Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It can be seen
in homes, in families, in marriages, and in neighborhoods ... –
When a person adores Jesus in the Holy
Eucharist, that person and his surroundings change. When a perpetual adoration
chapel opens, it slowly transforms the neighborhood. This is what Isabel Puig
calls the “butterfly effect” (from the theory that the smallest movement of a
butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can have a powerful effect on wind
and weather patterns thousands of miles away).
Isabel Puig is a mother of a large family
and helps to coordinate hourly turns at a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration
chapel in Badalona (near Barcelona, Spain). She is also currently working with
others to open another perpetual adoration chapel in Barcelona, at the Royal Monastery of Santa Isabel, where the Regnum Christi movement houses a
scholastic center.
“The Lord acts in the neighborhood, in
souls, in the whole environment,” Isabel told the Spanish online publication, Religión
en Libertad, as she recalled how, at the chapel in Badalona, “people
find peace.”
“Adorers find
greater peace and serenity to face life, and the wounds of their hearts
find healing by going to see Jesus.”
“If the adorers are doing better, all of
their surroundings are affected,” she noted. “You notice it at home, in
families. When people have their priorities straight, this has an immediate
effect on their friends, and we are better able to help those around us.”
The change happens slowly but surely,
for the presence of the Lord works marvels. “We have seen people change
their lives radically based on that hour of adoration,” Isabel confessed.
“People with addictions, with serious family
problems who find support by leaning on the Lord for that hour. Also couples in
difficulty — one spouse comes or both come together. People find healing
especially for ailments of the soul. You can see how they develop and evolve as
they learn acceptance. There is a lot of joy among the adorers, a deep and
profound joy.”
Isabel says that many people who aren’t
practicing also come to the Eucharistic Adoration chapel in Badalona, because
there they find peace, silence and a welcoming space, and they end up
developing a regular and assiduous prayer life.
Some adorers confess that, although they
don’t go regularly to Mass, they do come regularly to be in the Lord’s
presence. “Something tells them to return each week. It’s a space of total
freedom.”
One example of this “butterfly effect” can
be seen in Ciudad Juárez, where Eucharistic Adoration has contributed to a
decrease in the number of homicides from 3,766 in 2010, to 265 in 2015, says
Fr. Patricio Hileman, a priest who is dedicated to establishing adoration
chapels throughout Latin America. Experience has shown Fr. Hileman that “when a
parish adores God day and night the city is transformed.”