The Hour that Makes My Day

As I enter into my third year of seminary, I find myself grateful for so many things that seminary has afforded me; the experiences I have had, the formation I have received, the people I have met; but of all the things that I have received over these past two and a half years, the biggest gift of my formation to me has been the habit of a daily holy hour that I have begun. 

    The practice of spending an hour of prayer in front of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has become truly, the center of my day. It is that around which the rest of my life has come to revolve. It is the time in prayer where I seek guidance about things for which I am worried, when I give thanks for what I have received, and when I listen to the Lord ever-present in the Eucharist. 
    In fact, I find that my time in prayer with him, allows me to be better disposed to receive him in the Eucharist. St. Augustine said, “No one eats that flesh without first adoring it. We would sin were we not to adore it.” In this third year of the Eucharistic Revival movement initiated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, upon reflection, I find that if anything in all my life has influenced my faith in the Eucharist, it is that practice of a Holy Hour which I have taken up in these past years. 

    The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen gives three tips for making a holy hour. 1.) Go to your holy hour as if you were going to talk to a friend. Tell the Lord what you desire, allow him to speak to you, ask him for specific graces, offer him your struggles, don’t be afraid to hold back. For Sheen, the holy hour was not about having a structured hour of prayer, as one would not have a structured hour-long conversation with a friend. 
    2.) Bring and read sacred scripture or a commentary on sacred scripture in your holy hour. Sheen says it best: “Read the Scriptures or a commentary or any solid spiritual book, until a thought strikes you. Then close the book, and talk to Our Lord about it. But do not do all the talking. Listen also. “Speak on, Lord, thy servant is listening” (1 Kings 3:10) must not be “Listen, Lord, Thy servant speaketh.” We learn to speak through listening, and we grow in love of God through listening.”

    3.) “There are no rules for the holy hour, just show up and do it.” This perhaps, is Sheen’s most important rule. There will be a time when you go to a holy hour and feel as if there is nothing for you to say, and as if God isn’t saying anything to you. That is okay! Sometimes, all we need is an opportunity to stare at Jesus, and an opportunity to allow him to stare back at us.
 
    Truly, the holy hour has the power to change everything that we are. The way that we look at God, and the way that we see him looking at us. It can open our hearts further, to receive his love, and it can fill our hearts, so that they are overflowing. Then we will be able to attain that vision which is eternal splendor, when we shall behold, face to face, Father, Son, and Spirit, who will reign until the end of time.

Joe Derico is a College III Seminarian for the Diocese of Wheeling- Charleston