St. Matthew observes 18 years of perpetual adoration

    SAN ANTONIO • On Jan. 22, 1987, St. Matthew Church opened its door for perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in response to a request from Archbishop Patrick F. Flores.
    On Jan. 23, 2005, the archbishop was back at the parish to celebrate an afternoon Mass in observance of the 18th anniversary of perpetual eucharistic adoration there.
    Today, there are 16 perpetual eucharistic adoration chapels and more than 150 parishes with eucharistic adoration in the archdiocese.
    Concelebrating the Mass with Archbishop Flores were Msgr. Michael Yarbrough, pastor; Father Tom Kavanaugh, CM; associate pastor at St. Matthew; and Msgr. John Wagner.

   In his homily, Archbishop Flores said, “I want to begin by thanking you for your commitment to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Please ask more to join you, as there is room for more. Pray for families, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for yourself, and for our world.”
He then offered a brief lesson in the history of the church. “Nothing divided us more than when Jesus first spoke of the Eucharist, saying ‘Drink my blood, eat my body.’” The crowds of followers began to leave until only the disciples and apostles were left. Jesus looked at them, asking, “‘Won’t you also leave?’ Peter spoke up, representing those remaining, stating Jesus had the truth of everlasting life.”
The archbishop said that throughout history men and women find it hard to believe in the Blessed Sacrament, but that there are those, like Peter and the apostles, who stand up for this truth in the Eucharist. “Where do we get our strength to do this?” asked Archbishop Flores. “From Communion,” he answered. “I remember the persecutions of Mexico. The people would run away and leave. Those who stayed told stories of how they were only able to endure these persecutions through the power of Jesus in the Eucharist. Those priests had to hide to continue to serve the people. Often after a secret Mass, the priest would leave extra consecrated hosts, as he was not certain when he would return.  The people would be able to have Communion to keep up their strength.” 
The archbishop continued, “Not too long ago, I was appointed to a committee to go to those newly free parts of the world that were under communism for years, to assess the damages.  These church properties were finally given back and they were in shambles. But the faith, in spite of the persecutions and pain, remained with the people. How did the church survive? Only by the power of the Eucharist. The hidden priests secretly had Masses and by the power of Jesus in the Eucharist the people survived in spite of the persecutions. Communism had fallen, but the church survived. We believe Jesus is really and truly present and gives us his flesh and blood so that we may have life, but also so that we go before him with our collective petitions for the whole church.”
  Archbishop Flores concluded by offering words of encouragement to the attendees. “Just because things have gone the way they have in the U.S. and other parts of the world, we must not give up! We have seen in our lives many great and wonderful gifts through Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Again, I thank you for your commitment to the Eucharist, and don’t give up.”
Before the final blessing, Msgr. Yarbrough invited everyone to the cafeteria for a reception. He also thanked all those who helped with organizing the event along with Kathleen Crockett, head coordinator of their eucharistic adoration chapel and all the division leaders and hourly captains. 
At the reception, people were able to view special displays celebrating this Year of the Eucharist, and each person was given a prayer card to commemorate the event.