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eagle_eye222001
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Is it proper and licit for a layperson to give a short reflection during adoration?
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Joannm
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There is no prohibition against it. The only thing a lay person cannot do during adoration is Benediction.
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Cristiano
Guest
Why would a person would give a reflection when God is there really present and we owe our full attention to him? I understand that people read and listen to music but that does not make any sense to me either. Adoration is done not because Jesus is there alone and He needs people or He gets bored.
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dans0622
Guest
Hello eagle_eye222001,Is it proper and licit for a layperson to give a short reflection during adoration?
If you are in the USA, you can check the following link for an answer and some guidelines:
usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canon-766-lay-preaching.cfm
Dan
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eagle_eye222001
Guest
I appreciate your concern however I was checking to see if there were any laws against it and not whether it should happen at all.Why would a person would give a reflection when God is there really present and we owe our full attention to him? I understand that people read and listen to music but that does not make any sense to me either. Adoration is done not because Jesus is there alone and He needs people or He gets bored.
Thank you, this answers my question.Hello eagle_eye222001,
If you are in the USA, you can check the following link for an answer and some guidelines:
usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canon-766-lay-preaching.cfm
Dan
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promethius
Guest
You know, some people go to Adoration other than perpetual Adorations, and as such don’t have an opportunity to properly dispose themselves for worship. Often times a reflection or quiet music (such as the litany of the saints) playing in the background can encourage focus and worship.Why would a person would give a reflection when God is there really present and we owe our full attention to him? I understand that people read and listen to music but that does not make any sense to me either. Adoration is done not because Jesus is there alone and He needs people or He gets bored.
Where do we see this mirrored? In the meditative practice of the Rosary… the words and the external actions can dispose one to more proper reflection and worship.
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Cristiano
Guest
I understand what you are saying but I think that it is really an apple to oranges comparison. Adoration is not really a meditative practice. I think that some actions are independent from our predisposition or how we feel. Again, it is only my opinion and it does does not gate the liceity of the actions at all.You know, some people go to Adoration other than perpetual Adorations, and as such don’t have an opportunity to properly dispose themselves for worship. Often times a reflection or quiet music (such as the litany of the saints) playing in the background can encourage focus and worship.
Where do we see this mirrored? In the meditative practice of the Rosary… the words and the external actions can dispose one to more proper reflection and worship.
J
John_Lilburne
Guest
From the liturgical book Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass:
“ADORATION
95. During the exposition there should be prayers, songs, and readings to direct the attention of the faithful to the worship of Christ the Lord.
To encourage a prayerful spirit, there should be readings from scripture with a homily or brief exhortations to develop a better understanding of the eucharistic mystery. It is also desirable for the people to respond to the word of God by singing and to spend some periods of time in religious silence.”
“91. … In the absence of a priest or deacon or if they are lawfully impeded, an acolyte, another special minister of holy communion, or another person appointed by the local Ordinary may publicly expose and later repose the eucharist for the adoration of the faithful.
Such ministers may open the tabernacle and also, as required, place the ciborium on the altar or place the host in the monstrance. At the end of the period of adoration, they replace the blessed sacrament in the tabernacle. It is not lawful, however, for them to give the blessing with the sacrament.”
(From The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN: 0-8146-6015-0, pages 673-675).
So my understanding is that lay people can be authorised to give a “brief exhortation”.
“ADORATION
95. During the exposition there should be prayers, songs, and readings to direct the attention of the faithful to the worship of Christ the Lord.
To encourage a prayerful spirit, there should be readings from scripture with a homily or brief exhortations to develop a better understanding of the eucharistic mystery. It is also desirable for the people to respond to the word of God by singing and to spend some periods of time in religious silence.”
“91. … In the absence of a priest or deacon or if they are lawfully impeded, an acolyte, another special minister of holy communion, or another person appointed by the local Ordinary may publicly expose and later repose the eucharist for the adoration of the faithful.
Such ministers may open the tabernacle and also, as required, place the ciborium on the altar or place the host in the monstrance. At the end of the period of adoration, they replace the blessed sacrament in the tabernacle. It is not lawful, however, for them to give the blessing with the sacrament.”
(From The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN: 0-8146-6015-0, pages 673-675).
So my understanding is that lay people can be authorised to give a “brief exhortation”.
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curlycool89
Guest
Like a witness statement or testimony? Not a bad idea; it can help you to focus your attention and give you something to reflect on.Is it proper and licit for a layperson to give a short reflection during adoration?
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promethius
Guest
I disagree entirely that Adoration is not a meditative practice. Conversely, the Eucharistic mystery is one which requires great meditation, and we must not forget that meditation itself can be a form of worship (caveating, of course, that I’m not referring to the sort of new age or buddhist “transcendent” meditation which seems to have hijacked the word from Christian use).I understand what you are saying but I think that it is really an apple to oranges comparison. Adoration is not really a meditative practice. I think that some actions are independent from our predisposition or how we feel. Again, it is only my opinion and it does does not gate the liceity of the actions at all.
Another aspect I’d like to give is something a friend once told me (handed on, she said, from a priest): In Adoration, God gives you what you need. We worship, and we give to God, of course, but God in turn communes on us what we need in that moment… be it repentence, greater reflection, rest, or adulation. People experience Adoration in very unique and valuable ways. Thus I would propose that Adoration is not an external exercise in being silent, kneeling, etc… but rather an internal one in which the external exercise reflects the internal disposition. In this manner, Adoration is largely about personal disposition as well as largely focused on the Christian meditation (caveating that here I refer to definition 2 or 4, part 1, found here)
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