The ‘Heart to Heart’ Apostolate of the Guild had its first beautiful evening of Adoration on Saturday, September 24th. Deacon Férry Galbert opened the evening with a powerful reading of the Prologue in the First Chapter of the Gospel of John. Light in the darkness then spread from the sanctuary lamp out into the pews as each person held a candle lit from that one light, the light of Christ’s Real Presence in the Tabernacle.
Fr. Malachy Napier CFR, one of a few Eucharistic Representatives designated by the USSCB for their Eucharistic Revival, gave his testimony on the impact His True Presence has had on his life and his vocation to the priesthood. He has just returned from mission work in Nicaragua and spoke of how far into the mountains people would travel in that country in order to come to Adoration.
Everything changes, all of our priorities change and what we are willing to do changes when we truly know that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is present with us in the Eucharist.
The Keller family provided wonderful worship music, following the leading of His Spirit in the moment to sing of His great love for all attending. Amy and John Keller, original worship leaders for Catholic Underground at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Manhattan, have stepped away from leading worship for many years as they raised a family.
The “Heart to Heart’ evening was one of the first for the whole family to lead worship together. The poignant sound of young, angelic voices joined with their parents in harmonious chords brought tears to eyes. The thread that wove through the evening of music was opening our hearts to Christ’s Heart whose Heart is always opened for us – to come to Him, sit with Him and be renewed and restored in His presence.
After Benediction, Fr. Michael Clark beautifully sang a French folk version of the Memorare and blessed those attending with Holy water. This is the first of 9 ‘Heart to Heart’ evenings for the diocese this season.
Liz Sweeney is Chief of Staff for the Sacred Heart Guild. A graduate of Princeton, she wrote her senior thesis on the writings of Flannery O’Connor and currently teaches at Regina Pacis Academy in Norwalk. She has a master’s in education from the University of Bridgeport and served on several Catholic School boards, including Trinity Catholic High School, where she assisted the chaplains and was involved in youth ministry. She has also worked for the Institute for Catholic Formation Leadership and led a Bible study group in Greenwich.