With the theme of Jubilee 2025 being “Pilgrims of Hope,” Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark, England, ties this hope to the Eucharist. 

In the wonder of Eucharistic adoration, “we can find hope,” he said when recently speaking in a chapel in the Cathedral of St. George.

The archbishop reminded the faithful that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of Christian life” and “the most precious gift of the Catholic Church because of him — the Eucharist is Christ himself. It is by understanding that the Lord Jesus is present in the Eucharist that we can begin to understand why worship before the Blessed Sacrament provides such fulfillment. As we spend time in adoration as Eucharistic disciples, kneeling before Christ truly present, we begin to see the Lord Jesus more clearly, and he sees us.”

Archbishop Wilson then began to make the connection to hope, explaining that Eucharistic moments are an opportunity to “offer ourselves to him and to feel him working within us and through us. In these moments, we find hope.”

As Jesus gave us his Body and Blood in the bread and wine at the Last Supper, he told his disciples and us, the archbishop explained, “that in the Eucharist, he is with us, that we’re not alone, that we’re not abandoned, that we have hope. Remember, the Lord Jesus is the Truth, the Way and the Life. So when he said, ‘This is my body,’ he meant it. When he said, ‘This is my blood,’ he meant it.”

The Eucharist, the archbishop emphasized, is “the heartbeat of the Church’s life. The Blessed Lord is truly present with us in the Mass, in Holy Communion, in the tabernacle, in the monstrance. And that’s why we need to come before him in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and in the monstrance.”

Because Jesus is truly and really present in the Blessed Sacrament, we bow before him “with profound reverence. In each moment of Eucharistic adoration, we are set ablaze with Eucharistic amazement, with the beautiful truth that the Lord is here in his glory, and he fills us with life.”

 

Sure Hope and ‘Eucharistic Amazement’

Archbishop Wilson strongly reminded that “we all need hope.” 

“The world is divided,” he said, noting the conflicts and wars in today’s world and naming the Holy Land, Ukraine and South Sudan as major examples. Plus, there are “threats to human life … also at home, through assisted suicide and through abortion.”

Yet, in light of this, “we must remember that our experience in this world is far from hopeless,” Archbishop Wilson stressed. “There is hope, and that hope is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving Gospel. This hope creates a yearning within our hearts for Christ. And do not be mistaken: This is very much a Eucharistic yearning because the hope and light of Christ is presented to us in the Eucharist. How blessed are we to yearn for Christ, whose flesh and blood is real food and real drink, all present for us in the Mass.”

Noting that Pope John Paul II said, “The Eucharist is truly a glimpse of heaven appearing on earth,” the archbishop continued, “We can taste and see that the Lord Jesus is good. And we do this by drawing near, hopefully, in our direction to Christ in the Eucharist. As our hearts ache for hope, let us remember that hope comes and is fulfilled in Christ. In our divided world, we only find unity through our Lord Jesus, our Savior and the Prince of Peace.”

The archbishop said how gathering in Eucharistic adoration before the Lord provides a way for souls to find unity and be fulfilled in and through Christ. “Before him in adoration, we pour out our hearts. We talk to the One who loves us the most, who is our best friend, who is our light and our hope. He is our Savior. And, yes, he already knows what we desire and what we need before we ask. But he wants us to tell him, to share what’s going on in our hearts, regardless. He loves us. He knows us. He knows you. So speak to him from your heart.”

Archbishop Wilson gave fatherly guidance on what to do during adoration: Tell Jesus your joys, as well as what it’s like to be you, where you struggle; ask him for what you need and also to help you know what to bring to confession to find forgiveness.

Don’t stop there, though. “Bring to him the needs of others. Thank him for his blessings,” he added, continuing, “But before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, at a certain point, we also need to fall silent, to be silent, to close our eyes and let Christ love us, to open our eyes and to adore him with Eucharistic amazement in silence before the presence of Christ. Hear him speak to you the silent language of his love. The gift of Eucharistic adoration is our chance to encounter the Lord Jesus directly and truly and really in the Blessed Sacrament and to be with him in silence and in prayer.”

The archbishop explained this two-way path because as much as our hearts want to be with Jesus, he also “yearns to be with us” and desires and calls us to spend time in Eucharistic devotion. Scripture assures us of this, he said, recalling the story of Martha and Mary in Luke: Jesus made “a point to Martha — and to us — about the importance of spending time in his presence, just being with him, not only doing for him.”

“This is what Eucharistic adoration offers — a chance to be with the Lord and hear him … a chance to move away from the busyness of life, the distractions, the preparations, and just be truly present with the Lord, who is present there with us. Our action flows from our time with Jesus. Our faith is put into action from him. This is what he asks of us. This is what he wants for us,” the archbishop said, adding another example. Jesus asked the apostles in Gethsemane to watch with him. But finding them asleep, he said to Peter, “So could you not watch with me one hour?”

Archbishop Wilson made the connection current because “the Lord wills for us to be with him.” He added, “From this passage, we received the inspiration of the Holy Hour as a form of Eucharistic adoration. It’s because the Lord willed his disciples and asks us now to spend time with him. An hour, half an hour, 15 minutes to watch with him, just to be with him. But, well, Jesus was speaking to us all when he said, ‘Could you not watch with me one hour?’ We are Eucharistic disciples. We must constantly return to the Eucharist and to Eucharistic adoration.”

 

Abundant Hope

As disciples, we have to “reorient our lives towards Christ. It means living for him. It means befriending him in the Blessed Sacrament. It means finding hope in him, in his Eucharistic presence, and encouraging others to do the same.”

Next, Archbishop Wilson challenged everyone, including himself, to turn in this Jubilee Year to the Lord Jesus, again in Eucharistic adoration, to find hope.

“As our hearts yearn for the Lord, let them be filled with his love and his hope as we enter the presence of Christ, who is with us in the monstrance, in the tabernacle, when we approach the Lord, that our hearts and our spirit and hopes be lifted; as we say simply, ‘Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for seeing me, for being here, for hearing me, for being with me always, for waiting for me with loving healing and mercy. Thank you for being delighted when I stay a while in your presence.’ As St. Peter said, ‘The Lord Jesus is the reason for the hope within us.’”

So this Jubilee Year, come to the Lord, Archbishop Wilson concluded. “Find hope in his presence, in adoration, and may God bless you and keep you always.”

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