Thanks to the website Saviour.org, you can now sit in front of your computer and make a holy hour of Eucharistic adoration. What better way to adore Our Lord than by worshiping an electronic image of a real Monstrance supplied live via webcam from the Chapel of Divine Love in Philadelphia, PA? They describe it as a "new and powerful channel of grace, a powerful channel for youth, the aged, lonely and the suffering," and request reverence in online adoration.
Thanks, but I think I'll just go to the Real Thing. What's next, online sacraments?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.JPG)
Posts
25 comments:
Joking right? Do people actually think this is ok or even a good thing?
Sadly, Karin, it is real. Real misleading, unfortunately. I even know elderly people who think if they watch Mass on EWTN they have made their Sunday obligation.
I actually have experienced much grace this way. I hate my job with a passion, and in some of my most difficult moments (in addition to grasping sacramentals such as a crucifix) I have gone to the website. I can't always go to adoration in person...it's not as if most people can get up from their desks and just walk away when the going gets rough.
But I can go to the website, consider Jesus' real presence, realize that others are directly present even if I am not, and meditate on the reality of the True Presence.
No, it's not a regular "holy hour", but I do believe this is a conduit of grace. No, Mass is not valid if watched on EWTN, however, I do believe that graces - not the same as attending Mass - are present for those who watch the Holy Mass even if they can't attend. And for those who are homebound and quite literally can't attend Mass, EWTN allows them to at least be "present" in whatever way they can. Online "adoration" is the same thing.
We don't know what God can do; we do know that it is not the same as being in Christ's actual presence, but I can tell you this...if I was stuck in a hospital, or on bedrest in the midst of a difficult pregnancy and could not get to Mass and adoration, I'd be watching EWTN and going to savior.org because it's better than nothing.
I'm not endorsing what people misunderstand...I'm just offering another perspective.
And I'd far rather see this propagated than pornography or the other crap available online.
Ditto what Adoro said. (And I am one of those cranky Latin-mass types!) It is not a good idea for people like me, who have no excuse to avoid adoration, but I think it is still better than porn. And there may be a situation in the Church someday when this may be some people's only avenue for grace.
How many people want to assist at Tridentine mass but can only see one on the net? I am not saying it substitutes for the Sunday obligation, but not all situations are the same. For some people this may be an opportunity that they would otherwise spend in sinful behavior. Instead, they are, at the very least, doing no harm and at the most trying to adore God in the only way possible.
I live out West. Distance is just part of life out here. Many old people need help to go 20 or 30 miles on Sunday to get to mass. What about on Wednesday? WHo is there to take them to adoration? Or to a First Friday mass? Nobody. What about teenage converts whose parents don't support their choice?
Thanks, Rob.
A woman I know recently became Catholic. She also immeditately moved to the Bible Belt due to her job, and today she happened to be up for several birthdays.
This poor young woman and her husband are having a difficult time finding a good parish in Kansas City. As she expressed today, "I feel like I'm slipping away!"
She misses us so much, and really needs prayers...so please pray for them, that they find a good parish.
I bring this up because oursavior.org could actually be of benefit to those who don't know where to go or what to do.
This wonderful young woman asked me one day in RCIA to show her what to do in adoration. I had revealed to the group how, when I enter or leave the church, I visit Jesus in our adoration chapel. It doesn't seem right not to, and I know many others who feel the same way. She and some others in the group thought that if they went in, people would stare at them. As a recent enough revert, I understood what they were saying and I lead a "field trip" into our adoration chapel, demonstrating how to genuflect on both knees, etc, showing how no one cares what they do if they are quiet and reverent, etc.
This girl now is living in the Bible belt, may not have Adoration present, but after that evening, she spent a LOT of time with Jesus. Now all she has is an internet version.
She longs for the real thing.
Let those who cannot have access in person have access via internet, and the Lord above will recognize their devotion.
Please keep her and those in her position in your prayers...they don't have what you and I take for granted.
One can always make a Spiritual Communion.
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
I must say I am rather surprised at the support for online Eucharistic adoration here. It can never replace the real thing.
I agree that if you are incapable of getting to a Church, it would be the same as praying in your home, but I can't ever see it being the same as being physically present in front of the Monstrance. And that's the difficulty I have with it.
Some people will think that it carries the same merit as an actual Holy Hour in the adoration chapel. Just like they believe they actually attended Mass via EWTN
-I can't ever see it being the same as being physically present in front of the Monstrance-
Agreed.
I just don't think, as long as it didn't involve actual neglect of a real opportunity to actually adore the Blessed Sacrament, that this act would be sinful. Of course, as you say, the person could just pray on their own and attempt a spiritual communion. But if, while you were thus praying, you also simultaneously turned the computer to an image of Eucharistic adoration, wouldn't that be helpful?
So do you thing EWTN should remove Mass? Do you think that when the Pope dies, the Novendiales should not be televised?
Those of the faithful who listen to or watch these Masses know that they do not replace an obligation....but is it not better to have access even via internet, tv, or radio, as opposed to nothing at all?
I vote for online adoration, if in person adoration is not possible. I have access to regular adoration, as I stated, but still draw strength where I can if I can't get there, and so far my "network" at word has not shut down my access to the Lord via internet.
Apparently Jesus has an IP address.
I'll take it, even as I give precedence to true adoration.
~ Adoro
Rob, I see the online Eucharistic adoration the same as making a Holy Hour in your home. It's not real Eucharistic adoration. But there are those who will think it is. Education goes a long way here. Internet Masses, adorations and confessions can never replace what they symbolize. As long as people realize that.
Adoro, no I do not think EWTN should remove televised Mass. I know it has done a lot of good for people. But as I said, I actually know two people who think they are meeting their Sunday obligation by watching the EWTN Mass on TV. Education is what is needed.
It's sad that there are poorly educated Catholics out there who don't even know they can't meet their Sunday obligation by sitting in front of their television on the comfort of their couch.
-It's sad that there are poorly educated Catholics out there who don't even know they can't meet their Sunday obligation by sitting in front of their television on the comfort of their couch.-
Sadder that, if you are watching EWTN, you can be almost certain that the liturgy is per the Roman missal and the homily is actually GOOD! :)
Maybe it's the modern priests who need to be watching EWTN, then? They could see what a Mass that is free of liturgical abuses looks like, and they could lift a few of the homilies for use in their own Masses!
Oh no, Paramedic girl, those EWTN priests are just too rigid!
Rigid, I tell you! And slavishly devoted to Latin and accurate translations!
:)
Well, here's one vote for NO Online Adoration!
Wow.
Are you sure you are making a distinction between "cannot" go to adoration and "will not" go.
What about the person who goes regularly, but, say, one-week his wife is out of town visting sick relatives: he has to cancel his regular time to stay with the children, but, thanks to on-line adoration can still make an act of worship and keep Jesus company on-line from his home?
etc etc etc.
Here's one vote for a Catholic with no brain.
Try thinking, thinking is so important.
I don't care for online Adoration myself - that's why I posted the Spiritual Communion prayer. What was that old line from a long-distance telephone commercial..."it's the next best thing to being there." Something like that anyway.
Televised Mass of course is no substitute for the real thing but it was a blessing for my aunt. She is 81 and looked after her 91 year old husband while he had Alzheimers. He was totally delusional and she had her hands full with him at home. She could only leave for Mass if someone could stay with him and that was not always possible. And as delusional as Uncle was, he did enjoy watching Mass on TV.
I'm stuck here in hinterlands of the Rochester Diocese, the only decent, reverent mass I see on a regular basis is the EWTN Mass. I go to the "regular" (but often pathetic) mass in person, receive communion etc.. Then I come home and watch the mass on EWTN to actually experience a fully orthodox mass and homily. Otherwise, I'd have to face the liturgical wasteland all alone!
God, I hadn't thought of that before. I have an indult about 25 miles away, but many peole, like 'cpt tom', have only a televised mass if they want to see authentic liturgy. That's sad.
"Let there be no innovation: keep to what has been handed down." ~ Pope Benedict XV
LOL, okay.
Protestant is as protestant thinks.
In the parish that I live we don't have adoration at all. Because we live in the country we cannot just go down the road to the next parish either.
I would never think that online adoration could replace the real thing but when you don't have access to it it can be a blessing.
Let me guess about Online Penance:
It'll be a part of Chat on AOL;
Puh-lease!
Post a Comment