Below is the schedule for 40 Hours Devotion at Assumption Grotto. It begins Friday following the 7:30 a.m. Mass, with a Eucharistic Procession. The full schedule can be seen below. 40 Hours Devotion was once a big deal, in most parishes. I encountered it for the first time in my life at Assumption Grotto in 2005. I continue to recommend the article by Fr. William Saunders, written in 2003, "Forty Hours with Jesus Christ".
Heat anticipated this weekend, but dress in layers...
If you were at Grotto in recent weeks, you may have noticed the chill in the parish church. That's because there was a breakdown in the boiler that provides us with heat. I asked Fr. Perrone if we would have heat this weekend, and he said the plan is to have it restored by Friday afternoon. I know a number of people have been working hard on this. But, "stuff happens" and, in the event things don't go according to plans, be sure to dress in layers and have something warm. Mothers with altar boys will want to have pull-over sweaters handy on days they serve, in case the heat is not there.For the rest of us, it's a good time to remember Colossians 1:24. That passage is the whole basis for the famous "offer it up" many of us heard growing up when having to bear with some kind of discomfort or pain.
It's about what you give
40 Hours Devotion, or any kind of Adoration, isn't about what you get out of it; it's what you give, to God, and to others for whom you pray. Consider this passage:And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Mt 8:20)When you sit in Adoration, you give Our Lord your heart as a cushion for his head. While he needs no consolation, this time given to him, for his sake, is endearing to him the way a mother or father's heart is warmed when a child snuggles quietly by their side.
This kind of prayer is not without graces. In fact, it's when you give without looking for something in return - even consolations or good feelings in prayer - that your prayer is so much more efficacious. Those good feelings come by the grace of God and sometimes he withdraws those to see if we come for ourselves and what we get, or if we come to give when prayer seems so dry.
So, yes, it's a busy weekend - for most people. There is work to do, games to watch, the comfort of a warm home on a cold, fall day. But, can you find one hour on one or more of these three days to give him? It runs until 8:30 PM Friday and Saturday, and opens very early. There are many opportunities throughout the day. Can your schedule on Sunday handle a change to fit in the closing ceremony and procession?
Some Masses will be at side altars, like Saturday morning. Usually, these are at the Sacred Heart altar. You'll know by observing which altar is prepared, and where the candles are lit before Mass.
Recently, the backlog of audio homilies was cleared. See the post at GrottoCast to see which homilies have been uploaded.
Visit GrottoCast.com for audio homilies from Assumption Grotto and more.
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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
- Diane M. Korzeniewski
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
- Diane M. Korzeniewski
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