This week we take some time to talk about worship of the Holy Eucharist outside of Mass. Vatican II called the Eucharist "the source and summit" of Christian life, which means that for a serious Catholic participating in the Eucharist is the most important thing that one does each week, much in the way that a college football team's most important day of the week is Saturday when they play with all the fans in the stands. However, in order for the team to be prepared come Saturday, practice is indispensable. In order for us to get something out of Mass on Sundays, spiritual practice is necessary during the week. There are numerous ways to prepare oneself for Sunday Mass - daily disciplines such as the rosary, prayerful reading of the Bible, prayerful silent meditation, and others.  
 
We know as Catholics that Jesus Christ is personally present in the tabernacle outside of the celebration of  the Mass. For this reason, we genuflect upon entering and leaving the church building as a token of the divine worship our Lord deserves; and try to avoid unnecessary conversation whilst in sacred space. Anytime the church building is open, we may come in and adore Jesus present sacramentally in the tabernacle by engaging in regular prayer practices mindful that we do so while being physically close to Jesus Himself.  
 
At certain times, the priest (or a deacon) removes the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle and places it in a monstrance in order to facilitate its adoration. This is called exposition.  Both parishes have a long standing tradition of exposition on first Fridays. At Holy Family, it takes place from 9am to 9pm and at Saint Paul from the end of the 5:30pm Mass into Saturday morning. At Saint Paul, exposition takes place with a higher degree of solemnity, often accompanied with the use of incense and chanting. As of May, first Friday exposition at Saint Paul will conclude
immediately after the end of Saturday confessions at 10am with benediction. This change is in order to accommodate Saturday funerals, baptisms, and the like. I also hope that this change will make it easier to cover all of the adoration hours, which has been a challenge in recent months.
 
In the new year I have introduced daily times for exposition when I am in the parish. To be honest, the principal motivation for this decision is to hold myself publicly accountable for making a daily holy hour. Due to the variability of my schedule, these times will change somewhat from week to week--so keep an eye on the bulletin. There will be instances when something unavoidable comes up in my schedule and I am unable to expose the sacrament in the monstrance. In those times, there is not a reason why one may not adore Christ present in the tabernacle.