Vandy Brennan Nies - In the Silence: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration

My prayerful gratitude to:

Those who touched my heart with their faithparents and grandparents in particular, dedicated teachers, sisters and priestswhose belief in and reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist instilled in me a love for the Mass and eucharistic adoration;

The members of my familyall four generations of themwhose support for my insatiable bent for writing has been constant, even when it required sacrifice on their part;

The people whose insistent persuasion was a motivation to write this book as an instrument of spreading love for the Eucharist;

My friend and spiritual companion, Fr. Ralph Wright, OSB, for his spiritual and journalistic advice;

My writer/editor son, Jay Nies, whose filial support and professional insight and encouragement have been invaluable.

In the Imitation of Christ, Thomas Kempis wrote:

Then God himself will say to me: If you want to be with me, I want to be with you. And I will reply to him, Be generous enough to stay with me, Lord, it would please me and I would very much like to be with you. This is the whole of my desire that my heart should be united with yours.

Vandy Brennan Niess meditations on the Eucharist are a wonderful, down to earth, invigorating, and prayerful example of this desire. In an unobtrusive and refreshing way, while meditating on texts from Scripture, she leads us along her pathway of prayer and a nonchalant intimacy with the Lord. As she brings all of herself to these Emmanuel moments of adoration, I found, depending on my mood, that I was able to identify with her frustrations, her wonder, her desolation, and her thanksgiving.

Here is a book that will draw many people to a deeper love of Jesus, present in the Eucharist, and a deeper appreciation of our ongoing union with him. Out of her silence, she offers in words fresh ways to abide with the Lord.

R ALPH W RIGHT , OSB
S T . L OUIS A BBEY

When Jesus uttered the words, This is my body given up for you, on the night before he died, in effect he was writing his last will and testament. This God-man had accrued no wealth and no possessions; he had no earthly belongings to entrust to us. But when he returned to the Father, he certainly didnt leave us empty-handed. He left for us our greatest treasure.

In the absence of worldly belongings, he bequeathed himself to us for always and ever. He had reached the point where his mission was about to be fulfilled. He could return to the Father free of human constraints, having done what he was sent to do. Instead, he chose to initiate a plan to remain with us until the end of time in the tabernacles and monstrances of our churchesand in the hearts and souls of those he called his.

As Catholics, we believe Jesus is present hereboth human and divinetrue God and true man. Because our faith tells us Jesus remains with us in the consecrated host and that he is the Real Presence on this altar, we come to spend time and adore him from the depths of our hearts. Adoration is a time for us to share with Jesus in the most intimate exchange.

Go to the Lord just as you are. Be natural. Turn yourself over to Jesus totally. Drain yourself of everything else that was important to you, regardless of how monumental or how mundane, until you walked into this church.

Now, nothing else matters. He has been waiting patiently for you to choose this time with him. Give it freely and fully! Allow him into the deepest recesses of your heart, even the places that are difficult for you to let him see.

You are invited to fall deeper in love with the Most Holy Sacramentto leave here totally immersed in who he iswith a resolve to share him with each person you meet as you carry him with you in the tabernacle of your heart.

Accept his bequest graciously and willingly. Allow the true and Real Presence of Jesus in this eucharistic gift to open your eyes that you may see his face, open your ears that you may hear his message, open your heart that you may love him unreservedly, turning over without hesitation everything you are.

Let this meeting with Jesus be a time of healing in mind, body, spirit, and heart.