Father Bahr, faithful of Garden City, celebrate 11 years of perpetual adoration

For more than 11 years, they’ve been spending at least an hour a week in perpetual adoration of Jesus Christ at the chapel at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City – young and old, from all walks of life, bent on an hour of quiet devotion to the Lord.

Father Joseph Bahr, pastor of St. Dominic Church in Garden City, recently celebrated the 11th anniversary with a special Mass and social gathering in the parish hall.

Perpetual Adoration began at St. Catherine Hospital Oct. 4, 1996 with more than 780 people.

Today, approximately 300 people participate at some point throughout the week in the 24-hour-a-day adoration at the chapel, thanks in part to the hospital’s security carefully allowing the chapel’s doors to always remain unlocked.

While the number of adorers is less than what it once was, their devotion (some act as substitutes, often adoring two or more times throughout the week) has kept perpetual adoration at the hospital chapel going strong.

Why do they adore? They are attracted to the chapel’s tranquility – a dimly lit room, whispered prayers, a place to pray uninterrupted. And for many, it’s a place to hear God speaking to them, as well. Adoring isn’t only about worship, it is also about receiving personal gifts of grace from God.

“My experiences with perpetual adoration have been something beautiful,” Genaro Espino told the SKR in an earlier interview. “God the Father is present in the flesh. When I am there, I give Him my fears, worries and failures of the week. I also give Him thanks for good health and everything else He gives me. What I feel inside of me when I praise Him with music is too great to describe with words.”

Espino was part of a youth group that adored each Saturday night. He often played soft, lilting music on his guitar during the adoration.

“I have been an adorer for three years, and the reason why I have done it for so long is because when I get confused with life, God somehow gives me the correct answers,” said then-18-year-old Rudolfo Martinez, another Saturday night adorer. “He has also let me know that the bread really becomes His body. I am motivated to adore by the fact that if I do not come and adore, He might be left alone. I need to be with Him just as He is with me.”

Father Joseph Bahr, pastor of St. Dominic Church, has been instrumental in his support of perpetual adoration at St. Catherine’s, as has the hospital itself.

For more information, call Bill Burrell, (620) 275-9530, or to speak to someone in either English or Spanish, Dolores Cruz, (620) 276-8760.