Story by Joe Pisani
Winter, spring, summer or fall, you know where you can find me … at the car wash. It’s an obsession ever since I got one of those executive membership plans that costs a small fortune every month for a wash, a wax, wheel cleaning and vacuuming, the whole enchilada.
My family thinks I’m a little crazy, and they may be right. But cleanliness is next to godliness, as they say, and that applies to cars too.
Before, my wife always said I washed my car only once a year … whether it needed it or not. So now, I’m washing it four times a month, whether it needs it or not.
A few weeks ago, someone said, “You should go to confession as much as you go to that car wash.” Ouch. For the record, I try to go to confession at least once a month and sometimes more as the occasion requires.
The car wash has become an easy target. Another time, one of my daughters snarled, “You should spend as much time with your grandkids as you do at that car wash. To which I responded: “I would if my grandkids knew how to wash a car, so get out the pails, the hoses and the sponges.”
But their sarcasm hit home, and I got to thinking: “If I spent as much time in Eucharistic Adoration as I do at the car wash, I’d be a totally different person.”
Several years ago, I signed up for perpetual adoration and went from 1 to 2 a.m. Saturday morning, a time when they couldn’t get anyone else to go.
After a week of work, it wasn’t easy dragging myself out of bed and driving to the adoration chapel during a crazy time of night, when there always was a lot traffic on the roads because the bars were closing.
Very often, police had pulled over motorists for drunken driving, and it made my trip to church a bit harrowing.
However, I escaped all that insanity once I opened the door to the adoration chapel. A profound peace came over me when I saw Eucharistic Jesus, resplendent in the golden monstrance, waiting for our weekly encounter.
If I had a bad week — which I usually did — Jesus was there to listen. If I was anxious about a family crisis, I knew I could count on him to hear me out, especially if I thought I had been wronged … or if I had wronged someone else.
He’s a compassionate, patient and loving listener, and those are extremely rare traits in our world, where most people are more inclined to babble about their latest conquest and success, rather than listen to you share your pain.
St. Teresa of Calcutta was known for the hours she spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament. She rose at 4:30 every morning, and by 5 a.m. she was at Mass. Then, she had an hour of Eucharistic Adoration to prepare for the day’s work, caring for the sick and the dying. In the afternoon, she spent more time before the Blessed Sacrament.
She valued those moments because she knew Jesus would recharge her with the graces she needed and that she could share him with others who even needed him more.
Sadly, the perpetual adoration I went to ended because they couldn’t maintain the schedule; however, a church where I go to daily Mass has adoration every day. And while the majority of people spend time there in prayer and meditation, I often rush out after Mass to my next adventure or appointment, compelled by the delusion that I have a lot to do. The reality, however, is that a half-hour of adoration would be better for my all-around spiritual well-being than anything else I could possibly do.
Over the years, I’ve been blessed to know people whose lives have changed because of the time they spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. They’re women and men who found the answers they were looking for. Who found the hope and consolation they needed, which couldn’t be found anywhere else.
Those moments with Jesus are the most precious we’ll ever have this side of heaven. We just have to prioritize our lives and make time for them.
So in the pursuit of spiritual self-improvement, I’m revising my “to do” list. Quite honestly, I can’t take “have car washed” off the list, but I’m adding, “spend time in adoration” and putting it at the top.