By Linda Reeves - The Florida Catholic Palm Beach
Photographer: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC
Monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament that was adored at the culmination of the “I Will Always Be With You” Eucharistic Retreat at St. Brendan High School, June 10, 2023.
MIAMI | Thais Garcia, 58, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Lakes in Miami Lakes, had a standing appointment with Jesus every Thursday at 10 p.m., at St. Brendan Church’s adoration chapel in Miami. There, she sat quietly in prayer before him in the Eucharist.
But when her husband unexpectedly died, she fled to the chapel, weeping and loudly crying out, “Why Lord?”
He answered and wrapped his arms around her.
Photographer: COURTESY
Thais Garcia, posing in front of a statue of Mary at her parish, Our Lady of the Lakes in Miami Lakes, says she has no doubt that the image that she gazes at in the Eucharist, in the form of bread, is Jesus’ body.
“The Lord suddenly gave me peace,” said Garcia, who had come to know that Jesus unconditionally cared for her. “He transformed me. I knew immediately that I would be okay.”
Garcia is a public-school teacher and mother of three. She and her husband were married 16 years before his sudden death after a surgical procedure.
“We thought he had COVID,” she said. “The doctors did a biopsy and found out he had stage-four lung cancer. He never woke up. Jesus gave me strength. I don’t know if I could have made it through without him.”
Two years later, Garcia continues to walk on her faith journey, visiting the Lord in adoration to talk to him and share her joys, worries, hopes and dreams. She said her life has been forever changed.
Our Lady of the Lakes is practically her second home, where she serves as a catechist, an extraordinary minister of Communion, lector, usher, ministry coordinator and promoter of the parish’s First Friday devotion with adoration. Recently, she was asked to help her parish take part in the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, launched by the United States bishops last year to foster a greater love for the Eucharist. The revival's highlight will be the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 17-21, 2024.
Parishes were asked to invite two “dedicated volunteers who witness a great love for the Eucharist and are willing to sow seeds of renewal and evangelization in the hearts of others” to help with the initiatives at the parish level.
A 2019 Pew Research Center study at the heart of the initiative indicates only about 30% of Catholics believe in the Church’s teachings that the consecrated host is Christ’s body and blood.
“We need to educate people,” Garcia said. “I have invited so many people to adoration. I want to put all my energy into promoting it.”
There is no doubt in Garcia’s mind that the image that she gazes at in the Eucharist, in the form of bread, is Jesus’ body.
Photographer: JONATHAN MARTINEZ | FC
Father Rafael Capo, vice president of Mission and Ministry at St. Thomas University, holds the monstrance during adoration at the EPIC Night of Mercy event for youths and young adults celebrated at the university in April 2021.
“We have something that no one else has, Jesus in the Eucharist,” she said. “We take the Eucharist for granted. When you drop on your knees before the monstrance and look at the Lord, he is gazing back at you. I know he loves me, and I love him. What else matters?”
ADORATION CHAPELS
Most parishes have adoration of some kind through monthly devotionals or Blessed Sacrament chapels designed for daily or perpetual adoration. Sadly, many Catholics do not take advantage of opportunities and don’t know of the benefits.
Adoration ministry started at Holy Family in Orlando in 1994. With the help of a generous donor, a perpetual adoration chapel was built and blessed Sept. 3, 2000. It was the first free-standing perpetual adoration chapel in the Diocese of Orlando.
Deacon Noel Oteyza, who serves Holy Family Parish, said the chapel is a blessing. As part of his ministry, he promotes Church teachings on the Eucharist and enlists volunteers to take one hour shifts to sit with the Lord.
“We never leave Jesus alone,” he said. “We believe that Christ is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the heart of the Church. All people have to do is go into the chapel and look at Jesus. Share joys. Share sorrows with him. Open up to his graces which flow from the Eucharist.”
Deacon Oteyza began going to adoration nearly 25 years ago with his friend Karyl, who is now his wife. “Adoration has always been a big part of her life,” he said. “She is from the Philippines. She would go from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. in the morning. I didn’t want her to go alone.”
Deacon Noel and Karyl both developed a greater relationship with the Lord through adoration, but they also became closer and were married Nov. 24, 2001. Eventually, Deacon Oteyza answered the call to the diaconate after “discerning before the Lord during adoration,” he said. He was ordained Oct. 3, 2020.
Gayle Flynn, a former teacher and parishioner of St. Joseph Parish in Bradenton in the Diocese of Venice, helps promote her parish’s adoration chapel, which is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. It is one of the only adoration chapels in southwest Florida and draws Catholics from many different parishes as well as people visiting the area.
“We have over 120 adorers,” said Flynn about volunteers who sign up to be with the Lord for one or more hours. “When the snowbirds come for the winter, they help. It’s wonderful to have so many people interested.”
Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC
The front of the tabernacle in the chapel of San Isidro Church in Pompano Beach shows embossed metallic wheat and grapes, the elements of the Eucharist.
A group of Spanish-speaking ladies dubbed the “Vigil Ladies” show up on Saturdays to pray all night. Mothers visit with their children. Husbands pray with their wives. Young adults stop in.
Flynn says her father introduced her to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament when she was six years old, growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She accompanied him to 40-hour devotion, a time of continuous prayer before the Lord. Today, she promotes and invites people to the adoration chapel, where she spends a great deal of time and has witnessed many people receive God’s grace and blessings, including herself.
“The adoration chapel is a great resource for our parish,” said Flynn. “We pray with people. We pray for people. It is such a comfort to be with the Lord. He gives you so much peace.”
MIRACLES
Monica Oakes, a parishioner of Our Lady Queen of the Apostles in Royal Palm Beach, in the Diocese of Palm Beach, is a firm believer in the miracles that can happen through prayer before the Eucharist. She has been steadily visiting the adoration chapel at her parish during the past three months. She started out going once a week. Now she is popping in on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“I love adoration,” she said. “Praying really works. I sit in there and pray about everything and everyone.”
Recently she has been praying for her son and his wife, who have been trying to have a child for the past eight years.
“God answered my prayers,” she said. “They are having their first child. When I sit in adoration, I can tell him anything and pray for anything. I ask for miracles, and I find peace.”
FIND OUT MORE
All Archdiocese of Miami parishes have scheduled adoration times, either during the day, several days a week or the first Friday of the month. The following parishes also have perpetual adoration:
- Basilica of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, 1010 Windsor Lane, Key West
- Little Flower, 2711 Indian Mound Trail, Coral Gables
- Our Lady of Lourdes, 11291 S.W. 142 Ave., Miami
- St. Agnes, 100 Harbor Drive, Key Biscayne
- St. Benedict, 701 W. 77 St., Hialeah
- St. Boniface, 8330 Johnson St., Pembroke Pines
- St. Catherine of Siena, 9200 S.W. 107 Ave., Miami
- St. John Bosco, 1349 W. Flagler St., Miami
- St. Katharine Drexel, 2501 S. Post Road, Weston
- For information on the National Eucharistic Revival July 17-21, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana: visit www.eucharisticrevival.org.
