Night to Adore

"There is nothing quite so imperative in our loud, chaotic, fast-paced world as taking a moment to step outside of that torrent of noise to be quiet, to be at peace, and to pray. For a few hours, we found ourselves in a truly otherworldly place, where the glory of God’s creation was in full view as we praised the glory of God’s only Son and His sacrifice. I couldn’t be more blessed.”

– Molly Demel, a teacher at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory and St. John Paul II High Schools

More than 200 people enjoyed an evening of praise and worship, uplifting messages, Eucharistic Adoration, procession and benediction at Cole Park on Aug. 3. The event was hosted by Young Catholic Adults (YCA), who partnered with Corpus Christi Right to Life for their first-ever “Night to Adore.” Father Pete Elizardo, the rector of Corpus Christi Cathedral and pastor at Sacred Heart Parish, presided over the event as passerby’s witnessed Catholics, young and old, kneeling in eucharistic adoration. The backdrop of this joyful yet solemn occasion was Corpus Christi Bay.

Father Elizardo provided the reading from the day’s Mass and gave the address, calling on attendees to have more faith in the Lord. “The Church has always gone through rough waters, and strong winds,” he said. But the Lord is always with us. He calls on us to stay in the boat, but how often do we try to get out because we think we know a little more? How often do we try to do it our way rather than His?”

Father Elizardo also spoke on self-love, calling on the audience to “truly see yourself as that gift to the world, by always seeing Him as that gift from the Father, who gave his only begotten son, to show us the way, to show us the truth.” Following his address, he invited guests to pray with him in Eucharistic Adoration.

During praise and worship, the Cole Park Amphitheater provided the center stage for a family of musicians, siblings Andrew, Carissa and Daniel Reyes. Andrew is music director at St. Paul the Apostle Church and music minister at Texas A&M-University Newman Center. He coordinated all the music and the musicians. His sister Carissa is a music minister from St. Thomas More, a band teacher at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory and St. John Paul II High School, and a YCA member. She emceed the event, led a song of praise and worship, then joined musicians during adoration. Another sibling, Daniel Reyes, music director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and music minister at Most Precious Blood, played the trombone and sang.

Ray Paz from Retrofit played the keyboard, and musicians from Corpus Christi’s nondenominational church Breakthrough helped with the accompaniment. The combination of musicians “was a beautiful invitation to our protestant brothers and sisters to experience the True Presence of God,” said Gracie Gibbon, president of Young Catholic Adults.

Other Reyes family members were helping at the water station.

Carissa Reyes, who spearheaded the event said she felt very humbled to be part of something that was totally led by the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit gave me a vision, and He also provided me with the people to carry out that vision. And I just trusted the whole time. It was just a huge experience of trust and unity.

“After being so isolated and apart – just not together, we hadn’t felt like we could gather. And through this event, the Holy Spirit was saying, ‘We need to gather. We need to be family. We need to see our brothers and sisters in Christ and unify.’

“It’s funny that at the beginning of all of this, I was just sitting in adoration and thinking, ‘we need more Jesus.’ And the Holy Spirit was saying, ‘we need more Jesus.’ And I thought, ‘Jesus, you’re right, we do need you.’ And He answered, ‘wouldn’t it be awesome if people just spend more time with me?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, Jesus, that would be great. We just had this conversation back and forth, and basically, it led to Jesus pushing me saying, ‘hey, I’m giving you all of these ideas because you’re supposed to do something.’”

Carissa described “Night to Adore” as a movement and a witness, especially during these confusing times of COVID-19. “We wonder where is God in all of this? Where’s the Church? To come together, where there’s no other diocese in the entire world named Corpus Christi to adore the true Body of Christ to adore Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi is just incredible,” she said. “God willing, we will be able to do it again next year.”

Lawrence Farah, an attendee who happened upon the event during his daily walk on Ocean Drive, said the music really spoke to him, “these kinds of events need to happen more often,” citing the large Catholic community within the Coastal Bend.

Margie Morin, a YCA volunteer, said the event was “a little glimpse of what the Lord has already inspired in me, and now we’re together as a family; strong church, strong family.”

Anthony Iannacone, a YCA member, said, “Night to Adore was a beautiful expression of what truly being Catholic means. It was a beautiful sign seeing the faithful from parishes across the diocese come together to worship and adore Christ. A true expression of the universal church. Seeing everyone, young and old, fall to their knees for the Lord is the witness this world needs and is right and just for our Lord.”

Near the end of Adoration, Father Elizardo, the diocesan seminarians, altar boys, and Knights of Columbus, processed throughout the amphitheater lawn and blessed attendees. The event ended with a benediction, and Father Elizardo closed, and told them, “let Him go wherever you go.”

Families and young groups sat on the hill in chairs or blankets while priests heard confessions away from the crowd. The priests that were available to hear confessions were: Father Paul Hesse, pastor of St. Pius X; Father Tomasz Kozub, pastor of St. Thomas More; Father Sam Medley, SOLT, from Our Lady of Corpus Christi; Father Richard Gutierrez, Parochial Vicar of Corpus Christi Cathedral; Father Ogie Rosalinas, SOLT, pastor of St. Joseph in Corpus Christi; and Father Sanish Mathew, Parochial Vicar at St. Patrick Parish.

“Night to Adore was a beautiful evening of adoration and worship, fellowship and community. It has been such a joy to see the excitement from everyone who attended. In a time of doubt, uncertainty, and godlessness, we need the presence of Our Lord more than ever, and we need bold witnesses to go out and share that joy and peace of being in His presence,” Gibbon said. (Mary Cottingham contributed to this story.) For more information on Young Catholic Adults, visit ycacctx.com.

Photos by Chloe Rodriguez | For STC