Picture the scene…….I’m sitting in a chapel before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration. I open my Liturgy of the Hours to today’s Office of Readings and Morning Prayer and there in front of me is the hymn O Come All Ye Faithful. I start singing it silently to myself. What stood out was OH COME LET US ADORE HIM and what that means for me.

When I come to the chapel to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I often place people and situations at his feet and patiently wait for the miracle of answered prayer to unfold in whatever way He sees fit! I can’t tell you how many prayers have been answered and miracles unfolded. One in particular stands out and that’s my brother’s healing from alcoholism. At his lowest point, over ten years ago, I was drawn to bring him before the Blessed Sacrament. I wish I had a video of the way he kneeled before the Blessed Sacrament and BEGGED Jesus for help. The rest is history!

This song reminded me of that day. It calls us to adoration, to come before the Lord to leave EVERYTHING at his feet. The “three” kings were the first to come adore Him and what did they bring? The brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; symbols of the Lord’s kingship (respect/obedience) , divinity (worship) and humanity(suffering and death). In essence, they laid everything at Jesus’ feet!

As I continued to replay the song, I was moved by the words joyful and triumphant. I was reminded of the verse in Scripture “the Lord loves a cheerful giver.” Let’s give all our prayers, works, joys and sufferings to Christ, let’s give Him all the people in our lives – those we love, those who are difficult to love and all those we’ve promised to pray for. Let’s give them JOYFULLY – entrusting Him with our gifts. We know He promises to make all things new and therefore we will be TRIUMPHANT!

What’s weighing on you this Christmas season? What miracles are you praying for? What blessings are you grateful for? Oh come let us adore Him! God bless you!

A few years back I posted a touching rendition of What Child is This? by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige. It’s another favorite of mine. Here’s another version by Chris Tomlin.

Christ the KING; shepherds guard and angels sing; let loving hearts enthrone Him! All things that stood out to me as I listened for the umpteenth time! As often as I ponder Jesus, I’m not sure the implications of what it means to be a King has impacted me as it did while listening to this song. I always get caught up in his humility and approachability but Christ is THE KING OF KINGS – as such His name, His memory and His word are to be respected and revered by all. Think about how you would act if you met a king in person. Is this how you approach Jesus in prayer, in the Eucharist?

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing. This reminded me that Jesus unites heaven and Earth, especially in the Mass. How awesome! Finally, let loving hearts enthrone Him. Every King has his throne but the King of the Universe has many thrones – our hearts. How can our hearts become a throne? By sharing love, by imitating Him and BEING love, a love that is so much more than just an emotion. Ponder that today – what does it mean to REALLY love? Love changes us.

When I first started thinking about love, I immediately thought about loving others. But what about loving Jesus? What does it mean to love Jesus? The more I thought about loving Jesus the more I realized – it’s not about the warm fuzzy feeling one gets inside when “in love” – it’s about transformation.

Do I love Him enough to change for Him. Do I love Him enough to give of myself for His sake, for the sake of His mission? This reminded me of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s words: “it’s not about information transfer, it’s about transformation!” Loving Christ is not about reading His word and regurgitating it, or reading His word and talking about Him. Loving Christ is about reading His word and being transformed by it. To let it melt our hearts into a throne for Christ who is the King of the universe! Have you been transformed by His word or have you just transferred information? Let’s work toward converting our hearts into a throne. God bless you!