Eucharistic Hour of Power: Fostering a deeper communion with Jesus Christ and one another

By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer

The time has come. The “Hour of Power” has arrived.
In the spirit of Pope John Paul II’s call for a greater devotion to the Eucharist, especially during the Year of the Eucharist that begins Sunday, Oct. 10, Catholics from throughout the Archdiocese will now have the opportunity to meet monthly for an hour of eucharistic adoration — an hour of power spearheaded by young adults.
“To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the program which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the New Evangelization,” the Holy Father said in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia.
“A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of Christ … cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the body and blood of the Lord.”
For this reason, according to the Office of Youth and Young Adults, the goal of the “Hour of Power” is to have a deeper communion with Jesus Christ and one another, where the faithful can come together in fellowship and communal prayer to form genuine ‘schools’ of prayer.
“It’s a very simple and powerful way to bring people together and spend time with the Lord,” said Rosey Stracquatanio, assistant director of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocesan Office of Youth and Young Adults.
The Holy Father has not tired of calling young Catholics to take their place in the Church, and the young adults of Philadelphia are answering this call with great enthusiasm, she said.
“The “Hour of Power” will be hosted monthly by parish and cluster-based young adult ministries. The first hour of prayer and benediction will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at St. Katharine of Siena Parish in Wayne, sponsored by the Young Adults of Sts. Katharine and Isaac Jogues (YASKI). It will be led by Father Kevin McGoldrick.
Each “Hour of Power” will include reflection and meditation, worship, practice in prayer, and benediction, followed by a social gathering. It is a a young adult initiative
— involving mostly 18-to-35-year-old Catcholics — but everyone is welcome, Stracquatanio said.
“We are all Christ’s children and so we are all called to spend time with Christ,” she said. “Eucharistic adoration is something everyone can do, but many people don’t do. We hope to see it spread.”
Paul Gallagher, the spiritual coordinator of YASKI, agrees.
“The Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist is a great gift. We are interested in promoting this worship of our Lord’s presence and that’s what the ‘Hour of Power’ is all about,” Gallagher said.
“To evangelize the world,” the Holy Father said in his 2004 World Mission Sunday address, “there is need of apostles who are ‘experts’ in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist.”
Consider this your invitation to become such an ‘apostle’.
To request to host an “Hour of Power” or to find out more information please contact Rosey Stracquatanio at 215-965-4635 or rstracqu@adphila.org.

Nadia Pozo can be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.

The first Hour of Power

Hosted by:
YASKI (Young Adults of
St. Katharine and Isaac Jogues )

Where:
St. Katharine of Siena Parish
104 S. Aberdeen Ave.
Wayne, Pa.

When:
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9

Celebrated by:
Father Kevin McGoldrick