The Bees Knees

Appreciating Adoration as a form of prayer

08/04/2021

Mt 14:22-36 Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

One of the most frequently asked questions of priests is about prayer. I recently received this text from a parishioner who asked about Adoration. She said: “Hey, my in-laws and husband insist that the Adoration Chapel is just the bees knees for prayer. I am not really understanding the point of going there just to pray. If you have a second to explain it to me like I’m five, I’d appreciate the help.” Of course, I was happy to try to explain the prayer of Adoration, but first I had to look up what “bees knees” meant. It means, by the way, “the best,” or “highest quality.”

I remembered that this parishioner had a baby boy named Henry, and so I answered her like this: “Adoration is like staring at Henry while he is sleeping and you do not say a word. He is a miracle and just perfection on two legs. You could watch him for hours and not get bored. Well, Adoration is like that, except we stare at Jesus, and don’t really want to be anywhere else.” That is, sometimes we think we have to say something special or do something extraordinary to pray better. But the best kind of prayer – the bees knees kind – only requires a lot of love, like the love a mom feels staring at her beautiful baby boy sleeping.

In the gospel today we see Jesus’ curious custom of going away by himself to pray. We read: “[Jesus] went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” Now, I call that custom “curious” because what could Jesus possibly have to pray about? After all, he is God. Was he just having a conversation with himself, asking his own advice about what he should do? “Let me see, I have already done the miracle of the loaves and fish in Mt 14, so maybe I will walk on water to finish out this chapter of the gospel.” Is that what he said? No.

I believe Jesus’ prayer consisted of the eternal Adoration – the bees knees – going on in the heart of the Holy Trinity. The Father and the Son gaze upon each other with infinite love, and they don’t have to say a word, and there is nowhere else they would rather be, a little like how that mom would never tire of staring at her baby boy.

Archbishop Fulton sheen compared Adoration to staring at the sunset for a long time. Our faces begin to glow with the same warm light emanating from the sun. In other words, we don’t stare at the sun so that we can change it; rather, we look at the sun, so it can change us, and make us more like itself. God the Son, Jesus, prayed by staring into the burning love of his Father so he always glowed with that same fire of love.

Let me give you a quick primer on prayer, and this is the rest of my answer to that parishioner who asked about Adoration. There are three basic kinds of prayer. The first is verbal prayer, where we talk and recite well-known prayers like Grace before Meals, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Hail Mary. The second is meditation, where we read some Scripture or spiritual book and then think about what we just read.

And the third is contemplation, where we sit silently in the presence of God, and we do not speak, and we do not think. We simply stare into his infinite Beauty and adore him. Again, Archbishop Fulton Sheen helps us catch the difference in these three forms of prayer, explaining colorfully: “In verbal prayer, we go to God on foot. In meditation, we go to God on horseback. In contemplation, we go to God in a jet.” Or, to put it like that parishioner: “Contemplation is the bees knees of prayer.” We say very little, but we love very much.

Folks, next time you go to pray, ask yourself this question: “Am I here to talk, or am I here to think, or am I here to look and love?” If you want to experience the bees knees kind of prayer, I highly recommend the Adoration Chapel at St. Boniface, where we experience a little of that eternal love between the Father and the Son, who simply stare at each other and glow with burning love.

Praised be Jesus Christ!