In today’s Catholic Messenger (Sept. 10) Father Richard McBrien’s column “Perpetual eucharistic adoration” caught my attention as I am very thankful to have the opportunity to attend eucharistic adoration at Holy Family Church, here in Davenport, every Thursday. However, I do not always agree with Fr. McBrien’s views, nor do I this time.
Father states that “it is difficult to speak favorably about the devotion today.” He also states “there is little or no need for extraneous eucharistic devotions. The Mass provides all that a Catholic needs sacramentally and spiritually.” As a devout Catholic, I fully understand the importance of the Mass.
The last paragraph of the article really disturbs me. It reads “Eucharistic adoration, perpetual or not, is a doctrinal, theological and spiritual step backward, not forward.”
Fr. McBrien will be in my prayers at Mass and, also, during that hour of eucharistic adoration, each week. I will also pray that this devotion continues to spread, throughout the world, and may it never cease.
Loretta Prior
Davenport
