BALTIMORE, Md. (Catholic Online) - Who has not dreamt of adoring the Christ Child in Bethlehem? Worshiping alongside the shepherds and angels on Christmas night. Gazing upon the Word made Flesh.

Yet even as we long for a glimpse of Christ’s holy face we forget that He remains in our midst; not only spiritually, but truly and substantially in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Though born and raised Catholic, I was twenty years old before I was introduced to Eucharistic Adoration. Like many in my generation I was without knowledge of or recourse to many traditions of our faith, but our Lord brought me into His presence.

Kneeling for the first time before the Sacred Host, I grappled with feelings of unrest as I had no knowledge of this worship. Yet I made a humble act of faith praying, “O! Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I put all my trust in You!” and a mysterious fire ignited within me that I had never experienced before.

Countless are the souls that describe an intimacy and power in this worship. Upon instituting daily adoration, Mother Teresa explained that her vocations doubled. Yet for all His graces, I took our Lord for granted, visiting only occasionally.

Christ did not draw great crowds to his birth and He allowed Himself to be abandoned on the cross. He who spent His agony alone rarely forces us into His presence. Yet He continues to draw us all with love, and years later I was struck again by the marvel of our Lord’s presence.

Upon stepping into a chapel in Baltimore, it became so strikingly clear that Jesus was present I could have laughed in my utter amazement. An old priest bowing at the altar turned and smiled at me with great love, and I wondered how we could be alone in this worship.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Will not Christ heal us if we only look upon Him? What miracles would take place if we cast our eyes on our Eucharistic Lord?

Not only spending an hour with Him in spiritual reading, but gazing upon Him in loving contemplation. It is the great mystery of our faith that our Lord chose to be born of man, placed at birth in a feed box, in the city called, “House of Bread.”

Who would not cross a desert to adore the Infant-Jesus in Bethlehem? It is our heart’s desire, so come. Let us adore Jesus truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Let our eyes pierce eternity and begin heaven by fixing them on God. Prostrating ourselves with the shepherds and Magi in humility and love let us exclaim:

“O! Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I put all my Trust in You! O! Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, with all my heart I Love You!”

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Thomas Kronholz is regular reader and viewer of Catholic Online who submitted this meditation for our review. We are pleased to publish it.