I can understand the response I have received to this (see below under Fr Sean Conaty RIP), and I respect it. I am also wary of spiritual things taking place (apparently) across the net, but I discovered that the Pope was encouraging this. If you read the testimonials here, it may explain why. I am fortunate - I have a church next door AND my own private oratory upstairs. Many do not have anything like this, either because of illness, infirmity or lack of opportunity. There are those, as you will see by following the link, who have other reasons for welcoming this new idea.
I must admit that Eucharistic Adoration online is not my kind of thing. Then again, I am fortunate I live in Presbytery I can easily go to daily Mass, not everyone is that lucky. This will be a personal like/dislike. This is your blog Father and you can have whatever you want.
ReplyDeleteBit of a disappointment when you find this below, read the details, click the mouse only to find the webcam not functioning.
ReplyDelete"Live webcam adoration from the Holy Spirit Adoration Sister's Chapel of Divine Love in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
How many people wanted to see what you are privileged to see here, right now, in person - JESUS (body and blood, soul and divinity) truly present in front of you? See Matthew 13:16-17 "
What do you do? Search the web for another?
To me this distances the Lord making Him subject to the vagaries of the Internet or even the electricity supply.
If these live webcams showed movement of people in a chapel I might overcome the distrust we have been told to have in anything on the Web. As Sam said, the static picture could be anything and will be open to abuse. Everything on the Internet is.
Sorry. Not for me.
But it's good to be the first by whom the new is tried and you, Father are the first I have spotted.
"In Him we live and move and have our being"
If we can't get to the real (Real) thing, our prayers are surely no less valid, not dependent on a binary code, a clever program that sometimes breaks down and crashes before our eyes.
Try asking the ACWB though I suspect the women will be too nice to be truthful! Could be wrong.
No Father, not tacky but not for me.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived in Saudi Arabia or some other grim place I would take advantage of it however.
Somebody in America has made this comment online on this topic-
ReplyDelete"...If He can bear to be broadcast by this means -- and He longs so to visit us in intimacy, so it probably is His idea in the first place -- and if we can see His appearance in so mundane a context as the computer as a witness to the magnificence of His humility -- then who are we to stand in judgement of Him? He is present to all of our thoughts, whatever their quality, without judgement and with encompassing loving comprehension. If to our thoughts, why not to a mechanism of their transmission?"
I don't think it would convince Sam!
These comments are interesting and all made in sincerity out of reverence for the Lord. I personally do not use it either but it would be interesting to see if anyone did. If I found no one was using it from my blog I would obviously remove it. If someone is finding it useful - or it is helping anybody - perhaps you would let me know. Incidentally this is not the first internet adoration by webcam, the Monks of the Adoration in America were the first. I am not sure if that is still on the go.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly use it. Especially in times of fear or sorrow, or facing problems that I don't know how to handle and need to sit with the Lord a while. Miraculous! I would leave it on during the night as a sense of Christ's presence in the room. Remember there are two things the devil despises/fears greatly, the Blessed Sacrament and the Priest. Our houses will be filled with His presence!
ReplyDeleteI notice the online rosary sometimes has just over eighty other people praying online, when I go there. It started off at around 21 a couple of years ago, rising to over forty last year.
Honestly! What does Our Lord think of this:-
ReplyDelete"You must have JavaScript enabled on your browser to be able to view the live image".
A little smile perhaps, anything to help.
Remember the words at Pontmain "My Son allows Himself to be touched" (but only via JavaScript)
Sorry!
I'm having trouble with the idea theologically. Where did the Holy Father give his view?
Here's a suggestion.
On the sidebar how about-
"If there is no other way
Eucharistic Adoration Online"
OR
"Can't get to church?
Eucharistic Adoration Online"
I could just about cope with that.
Regards Fr John
I dont see anything wrong with it and I'd use it.
ReplyDeleteThe only danger in it I can see is that it encourages people to stay at home and be lazy rather than getting up and going to the actual oratory for an hour direct before the Lord.
Pax
Stephen
Webcams provoke different responses. I have quite a few on my ipod touch, including Lourdes and two Catholic churches. Very few of them are what you might call "live", but there is one at Greenwich Village New York which changes every 10 seconds and often zooms in on individual people. When I watch it I do not feel at all invasive; I regard it as a privilege and something like this can help us to pray for people we do not know. A webcam of the Blessed Sacrament is a different thing altogether and obviously means different things to each one of us. I tried connecting with the Brothers of Adoration but found that there is only one of them left - the founder - and he is living alone outside his original diocese, still being encouraged by his spiritual directors. I believe he was the first one to use a webcam in his chapel, for adoration. What does the Lord think of this? Who can say. We all believe He is loving and merciful. Perhaps He can and will touch some people through this medium. As for the Pope's endorsement, I cannot find the reference but it was on a separate web site and does not relate specifically to the webcam we have been discussing. I suppose my thoughts in the end are these; if someone is brought closer to God; if they are genuinely helped by this and find comfort through it, then I would chance my arm and say He approves. Why not? To a Saviour who willingly endured all that the Cross meant, and who has said to mystics that He would do it all again if He could, and who is obviously with us in our deepest and darkest moments - even at those times when we seem utterly degraded and worthless, why would He not reach out to people, perhaps not though this medium, but through the person's need? Perhaps it's a bit like His walking on the lake in the darkness in the sense that some people might be struggling in one way or another hoping for a helping hand. I'm sorry if this seems over the top or a bit dramatic, but I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of somebody who might find this - as odd as it seems - as some kind of lifeline. Having said all that, I am not sure how long I will keep it on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI would very much appreciate a definitive answer on this. Who would know?
ReplyDeleteAre we in Christ's presence or worshipping a bunch of pixels?
Can you imagine the sacriledge of someone using the image as a screen-saver at work. God forbid.
The prayer for 18 August in "Sacred Space" in your sidebar says
ReplyDelete"Presence
Dear Jesus, as I call on you today I realise that I often come asking for favours.
Today I'd like just to be in your presence.
Let my heart respond to Your Love"
The accompanying guide says
"Awareness of the Presence of God
If someone asked you to give them another word for 'God', you could use the word 'Presence', for that is what God is. When Moses asked Yahweh his name, Yahweh replied, 'I am who am' and this means 'I am present'. God is really saying, 'I shall be there for you.' God is intimately present to everything, and especially to us. Jesus's name is Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'. Matthew's Gospel ends with the marvellous statement: Know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.
(from Finding God in All Things by Brian Grogan SJ)"
..........
I'm thinking the online Eucharistic Adoration is a visual aid to some and more to others.
Ulimately I'm not sure it matters. As you say it might be "some kind of lifeline".
This subject has made me think!
No live image at 9.08am UK time. 4am US. Not for me anyway.
ReplyDeleteSince this has obviously caused some confusion and some people are upset by it, I am going to remove it from the blog. perhaps we can return to the subject at a later date after I have done a bit more research.
ReplyDeleteAs a final, or penultimate comment I would like to say that not everyone has a computer anyway, perhaps some people can't afford one or the elderly--including myself--have difficulty "working them". It is always a question about whether to move with the times for our benefit. I suppose when the printing press came in replacing handwritten and oral tradition it was the same. Frankly I cannot grasp worshipping the Blessed Sacrament on line, but I do join in the rosary on line.So where do we draw the line. Also I like Ampleforth Compline on line. I have even thought of getting one of those gadgets to take around and do services via these fancy means, but decided to stick to my prayer and office book, 16th century techology, instead.
ReplyDeleteAs long as we are putting ourselves into daily prayer on a daily basis, maybe this is the matter, not relying on anything other than ou r own quiet reflctions and contemplation----most difficult of all at the end of the day, without distractions onto this and that and the other. Kep it simple is my motto, I could be drawn into so many websites I have to say NONONO
barbara
"Are we in Christ's presence or worshipping a bunch of pixels?"
ReplyDeleteDO I NOT FILL HEAVEN AND EARTH, SAYS THE LORD.Jer 23:24
Wow! (says me)
Nice idea ,the online Eucharistic adoration' thanks
ReplyDeleteI do visit an online Eucharistic adoration chapel sometimes and it is a great consolation and help to me because I am often unable to go to a Church because of where we live and time constraints. Of course visiting a Church is the best but many of the Saints recommended using modern technology in creative ways and to it's fullest capacity to give glory to God.
ReplyDelete