In the Real Presence

I sat in the far back pew of St. Mary Magdalen’s in Berkeley while a band played a cover of Hillsong United’s “Oceans” during an evening of adoration with praise and worship. It was the first time I ever heard the song. The song was new; it must have been late 2013 or early 2014. The room was dimly lit by the flickering flames from candles burning on the altar. At the center of the room was the Eucharist in a gilded monstrance, encased in glass. My eyes were fixed on it. I could not look away.

Before this moment, I was lukewarm in my faith. I had graduated from college and was working for a few years. I was going to Mass on Sundays, but not doing much to grow in my faith. I was stagnant. One of my friends from college who I met through church found out about an event in the Diocese of Oakland called “Catholic Underground.” I agreed to make the trek up to Berkeley.

When we got to the church, I didn’t know what to expect. I heard there would be live music and prayer. I sat in the back because I wasn’t sure what else to do. The light in the room dimmed as the sun set outside and candles were lit while someone gave introductory remarks. Then a priest went to the tabernacle, retrieved the Eucharist, placed the consecrated host into the monstrance, and then presented the Blessed Sacrament to those present by firmly placing the monstrance at the center of the altar facing those of us gathered there.

I had attended adorations of the Blessed Sacrament before, but something was different that night. You know the cliché scene in romantic movies when a man catches sight of the woman he loves when she walks into the room? And suddenly their eyes meet, and they can’t look away? That is what happened to me that night with the Eucharist.

As I sat in the rear of the church, peering between those who were seated or kneeling in the pews in front of me, I kept my eyes on the Eucharist. He seemed to glow in the candlelight as I heard, “I will call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves.” And I kept my eyes above the silhouettes and shadows as I prayed the name, “Jesus.” The band sang, “For I am yours and you are mine,” and those words became Jesus’s words for me, and they became my words for my God.

I often recall that evening and remember it as the night I fell in love with God. I had known the Eucharist for a long time, but that night, I was struck and moved to love in a deeper way. “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander / And my faith will be made stronger / In the presence of my Savior.” And there I was, in the presence of my Savior, drawn to new depths of love that eventually led to my increased devotion and faith in God.

That night, I encountered the Lord in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Because of that night, I continued to attend adorations. I also started to do praise and worship which led to becoming a peer-minister to Young Adults in the Diocese of San José. My time in praise and worship fostered my vocation to the priesthood and when I was in seminary, I continued to attend and lead adoration with praise and worship. I do it because it reminds me of how I fell in love with God. It’s like falling in love all over again.

In the time following the National Eucharistic Congress, we have the opportunity to ponder and reflect on our own personal encounters with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Maybe it was when your child received the Eucharist for the first time. Or perhaps it was at adoration while on retreat in the mountains. Or maybe it was in our Blessed Sacrament chapel on a random weekday when you felt calm and comforted while sitting in His presence. May the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist remind each and every one of us of God’s love. May the time spent in adoration bless us with consolation and peace. And may our receiving of the Eucharist in the celebration of the Mass lead us into greater devotion and faith in our God

Blessings,

Fr. Robert

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