POWAY — Jesus appeared at Old Poway Park before more than 200 witnesses.
St. Gabriel Parish’s youth and young adult ministry organized its annual “Adoration in the Park” on Nov. 9, an hour of Eucharistic adoration that began with a Eucharistic procession from the entrance of the park to the gazebo, where a portable altar was set up.
“It was an opportunity to bring Jesus to the community around us,” explained Father Bradley Easterbrooks, administrator of St. Gabriel Parish, who presided over the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, while his senior associate pastor, Father Pat Murphy, heard confessions.
About 200 parishioners, who were invited to bring their own chairs and blankets, attended the event.
Father Easterbrooks said that the event demonstrated that parishioners are “willing to give a testimony to their own faith … through a prayer that is taking place in public, but also in a way that’s communal.”
He added, “There were certainly many people who were able to witness Catholics in prayer together as a community, with joy in their faces and love in their hearts.”
Veronica Brewster, associate director of the diocesan Office for Evangelization and Catechetical Ministry, recently began attending Mass at St. Gabriel’s. She and her husband decided to attend Adoration in the Park for the first time this year.
She said that many Catholics tend to keep their prayer lives to themselves, but Adoration in the Park offered quite the contrast.
“Here we were in an open park where everyday life is happening, and everyone’s being reverent and spending time with the Lord, having that encounter,” she said. “So, I thought it was so beautiful.”
She said parishioners put up posters that explained the practice of Eucharistic adoration, in case any passersby were curious what was going on.
She said that she saw some people walk by and stop for a moment, seemingly wondering what was happening. Some even walked around the gazebo to the other side to get a closer look.
Father Easterbrooks said that youth and young adults, some of whom acted as altar servers, comprised about 75% of the turnout. He said the event is held annually in the fall.
Noreen McInnes, director of the diocesan Office for Liturgy and Spirituality, reflected on the significance of events like Adoration in the Park, which began with a Eucharistic procession.
“The procession symbolizes our journey as pilgrims from the baptismal font to the Heavenly Kingdom,” said McInnes. “When we are baptized, we ‘put on Christ’ and are sent to bear Christ to the world.
“The Eucharistic procession demonstrates that calling in a very visible way,” she continued. “We are to witness our faith to everyone we encounter, at all times, and, if necessary, use words.”
