“O inestimable charity! Even as You, true God and true Man, gave Yourself entirely to us, so also You left Yourself entirely for us, to be our food, so that during our earthly pilgrimage we would not faint with weariness, but would be strengthened by You, our celestial Bread. O man, what has your God left you? He has left you Himself, wholly God and wholly Man, concealed under the whiteness of bread. O fire of love! Was it not enough for You to have created us to Your image and likeness, and to have recreated us in grace through the Blood of Your Son, without giving Yourself wholly to us as our Food, O God, Divine Essence? What impelled You to do this? Your charity alone. It was not enough for You to send Your Word to us for our redemption; neither were You content to give Him us as our Food, but in the excess of Your love for Your creature, You gave to man the whole divine essence…”
– St. Catherine of Siena

 

This week marks the kick off of UST’s Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. As students passed through the quad after class mindlessly, Fr. Erich Rutten followed by a lengthy procession of people, carried Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Blessed Sacrament into the Koch Commons Adoration Chapel to ignite the beginning of perpetual adoration for the Fall 2011 Semester. 

This kick off began with the daily 12:10pm Mass at the UST Chapel and was followed by the procession to the Koch chapel. The procession was a great (albeit probably confusing for many onlookers) witness to the campus. This gift of Adoration (not to mention perpetual Adoration) is something that many schools and even many churches do not have the opportunity to have. 

“I believe it really is the key to the conversion of this campus”, said Fr. Rutten. And not many could fight this statement when you look at how eager the campus is to take part in this gift of Perpetual Adoration. Consistently the schedule for guardians fills up immediately. What about those time slots during the wee hours of the night? Finding guardians is easier than an outsider could even imagine.  And often, those time slots go even quicker than the slots during the day. That’s right. How about that for countercultural? 

If you are interested in taking part in this “key to the conversion of campus”, contact Austin Weyant weya3536@stthomas.edu to either pick up a time slot and/or receive more information.

 “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” Matthew 26:40