Jennings County parishes begin perpetual adoration
Jennings County Catholics gather in prayer on Oct. 2 outside of Good Shepherd Chapel at St. Mary (Nativity of the Virgin Mary) Parish in North Vernon as the parish’s pastor, Father Jonathan Meyer, prepares to inaugurate perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel. Father Meyer is also the pastor of St. Ann Parish and St. Joseph Parish, both in Jennings County. (Submitted photo/Missy Scarlett)
By Sean Gallagher
Since the Divine Mercy Chapel was established at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis in 1989, the practice of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has slowly spread to other parishes across central and southern Indiana.
At the start of this year, there were 11 perpetual adoration chapels in six of the archdiocese’s 11 deaneries. (Related: Archdiocese of Indianapolis has 12 perpetual adoration chapels)
That number grew to 12 chapels in seven deaneries on Oct. 2 when perpetual adoration was inaugurated at the Good Shepherd Chapel at St. Mary (Nativity of the Virgin Mary) Parish in North Vernon.
Members of that parish and of St. Ann Parish and St. Joseph Parish, both in Jennings County, have signed up for an hour of adoration each week at the chapel that was established through the leadership of Father Jonathan Meyer, the pastor of the three faith communities.
Father Meyer had previously ministered at two parishes that maintain perpetual adoration chapels, and saw how devotion to the Eucharist enlivened the people’s faith, family life and a variety of ministries.
“That’s what I know,” Father Meyer said. “From the Eucharist [flows] our service to one another, our service to the Church, our service to the poor, [and] our service to our spouses and our children.”
That ministry flowed greatly in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of the perpetual adoration chapel since the decision to establish it was made only two months before eucharistic adoration began there.
Many Jennings County Catholics worked hard to convert a former beauty salon adjacent to St. Mary Parish into a chapel. A St. Mary parishioner owns the building and is leasing it to the parish.
The chapel’s stained-glass window, altar, statues and other items were purchased from the Diocese of Cleveland, which recently closed several parishes.
Melissa and Matt Harsh, members of St. Mary Parish, volunteered to coordinate eucharistic adoration in the chapel, which includes making sure that someone is always present there all day and every day.
Melissa was thrilled by how quickly the people of the three parishes came together to establish the chapel.
“Honestly, I was a little bit surprised,” she said. “But I guess people just love the Lord that much that they’d be willing to do it.
“Father Meyer is extremely motivating, too,” she said. “They get that he loves the Lord so much that they want to have that same feeling. I think that was part of the reason why everyone was like, ‘Let’s go with it.’ ”
By committing to maintain the chapel, many parishioners continue to make sacrifices.
Traci Yoder, a member of St. Joseph Parish, is busy caring for her seven children, the oldest of whom is 12. Yet, she has committed to praying in adoration at the chapel from midnight to 1 a.m. early on Saturday morning every week.
“I hesitated to take [an hour that is] so late, but then somebody has to,” Yoder said. “And then it’s a time when my kids are asleep. My husband’s asleep. Nobody needs me. So I know that I can get away, and nobody will miss me. It’s definitely worth the sacrifice.”
Karen and Richard Miles and their three grandchildren all make the sacrifice of their time. Kyle and December, ages 12 and 16, spend an hour each week in the chapel at noon on Sundays. Karen and Richard pray there from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays. And Taylor, 17, has committed to praying there from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
“I signed up for an hour because I wanted to get closer with Jesus Christ,” said December, a sophomore at Father Michael Shawe Memorial Jr./Sr. High School in Madison. “It seems that I am always too busy for him with sports and school so I needed a quiet place to just relax and talk with him.”
December took her first hour in the chapel on the day after adoration was inaugurated there.
“The experience was absolutely amazing,” she said. “I felt so much closer with Jesus, … and it made me realize that just talking with him can help with any situation [that] you may be in.”
The fact that people are praying in the chapel 24 hours a day, seven days a week, captured the imagination of Karen Miles.
“I woke up in the middle of the night [shortly after the chapel was dedicated], and I thought, ‘You know? Somebody’s there,’ ” she said. “And the next morning, I thought, ‘Somebody’s been with the Lord the whole time.’ ”
St. Ann Parish parishioners Steve and Renee Gasper and their children, Braden, 17, Derek, 15, and Megan, 12, have spent time in the chapel, often with two or more members of the family praying together.
Renee Gasper was glad to see her children excited about having an adoration chapel so close to their home.
“As a mother, that’s what you want, to see them get excited about Christ,” she said. “[You] hope that you can pass that on to them, and that they share that with everybody. That’s my hope as a mother.”
Father Meyer said he hopes that the chapel will be a place where all his parishioners will grow in their love for Christ and be transformed by his presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
“They will be transformed,” he said. “There’s the TV show ‘Extreme Makeover.’ People will enter here and will have, literally, an extreme makeover. God willing, it will be a total transformation in their lives.”
(For more information about the Good Shepherd Chapel at St. Mary (Nativity of the Virgin Mary) Parish in North Vernon, log on to www.stmaryscc.com/adoration.) †
