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| POPE FRANCIS I AND POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI PRAYING. Image from thoughtsfromacatholic.wordpress.com via google.com |
Adoration is [i]n the strict sense, an act of religion offered to God in acknowledgement of His supreme perfection and dominion, and of the creature's dependence upon Him; in a looser sense, the reverence shown to any person or object possessing, inherently or by association, a sacred character or a high degree of moral excellence.(1) It is therefore defined also as the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator.(2) It is also intended to exalt the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the "King of Glory."(3) It also blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications.(4)
The First Commandment states that there is but one God and only Him should we adore. This Commandment already sets the limits of true adoration: adoration is due only to God. That is why the prohibition against idolatry is already an integral part of this Commandment - it speaks already of exclusivity. And the prohibition against idolatry comprises every activity, ideology and even mere triviality which divert our full attention from true adoration to God.(5)
We adore God alone by praying because of our humble acceptance of our being creatures and our sincere submission to His being the Creator. We show our adoration through prayers not merely by words by action and gestures also such as lifting up our hands, kneeling down, bowing down, etc. But we must remember that in order to adore God, we must intend to adore Him and when we use words, gestures and other elements to accompany such adoration, these must also be used with such intention. For God knows what is in the heart of every man and cannot be deceived by mere words and gestures.
Intention - willing - is truly important in adoration for even if one's body may be chained so that one may not offer gestures of worship to God, the mind can still praise God. On the other hand, even if the body is in the midst of worshipers and at the center of the temple, his or her mind maybe somewhere else: thinking about that movie which he or she wishes to watch after the Church service, or about that sumptuous meal that awaits after the celebration of the Mass; etc.
Hence it is also true that actions and gestures which we usually use to accompany adoration doesn't actually translate to acts of worship especially when used outside of the formal act of adoration. Bowing for example is one of the actions which non-Catholics use to charge Catholics as a manner by which Catholics perform idolatrous acts such as bowing to images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints. But bowing in itself it generally an act of respect which many people use even in secular settings: the Japanese way of greeting, which is equivalent to handshakes, is by bowing to one another. When a Japanese bows to another, he doesn't mean adoring that person. Catholics too bow down to images not in order to worship them but to honor the Saints represented by the images and ultimately, to honor God who has given those Saints memorialized by the images, the graces and blessings which inspired them to live their lives according to His will.(6)
Some might say also that Catholics pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints when prayer must only be directed to God. Of course all prayers are directed to God but Catholics believe and acknowledge God's great generosity of giving His faithful followers the opportunity to intercede for others.(7)
So when we pray to adore God, we must be totally focused. One doesn't even have to say so much. Holy silence is in fact more acceptable to God than the babble of words - and when we say babble of words it means speaking without putting our personal intentions on the words that we speak but merely speak them in some sort of compliance thinking that when we finish reciting them we have already done our obligation to God.
Meditation and contemplation are actually wordless prayers of adoration, and one who attains this level of prayer actually attains union with God and experiences the joy of being in His presence. Many Saints have been given the grace of truly and fully enjoying God's presence and we call them mystics.
To adore God by praying is the best manifestation of the virtue of religion. By adoring God we acknowledge His dominion over us and manifest our humble submission to His will. This also means that we recognize that He knows everything that we say, think or do and we therefore commit to never cause Him any dishonor so we perform our normal activities with more honesty and sincerity for we put them under God's hands.
(3) CCC, 2628
(4) CCC2628
(5) On the First Commandment. You are My Friends. April 21, 2013.
(6) Catholic Encyclopedia. looser sense of adoration.
(7) Jesus is the Only 'Mediator" but God allows Intercessors. You are My Friends, April 26, 2013.
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