My Son the Writer and Eucharistic Adoration

Teen son wants to be a professional writer (remind me to tell you the story someday of how he HATED writing). He is currently writing a fantasy trilogy. Yep, three novels. He's not ambitious or anything.

But fantasy isn't all he writes. He helped me with a teen book that is soon (prayerfully) to be published and he is the student columnist in the current Heart and Mind issue (spring). Look for him, his pen name is Christian Ohnimus (rhymes with anonymous.)

Here is something that he wrote for the newsletter of the Holy Adoration Eucharistic Chapel:

After a fast-paced week full of school, work and extra-curricular activities, the quiet peace-time of holy adoration early Saturday mornings has been a wonderful way to tone it all down for me, and has been for years. With the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the constant contact with sounds and noises that go along with it, there really is no better way to relax than to spend time with God, and chapel is the perfect place to do that. With the soft glow of lights, flickering candles, and most importantly, the very presence of God in the Eucharist looking down on the bowed heads of those at prayer, a quiet atmosphere ensues the moment one enters the chapel.

But holy adoration is more than a way to relax, it is a special time set aside to commune with God in ways that really are not the same when at prayer even in the comfort of one’s own home. One seems to discover a content and quiet peace of mind the moment the door closes behind them, shutting out the busy world outside for a time; for chapel really is its own little world, detached from the material things just outside its doors, in the world, but not of the world.

Time should be set aside in prayer every day, of course, but attending chapel once a week gives one the chance to incorporate prayer into our lives in a way that really keeps us focused on prayer, placing God at the top of the list and just letting the rest of our lives fall into place around Him. Time spent talking to God through prayer, reading scripture and in meditation becomes even more potent when directly in the presence of the Eucharist and our awareness of the presence of God and the impact he has on our lives is enhanced beyond previous degrees to new levels that help to develop our spiritual lives so that we may come ever closer to our Lord, Jesus Christ.

This article brought me to tears.
Hope you don't mind a little mom bragging.