Wednesday, March 02, 2011

“We are a Church on Fire!”

A GW Catholic sent me the following article from catholicvote.org:



“We are a Church on Fire!”
Eucharistic Adoration Transforms Parish

“A little church in a small town, St. Frances Xavier Catholic Church, was facing tough times. The congregation was dwindling, and Mass attendance was at an all-time low. The empty confessional was collecting dust, and donations were dismal.

But, then the unthinkable happened.

Today, St, Francis Xavier is one of the most vibrant parishes in the diocese with standing-room only Masses, confessional lines, a busload of parishioners participating in the March for Life, and an abundance of freewill donations that will make them debt-free by April.

“Jesus is on the property,” said Mary Cardoza, the spark that inflamed the parish. “We are a church on fire”.


Eucharistic Adoration has done the same thing at the GW Newman Center. Adoration on Wednesdays has been a long-standing tradition here. When I arrived two years ago, many students came to adore the Lord and receive Benediction during the two hours of Exposition on Wednesday nights. We stepped up Adoration, increasing it to almost ten hours every Wednesday. Students have responded incredibly; we now have 25 students signed up for thirty minutes of Adoration every week. Others stop by for a quick visit and/or Benediction.

I am utterly convinced that the fruits of our ministry come from the Eucharist, and Adoration has played a big part. Here are some of the fruits of the past two years:

- Attendance at Sunday student Masses has more than doubled
- Attendance at Tuesday night Mass and discussions has doubled
- Twice as many GW Catholics attended retreats /conferences this year
- Ten Bible study groups with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students)
- Two dozen men and women attended discernment events this year
- Almost 60 GW Catholics attended the March for Life events, probably the most ever here
- A significant increase in confessions each week


Thanks be to God, especially Jesus in the Eucharist, the Newman Center, too, is on fire!

2 comments:

Wendy said...

Fr. Greg, this is a great message. Without a doubt, I know that going to Adoration has increased my faith and fervor for our Lord. Even if I can only stay for a few minutes, I love going to the Adoration Chapel at my own church. We have a notepad outside of our chapel where visitors to the chapel can leave their prayer requests. Good job on all of the hard work that you have done for Christ. Keep it up!

Kelly H. said...

Young people, I call you up, Adoration. Those who have embraced adoration and benediction, keep inviting others to attend. Adoration and Benediction changed my life in the most profound way........indescribable! Turn off MTV, ipods, texting, and go to adoration. Looking for love in all the wrong places. Go to adoration. You will find what true love is in adoration. It will save you many heartbreaks in college romance/love affairs. Guess what? Your life will change forever. That is a guarantee. What have you got to lose? Step it up young priveleged students of GW and bring your friends to adoration. Not only will the church be on fire, you will become on fire for God. You will find out what true love is and you will know it is not found in infatuation. Go Catholic students of adoration. Step it up. Answer the call. Invite friends to adoration. Wait and see what happens. Go Father Greg!
Signed graduate student at Towson University. Career change. Going to become an educator who works with disabled children grades K-8. Help kids who have learning disabilities so they can go to university one day. I am on fire. No time for MTV, too much texting, not shopping degree for the highest pay anymore, not much time for tv or cruising the internet. ON FIRE. Kelly H.