The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
The Value of Sacrifice
1. SACRIFICE IS THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE! A father and a
mother make many sacrifices to feed, clothe and shelter
their family. Without sacrifice, there is no love. The
spirit of sacrifice is the spirit of Christianity.
Jesus sacrificed everything for love of you and your
salvation. Are you willing to make this sacrifice for
love of Him, that our parish may give Him the glory of
having perpetual adoration of the blessed Sacrament?
2. GOD WILL BLESS YOU TEN TIMES AS MUCH FOR MAKING
THIS SACRIFICE! The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of
God's infinite generosity towards man. When we are
generous in our response to Him in this sacrament of
love, God pours out His infinite goodness upon all
mankind. God will bless you, your family and the world
ten times as much for this sacrifice BECAUSE GOD CANNOT
BE OUTDONE IN GENEROSITY. Whatever we give to Him, He
gives us back ten, a hundred times as much. Those who
are generous and willing to make a sacrifice by taking
one of the most difficult hours are the ones who bring
down God's blessings upon the earth like rain that
pours forth from the heavens. This is why Pope John
Paul II exclaimed: "Let us be generous in our time in
going to meet Him..." (Dominicae Cenae)
3. SACRIFICE IS THE KEY TO REPARATION! Evil must be
overcome with good. Greater evil must be overcome with
greater good. The extraordinary evils of the world
today must be overcome with the extraordinary good of
perpetual adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Your sacrifice in spending one hour each week in the
middle of the night will repair for the evils of the
world and open up the floodgate of God's merciful love
upon all mankind. This is why our Holy Father, Pope
John Paul II in calling for "unceasing adoration" asks
us to be "ready" to sacrifice that we may "make
reparation for the evils of the world." (Dominicae
Cenae)
4. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL UNITE OUR COUNTRY AND BRING
PEACE TO THE WORLD! "Today solemn exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament is the grace and need of our time.
Society will be restored and renewed when all its
members group themselves around our Emmanuel." (St.
Peter Julian Eymard)
5. DON'T BE AFRAID! Don't be afraid to come out in the
middle of the night. There has never been a single case
of anyone being harmed in the middle of the night going
to or coming from adoration of Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament. On the contrary, the Blessed Sacrament is
the safest place to be, the safest place to go, and the
safest place to come from. Jesus is the Light that
casts out all darkness. Where He is adored. the devil
flees. The Jesus that dwells in the Blessed Sacrament
is the same Jesus in the Gospel who cast out the
demons, calmed the storms, cured the sick and raised
the dead. He says, "Take courage. It is I. Do not be
afraid!" (Mark 6:50) Before going to make your holy
hour, when you are lying in bed in the middle of the
night, think of these words from Scriptures: "You have
nothing whatsoever to fear from Him! Get up! He is
calling you!" (Mk. 10:50)
6. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL MAKE THE STREETS SAFE FOR GOD'S
PEOPLE! The Bible (Haggai and Zechariah) states that
God will make the streets safe for His people when they
become "zealous for His glory in the sanctuary." Those
willing to make a sacrifice and keep Jesus company in
the middle of the night are the ones who are "zealous
for His glory in the sanctuary." They are the ones that
will release God's power and make the streets safe for
His people. When we unite ourselves with Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament, we unite ourselves with all the
power on earth and in heaven. When you go before Jesus
in the Blessed Sacrament, you release His power and His
graces upon the whole world. This is why Jesus said,
"If you had the faith the size of a mustard seed, you
could say to this sycamore tree, 'be uprooted and
transplanted,' and it will obey you."
Those who are willing to make a sacrifice and come to
Jesus in the middle of the night have that faith! They
put their faith in the greatest power on earth. This is
why the crime rate actually goes down in those
neighborhoods where the church has perpetual adoration
of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
7. BE A "PRAYER WARRIOR FOR PEACE!" Countless men
throughout the ages have made many sacrifices to go to
war. How few men are willing to make even a small
sacrifice in order to bring about peace. There has
never been a weak army that has ever won a battle
against a stronger one. Evil prevails throughout the
world to day because those who are against God are
willing to make more sacrifices than those who are for
God. There is a spiritual warfare going on today
between good and evil. This is the greatest war in the
history of humanity because the destiny of the Church
and the world are in the balance. There is a spiritual
"red alert." Who will awake from the complacency of
indifference and become a soldier for Christ, a prayer
warrior for peace? Who will be a man of God and take up
the spiritual arms of prayer and sacrifice? "Stir into
flame the gift God has bestowed upon you. The spirit
God has given us is no cowardly spirit but rather, one
that makes us strong." (1 Tim. 1:6-7). Who will answer
the appeal of Christ who calls out in the middle of the
night. "Could you not watch one hour with me?"
8. SACRIFICE IS THE EXPRESSION OF LOVE! The Eucharist
is the greatest expression of God's love for you. In
the Divine Eucharist, Jesus gives you the gift of
Himself, all He has, and all He is. St. Augustine says
of the Holy Eucharist: "Although God is all powerful,
He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He
knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has
not more to give." Give Jesus the sacrifice of spending
an hour with Him in the middle of the night and it will
be the perfect expression of your appreciation for the
gift of His infinite love for you in the Holy
Eucharist.
9. YOUR SACRIFICE THANKS HIM FOR ALL HE HAS DONE FOR
YOU! Through Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, we have
the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Good Friday follows
Holy Thursday because the passion and death of Jesus
was the price that He paid so that we may have divine,
immortal, everlasting life in Him in the new and
everlasting covenant of the Holy Eucharist. The
Eucharist flows from our Lord's passion. He poured out
His very last drop of Blood on the Cross so that He may
fill you with His divine love each time that you
receive Him in Holy Communion. What a wonderful
opportunity we have in thanking Him for this great
gift! Your sacrifice of spending an hour with Jesus in
the middle of the night is thanking Him for all the
sufferings that He endured to give us the gift of the
Holy Eucharist.
10. WHAT SACRIFICE CAN BE COMPARED TO HIS? Jesus gave
up His body on the Cross for love of you that He may
give His body to you in the Holy Eucharist, making
Himself one with you forever in everlasting glory. Like
wheat which is beaten, broken and crushed before it
becomes bread, Jesus was willing to be beaten, broken
and crushed in His passion that He may become for us
the "Living Bread come down from heaven." He said, "The
Bread I will give to you is My Flesh for the life of
the world." Jesus continues to immolate Himself in
sacrificial love for us in the Holy Eucharist. In the
Eucharist, Jesus is the "Immaculate Victim," the
Sacrificial Lamb. Does the sacrifice of spending one
hour with Him in the middle of the night even begin to
compare to the sacrifice that He has made and continues
to make for love of us in the Blessed Sacrament?
11. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL WIN GRACES FOR MANY! After the
last supper, Jesus went to the garden to pray. As He
began to pray He started to sweat blood because He
realized that the gift of the Holy Eucharist that He
had just given mankind on Holy Thursday night would be
appreciated by so few and rejected by so many. He saw
down through the ages. He saw how many would walk away
from His Eucharistic love and not even bother to come
to Mass on Sunday. He saw in how many tabernacles of
the world He would be left alone and forgotten. He saw
how few would believe in His Real Presence and fewer
still would respond to His appeal to be loved day and
night in the Blessed Sacrament. He saw how most people
would live their lives as if He were not here, God
living among His people in the Blessed Sacrament. He
comes to bring so many graces and blessings, and yet so
few come to receive them. "He came into His own, and
yet His own received Him not." Your sacrifices will
gain many graces for those who are far from Jesus and
bring them back to Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
12. YOUR SACRIFICE CONSOLED JESUS IN THE GARDEN! When
Jesus was in the garden, an angel from heaven came to
console Him. This angel consoled Jesus by showing Him
every Holy Hour that you would ever make. Jesus saw the
many sacrifices you would make to get up in the middle
of the night each week to keep Him company in the
Blessed Sacrament for one hour. These sacrifices
greatly comforted, consoled, strengthened and
encouraged Him. When Jesus saw your sacrifice before
Him in the garden, He knew then that His love would be
returned for He was about to make for us the greatest
sacrifice of all whereby He said: "Greater love than
this no man has than to lay down his life for his
friends."
13. YOUR SACRIFICE CONSOLES JESUS NOW! When Jesus was
in the garden, Scripture says that "His heart was
filled with sorrow to the point of death." He came to
give Himself to humanity through the gift of the Holy
Eucharist, yet, so many would reject His Eucharistic
love. Rejection broke His heart. "He looked for one who
would comfort Him but found none." He called on His
apostles to comfort Him, but they preferred to sleep
because it was in the middle of the night. They slept
through Christ's greatest crisis even after He pleaded
with them, "Could you not watch one hour with me?" You
are the apostles of Christ today. Today is another hour
of great crisis. Today, Jesus calls out to you in the
middle of the night, "Could you not watch one hour with
me?" He looks to you to comfort Him now!
14. YOUR SACRIFICE CHANGES HIS PAIN TO CONSOLATION!
Whenever you see a picture of Jesus, you see a crown of
thorns around His Sacred Heart. Jesus explains that
these thorns symbolize the pain of rejection that He
experiences in the Blessed Sacrament because of the
indifference, coldness and ingratitude of men.
Mysteriously, He said that He suffers more now because
of men's ingratitude toward His love in the Blessed
Sacrament than He did during His entire passion. Your
sacrifice of keeping Jesus company each week in the
middle of the night will change the many thorns in His
heart into many flowers of consolation. Your
willingness to do something extra will make up for
those who are unwilling to do anything at all.
15. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL MAKE YOU THE OASIS OF THE
HEART OF JESUS! The special delivery message of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus to you is: "Behold this heart
which has loved men so much, and yet is loved so little
in return. I thirst with such a terrible thirst to be
loved by you in the Blessed Sacrament." The Blessed
Sacrament is Jesus, the God-Man sacred in His divinity,
sacred in His humanity. His heart is the most sensitive
of all hearts. The Blessed Sacrament is the infinite
desire of Jesus to love and to be loved. This desire
makes Him a prisoner of love in the Blessed Sacrament.
This desire makes Him vulnerable, capable of being
wounded by man's indifference capable of being healed
and delighted by man's response. The divine
vulnerability of the humanity of Jesus makes Him
infinitely lovable, for it teaches us that His heart is
not made of wood, it is not a stone. It is a heart of
flesh like yours and mine. For this reason He is not
indifferent to your love like He could take it or leave
it. Your love is meaningful to Him, so meaningful that
He yearns for it. Like one who searches for an oasis in
the desert, Jesus searches for love in a cold world.
Your sacrifice will make you "the oasis of His heart."
16. YOUR SACRIFICE MAKES UP FOR THE INGRATITUDE OF
OTHERS! Jesus healed ten lepers. Only one came back to
give Him thanks for the miracle of a clean body. Jesus
said: "Were not all ten made whole? Where are the other
nine?" Every Sunday Jesus performs a far greater
miracle for us. The gift of the Holy Eucharist makes us
immortal with divine life. Each communion will leave
our soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in
heaven. In spite of the fact that Jesus asks us to give
thanks for this great gift by coming back during the
week and visiting Him in the Blessed Sacrament, only a
very few do. Your sacrifice will make up for the
ingratitude of "the other nine," for the many who never
think of visiting Him at all.
17. GOD WILL HONOR YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY! Consider the
humble sacrifice that the shepherds and the three Wise
Men made in their long journey to adore the Christ
Child. Only the humble shepherds and the wise
astrologers followed the star of faith to Bethlehem. He
was the King, much greater than they were. No journey
was too long because any trouble they had was
infinitely worth the sacrifice. When they saw Him, they
bowed down before Him. Where was the rest of the world?
Who could understand then that the Babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes was the hidden Incarnate Word of God?
He came quietly and lovingly. Only the humble and wise
could see the humble Jesus lying in a manger. The rest
of the world passed Him by. Look at how God has never
stopped honoring the shepherds and the magi for
honoring His Son in Bethlehem. The humble sacrifice of
their long journey is praised in Scripture. And around
the world in every church and Christian home at
Christmas, they are included in every Nativity scene.
In the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus comes to us even more
humbly than He did before. That is why your sacrifice
will give God even greater glory than the glory given
Him by the shepherds and the three Wise Men. And God
will honor you even more than the shepherds and the
three Wise Men for all eternity for honoring His Son in
the Blessed Sacrament with the humility of your
sacrifice!
18. JESUS WILL CALL YOU "BLESSED!" The Holy Eucharist
is the continuation of Christ's Incarnation on earth,
where the same Jesus born two thousand years ago in
Bethlehem is truly present with us now as He was then.
Again, He comes quietly and humbly. Again, only the
humble can see with the eyes of faith the humble Jesus
hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. This is the faith that
prompts you to come out in the middle of the night to
adore Him. If He were visible and we could see Him with
our senses, everyone would run out to welcome Him even
in the middle of the night. But he remains hidden in
the Blessed Sacrament because He is calling us to faith
that we may come to Him in humility Your sacrifice is
the gold, frankincense and myrrh that pleases Him. Your
sacrifice is of more value than all the gifts in the
world. Your sacrifice is the key that opens the door of
His Heart and allows the gifts of His graces and
blessings to flow to the whole world in order that the
promise of Jesus' coming may be fulfilled: "Glory to
God in the highest and peace on earth to men of
goodwill." This is why Jesus calls you "blessed," when
He said, "Thomas, you believe because you see Me.
Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe."
19. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL BRING SOULS TO HEAVEN! Our
Lady of Fatima said that there are more souls going to
hell because there is no one to pray and make
sacrifices for them. The sacrifice you make by spending
an hour with Jesus in the middle of the night will save
many souls from hell and bring many souls to heaven.
The love you give to Jesus in this special sacrifice
will win pardon and forgiveness for those who do not
love Him at all. The value of your sacrifice is
expressed in the Reparation Prayer of Fatima: "My God,
I believe, I adore, I trust, I hope and I love thee. I
beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not
adore, do not trust, do not hope and do not love Thee."
20. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL CONVERT THE WORLD! Our Lady's
"Peace Plan" calls for prayer, penance and sacrifice.
She said that if her requests were met, Russia would be
converted, Her Immaculate Heart would triumph, and
there would be an everlasting peace on the face of the
earth. Through the angel of Fatima, heaven taught us
the secret of how to convert the whole world through
the great power of Eucharistic adoration. The angel
brought a Sacred Host and taught us this adoration
prayer: "O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, I adore you profoundly, I offer You the Most
Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus
Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in
reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifference by which He is offended. BY THE INFINITE
MERITS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS and the merits of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg you for the
CONVERSION OF THE WHOLE WORLD." Perpetual adoration is
the perfect fulfillment of all the requests of Our Lady
of Fatima for prayer, penance and sacrifice. Your
sacrifice will convert the whole world to Christ!
21. THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS IS GOD'S GREATEST
GIFT TO US! The Mass is the renewal of Christ's
sacrifice on the cross. Through this perfect sacrifice,
we offer the Father the perfect praise, love and
thanksgiving of His Son. Through the Mass we offer God
perfect worship. Your sacrifice is thanksgiving to God
for the greatest of His gifts, the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass. Your sacrifice is joined to the perfect
sacrifice of Jesus in the continuous praise offered to
the Heavenly Father for the salvation of souls.
22. JESUS WILL MAKE UP FOR YOUR LOSS OF SLEEP! God is
the giver of time. The sacrifice of time you give to
Him in the middle of the night will come back to you.
The joy you experience the next day in the gift you
have given to God will make it seem as if you had made
no sacrifice at all! If you have difficulty at work the
next day, you can always go to bed one or two hours
earlier on the night that you have to get up. Or, if
you get a little sleepy the next day, you can always go
to bed earlier that night. Many people who make this
sacrifice learn to adjust by going to bed earlier on
the night they have to make the sacrifice. Some get
more sleep in this way than they ordinarily do on a
regular night.
23. BE LIKE ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE! Only John had the
courage to follow Jesus all the way to the Cross.
Because of his spirit of sacrifice, he is known as "the
Apostle whom Jesus loved." Be willing to make a
sacrifice by keeping Jesus company for one hour each
week in the middle of the night, and you too, for all
eternity, will be known in heaven as "the Apostle whom
Jesus loves."
If the thought of getting up in the middle of the
night seems like too much of an inconvenience to you,
the secret is to think of Jesus instead of yourself.
Think of the scene in the gospel of Jesus' crying and
weeping over Jerusalem: "How I have longed to gather
you together, as a mother hen gathers her little
chicks, yet you wouldst not." This scene is as true
today as it was then. Jesus longs with infinite longing
for everyone to come to Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
Yet He is rejected today as He was then. Your sacrifice
will help bring all humanity to Him and bring about
that day "where every knee will bend and proclaim Him
Lord." Jesus longs with infinite longing to make all
men one in His Eucharistic Heart. Yet mankind is torn
with war and division. Your sacrifice will help in a
great way fulfill His theme at the last Supper, "May
they all be one."
At the Last Supper, how privileged John was to come
close to the Lord and rest his head on the heart of
Jesus. The experience of the love of Jesus gave John
the spirit of sacrifice and enabled him to follow our
Lord all the way to the Cross. You are even more
privileged than John in being invited to spend an hour
with Jesus in the middle of the night. Before the
Blessed Sacrament, Jesus calls you to come close to Him
and rest your head on His Sacred Heart. His infinite
love for you will make this sacrifice a joy and
forever, you will be known in heaven like John, as "the
Apostle whom Jesus loves."
24. MIRACLES OF LOVE John heard a voice crying out
from heaven that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is
worthy of the unceasing adoration of men for all He has
done for our salvation. "Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive honor, glory and praise." John saw the
faith of the people in action. They were going before
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the "Lamb on the
Throne" day and night "without pause." From Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament, the Lamb of God, there flowed a
river of grace and love that "healed all the nations."
This is the power, the value and the importance of your
sacrifice! Your sacrifice will heal all nations.
This is what Jesus meant when He said: "If you believe
in my love in the Blessed Sacrament, If you really
believe in My love, then you shall see miracles of My
love."
Is there a relative, a friend, a loved one, whom you
are deeply concerned about? Put him, or her, or all of
them, into the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Be convinced
that Jesus will really help them. Have absolute
confidence and trust in the power of His love to bring
them back to His Sacred Heart. He promised: "I will
reign in every heart, in every home, in every country
throughout the entire world. I will reign through the
Omnipotent, all-powerful love of My Eucharistic Heart."
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(The Purpose of this pamphlet is to help us understand
the value of being willing to make a sacrifice by
spending one hour each week in the middle of the night
with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament so that our parish
may have the great Blessing of having Perpetual
Eucharistic Adoration.)
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APOSTOLATE FOR PERPETUAL ADORATION
P.O. BOX 46502
44441 ELIZABETH
MT. CLEMENS, MICHIGAN 48043
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