Eucharist means thanksgiving. When we go to Mass we are offering God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all that He has done for us and all that He continues to do. In a special way Eucharistic Adoration is also a prayer of thanksgiving. When you find it difficult to pray or do not know what to say to God why not count your blessings? Try to think about the ways God has blessed you today, in this week, in this year. Once you begin to recognize the many ways God is already blessing you, your heart will overflow with praise.

Jesus frequently came into contact with people who were considered ‘unclean’; He met lepers, taxcollectors, and prostitutes. The incredible thing is that once these people encountered Jesus they could never be the same again. Yet they still had to decide whether they wanted to remain in their state of isolation-- an isolation due to either physical or spiritual sickness (sin), or be healed. The same dilemma is presented to each of us in Eucharistic Adoration. We approach the holiness of God, and in so doing simultaneously come into contact with our own sinfulness. Like the leper, the tax collector, and the prostitute we must ask ourselves if we are willing to be changed by Jesus, to see not only what we are, but who God has created us to be. May the grace which gave the leper the courage to cry out to Jesus also be ours; may we be reconciled with God our Father.

The offering of Mass for the repose of the soul of the faithful departed is linked with our belief in Purgatory. We believe that if a person has died fundamentally believing in God but with venial sins and the hurt caused by sin, then God in His divine love and mercy will first purify the soul After this purification has been completed, the soul will have the holiness and purity needed to share in the beatific vision in heaven. While each individual stands judgment before the Lord and must render an account of his life, the communion of the Church shared on this earth continues, except for those souls dammed to hell.

The Vatican Council II affirmed, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death..." (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, No. 51). Therefore, just as we pray for each other and share each other's burdens now, the faithful on earth can offer prayers and sacrifices to help the departed souls undergoing purification, and no better prayer could be offered than that of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In November the Church commemorates the souls of the faithful departed. We recall that while the Souls in Purgatory are suffering in anticipation of their entrance into Heaven, they can no longer pray for themselves. We are each called to pray for the dead. In Eucharistic Adoration, we bring our own needs but also the needs of those who have gone before us. Praying for the dead is a powerful reminder that this life is not our final destination. One day we will also need the prayers of those whom we have left behind. May we recognize the value of human life and feel compassionate for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory.

The book of Genesis describes how God worked for six days, creating the heavens and the earth and how on the seventh day He rested. Likewise, Jesus spent His days ministering to the crowds, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick, yet He drew His strength by frequently taking time to be alone with His Father in prayer. Jesus teaches us that in order to be fruitful in ministry, in order to “be” for others we must first receive love and strength from God our Father in prayer. In Eucharistic Adoration we too can take time to be alone with God—to allow Him to fill us with His strength and His love. The love we give to others is only what we have first received from God. In Adoration we receive the grace necessary to be faithful and fruitful for the Kingdom of God.

The worldwide communications media have reported with strong emphasis, as a change of course, the news that Pope Francis has declared that persons in the homosexual condition, as children of God, “have a right to have a family” and that “no one should be thrown out or be made unhappy because of it.” Moreover, they write that he has declared: “What we have to create is a civil union. In this way they will be legally covered. I have defended this.” The declarations were made in an interview with Evgeny Afineevsky, director of a documentary, “Francesco,” premiered on October 21, 2020, on the occasion of the Rome Film Festival (Festa del Film di Roma).

St. John Vianney would notice a peasant come to his small church everyday and sit on the last bench. One day he went up to him and asked him, "My good fellow, what are you doing here? Are you praying? You seem to be doing nothing." And pointing to the Blessed Sacrament, he said in reply, "I look at him - and he looks at me."

God does nothing unnecessarily. While it is true that we can access God present in our hearts and through our prayer, there is something profoundly necessary about Eucharistic Adoration. As creatures we need something tangible to ‘hold onto’. God accommodates this ‘need’ of the human heart by making Himself the Bread of Life. We gaze upon Him with our human eyes and He gazes back. We can take God into our hands, into our mouths, and into our hearts. God allows us to interact with Him on our terms. He is truly with us.

Prayer can be a mixed bag. Sometimes there is deep joy and peace, other times there is dryness and distraction. Yet God is always teaching us something even if His method of teaching changes. God’s ways can seem, not only mysterious but also ironic. We see God’s sense of humor most poignantly in the lives of the saints. In Abraham we see a man who was to be a great nation, yet is called to sacrifice His only son. In St. Therese we see a young woman who desired to be a missionary yet died in a cloister. Even in Our Lady, we see a woman called to be both Virgin and Mother. God transforms us little by little. But often it is not in the way we would choose. God’s ways are not our ways.

70. The family founded upon marriage is the basic cell of human society. The role, responsibilities, and needs of families should be central national priorities. Marriage must be defined, recognized, and protected as a lifelong exclusive commitment between a man and a woman, and as the source of the next generation and the protective haven for children.8 The institution of marriage is undermined by the ideology of "gender" that dismisses sexual difference and the complementarity of the sexes and falsely presents "gender" as nothing more than a social construct or psychological reality, which a person may choose at variance with his or her biological reality (see Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 224). As Pope Francis has taught, "the removal of [sexual] difference creates a problem, not a solution" (General Audience, April 22, 2015). "Thus the Church reaffirms . . . her no to 'gender' philosophies, because the reciprocity between male and female is an expression of the beauty of nature willed by the Creator" (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Jan. 19, 2013). This affirmation in no way compromises the Church's opposition to unjust discrimination against those who experience "deep-seated homosexual tendencies," who "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2358).

Every day we encounter inconvenience, temptation, and the painful recognition of our own weakness. These struggles can often feel like more than we can bear, so how can we stay afloat? In Eucharistic Adoration Jesus strengthens us to ‘do battle’ and to view the difficulties of daily life as a participation in His Cross. Not only do we receive the vision to see reality—but also the hope necessary to endure faithfully to the end. God’s grace is sufficient.

63. Politics is a noble mission to promote the common good. As such, it is about ethics and principles as well as issues, candidates, and officeholders. To engage in “politics,” then, is more than getting involved in current polemics and debates; it is about acting with others and through institutions for the benefit of all. The fact that much of our political rhetoric has become very negative and that political polarization seems to have grown should not dissuade us from the high calling to work for a world that allows everyone to thrive, a world in which all persons, all families, have what they need to fulfill their God given destiny. In our democracy, one aspect of this task for all of us requires that we weigh issues and related policies. In this brief summary, we bishops call attention to issues with significant moral dimensions that should be carefully considered in each campaign and as policy decisions are made in the years to come. As the descriptions below indicate, some issues involve principles that can never be abandoned, such as the fundamental right to life and marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Others reflect our judgment about the best way to apply Catholic principles to policy issues. No summary could fully reflect the depth and details of the positions taken through the work of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). While people of good will may sometimes choose different ways to apply and act on some of our principles, Catholics cannot ignore their inescapable moral challenges or simply dismiss the Church’s guidance or policy directions that flow from these principles. For a more complete review of these policy directions and their moral foundations, see the statements listed at the end of this document.