to keep my conversation with God active outside of the time we spend together in Christ the King Chapel. In spending time to specifically recognize God, it makes it easier to appreciate God’s calling for me throughout the day and in other situations. In learning to put God as the most important aspect of my spiritual and non-spiritual life, all other things find their place.