Eucharistic Adoration – in His presence

Q: Archbishop J, is the hype around Adoration bordering on idolatry? 

Now that is a serious question. Let us reflect deeply.

What is idolatry? What is the Eucharist? How do Adoration and the Mass relate? And what does it mean to say that Christ is truly present? These questions must be carefully teased out with theological clarity and pastoral sensitivity.

What is idolatry?

To understand idolatry, we must return to the First Commandment:

You shall have no other gods before me (Ex 20:3). I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery (Ex 20:2). You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them (Ex 20:4).

This is the core biblical teaching: idolatry is the worship of a false god. Psalm 115 adds poetic depth: “But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see… Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (Ps 115:4-5, 8).

Idolatry, then, is placing anything—whether person, object, idea, or institution—in the place that belongs to God alone.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) offers a fuller view:

Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God… Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in place of God… Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God (CCC #2113).

Today, the idols are not golden calves but ideologies and forces: racism, sexism, nationalism, consumerism, and all that demands ultimate loyalty apart from God.

Is Eucharistic Adoration idolatry?

That depends entirely on what we believe about the Eucharist. The CCC gives us a crucial clarification:

The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as ‘the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend.’ In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained (CCC #1374).

This means that in the Eucharist, Christ is present in a special and substantial way, unlike His presence in the other sacraments, in creation, or in the assembly. All are real, but this is a unique presence.

I remember when I first encountered this teaching. I had assumed that Christ’s presence in the people of God—the Body of Christ—was the same as His presence in the Eucharist. I was wrong. That realisation invited me to a deeper conversion and reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.

The manifold presence of Christ

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) 7, identifies five ways Christ is present in the liturgy:

1. In the person of His minister
2. Especially in the Eucharistic species
3. In the celebration of the sacraments
4. In the proclamation of the Word
5. In the assembly gathered to pray and sing

This is what the Church calls the manifold presence of Christ. Yet among these, the Eucharistic presence is described as especially significant, because of the real presence of Jesus.

If Christ is truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharistic species, then Adoration is not idolatry. It is the worship of the living Jesus Christ, present in the most profound and intimate way.

As the Magi did, we kneel and adore Him (cf Mt 2:11). As the disciples did before the Ascension: “When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted” (Mt 28:17).

Eucharistic Adoration is not a distraction from God—it is a reorientation toward the one true God, drawing our hearts away from false idols and ‘isms’.

Liturgy and Adoration: a living continuum

The Church teaches that “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows” (SC 10).

We often say, “The Mass is the source and summit of Christian life.” That is true—but more precisely, the liturgy is the source and summit, and the Mass is its highest expression. This includes the other sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours, and other sacred rites and blessings.

The CCC beautifully links Adoration and liturgy: “The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, does not exclude but rather in a complementary way calls forth the various devotions of the People of God, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament” (CCC 1178).

In Sacramentum Caritatis (2007), Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “The inherent relationship between Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was not always perceived with sufficient clarity” (66).

Some believed the Eucharist was only for eating and drinking. Pope Benedict counters with St Augustine: “No one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it” (66).

He concludes: “Adoration is not a luxury but a priority… The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself” (66).

Adoration, therefore, flows from the Mass and leads us back to it. It is a vital expression of the Church’s love and reverence for her Lord.

The disquiet

So, where does the unease come from? I believe it centres on two main concerns.

First, some fear that Adoration is displacing the Mass—or being seen as more important than the Eucharistic celebration itself. This concern is heightened by the perception of Adoration as an individual rather than a communal form of prayer.

This calls for deeper catechesis. We must form our people to understand that Adoration flows from the Mass and returns to it.

When rooted in a renewed Eucharistic faith, Adoration fosters reverence, fuels worship and heightens our expectation of Christ’s real presence in the liturgy.

Second, some are unsettled by the appearance of a very large monstrance—what some call “the big Jesus”. But monstrances, like hosts, vary in size and style depending on context.

At Mass, we have small, celebrant, and concelebrant hosts. So too, we may use different monstrances depending on the setting. What matters is what they contain: the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In large churches or stadia, a bigger monstrance simply makes the host visible. Most of the time, we see only the vessel. But now, through the eyes of faith, we can see the host—and through it, Jesus Himself.

Key Message:

Eucharistic Adoration is not idolatry. It is the worship of Jesus Christ—truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity—in the Eucharist. Far from replacing the Mass, it deepens our love for it. Adoration draws us from the false gods of the age and places us in the presence of the living God.

Action Step:

Find time this week to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Sit in silence. Let your heart grow quiet. Let Him love you.

Scripture for Reflection:

John 15:4-5