Weekly Column

If you’ve ever been to Mass in the continent you’ve probably noticed it: the men hanging around at the back of the church while the women kneel at the front. And though our church does not suffer from this badly, one of the things I’ve most noticed over the last couple of weeks when attending Eucharistic Adoration, is how many men have been there. The proportion is usually around 50 per cent, which is high for a prayerful activity.

Why might this be?

Casting around for answers I came up with the following ideas. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know .

1.    It is solitary. Yes, I know there are other people there, but Eucharistic Adoration is a time of intense aloneness with the Lord. There He is, present in the monstrance, and you are in front of Him. There’s no one in the way and there’s no where to hide. And since it’s solitary, no one, absolutely no one, is going to ask you to share your feelings with anyone else.

2.    It is silent. Yes, you can pray, and many do. But you can also simply look. Sometimes, maybe, we try almost too hard with prayer, expecting our words to storm heaven like an army besieging a castle. Here, one can simply wait in silence and let God act on us, rather than the other way round.

3.    It is secret. Time spent alone with God, with no one to see you coming in or going out but Him alone. Many men find social groups either uninteresting or off putting, but in Eucharistic Adoration you can put the secrets of your soul in front of God in the sure and certain knowledge that He will keep them.

So if you haven’t already come along on Sunday, do so. There are still two more weeks of Advent in which to prepare for the Lord’s arrival and the three ‘S’s suggest that it will be time well spent, particularly if you do not particularly appreciate other devotions.