O
odile53
Guest
The one church in my city where there is Adoration every day for about six hours is located a couple of blocks away from a homeless shelter and there is an outpatient psychiatric clinic a couple of blocks away in the other direction. We frequently have these poor souls coming in to the church during Adoration, and it’s not at all uncommon to see a homeless person sleeping in one of the back pews, or sometimes in a confessional. Occasionally, one of the mentally ill people will make sounds that I’m sure in their minds sound to them like chant, and even make gestures that are somewhat reminiscent of the priest’s gestures during Mass.
What you never see, though, is these poor folks panhandle or directly disrupt others. I’m at Adoration for an hour or so at least a couple of times a week, and have never been accosted by any of them. Some of them honestly can’t help calling attention to themselves. But it seems they are somehow identifying that they are in the Presence of God, somewhere in their disturbed minds.
The priests are aware of their presence, and occasionally “make rounds” to ensure matters aren’t getting out of hand. The worst I ever saw was an obviously disturbed and very dirty lady on her knees, making repeated “salaam” gestures toward a statue of St. Anthony, weeping loudly. One of the priests found her and gave her a ride to the emergency room, with her consent.
I count myself blessed to have them in the church during Adoration, as they are exactly the kind of people Our Lord would have never rejected. While most of us were properly taught to maintain reverent silence in Adoration, Christ understands our rosary-rattling, our rumbly stomachs, our wandering thoughts, and the cell phone we forgot to turn off because we were preoccupied with the yearnings of our hearts, and He would never think badly of us because of our very human weakness, if we approach Him in humility. And I’m sure He appreciates our best efforts while realizing that we will only properly be able to adore Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls in that glorious land where He dwells in peace. May we all make our best efforts to ensure that we will all be able to do exactly that!
What you never see, though, is these poor folks panhandle or directly disrupt others. I’m at Adoration for an hour or so at least a couple of times a week, and have never been accosted by any of them. Some of them honestly can’t help calling attention to themselves. But it seems they are somehow identifying that they are in the Presence of God, somewhere in their disturbed minds.
The priests are aware of their presence, and occasionally “make rounds” to ensure matters aren’t getting out of hand. The worst I ever saw was an obviously disturbed and very dirty lady on her knees, making repeated “salaam” gestures toward a statue of St. Anthony, weeping loudly. One of the priests found her and gave her a ride to the emergency room, with her consent.
I count myself blessed to have them in the church during Adoration, as they are exactly the kind of people Our Lord would have never rejected. While most of us were properly taught to maintain reverent silence in Adoration, Christ understands our rosary-rattling, our rumbly stomachs, our wandering thoughts, and the cell phone we forgot to turn off because we were preoccupied with the yearnings of our hearts, and He would never think badly of us because of our very human weakness, if we approach Him in humility. And I’m sure He appreciates our best efforts while realizing that we will only properly be able to adore Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls in that glorious land where He dwells in peace. May we all make our best efforts to ensure that we will all be able to do exactly that!