How Eucharistic adoration transformed a university chaplaincy

Photo: Archdiocese of Southwark

Source: Archdiocese of Southwark

By putting Eucharistic adoration at the heart of his ministry, Father Mark Wharton has helped students encounter Christ in daily life.

Shortly after he was ordained in 2022, Father Mark Wharton was asked to be the Catholic Chaplain at the University of Kent. When he arrived, the number of students engaged was minimal. Mass attendance was around five people, at best.

The picture looked bleak and Fr Mark said: "I had no idea what to do. I was praying about it quite intensely."

In the Chapel at the university, Fr Mark said he fell to his knees and said: "Lord, Lord - what am I supposed to do. You have to show me what you want because I don't know what to do".

In was in prayer that Fr Mark received the idea to seek out an experienced priest for advice. "I said to an older priest, a wise priest, what am I supposed to do", Fr Mark explains, "and he said, 'you need to do what priests do. You need to celebrate Mass, hear confessions and have adoration".

So that's exactly what Fr Mark started to do. Each day during term time, the Catholic Chaplaincy has Eucharistic adoration, during which confessions can be heard, and also daily Mass.

The impact has been extraordinary. When there were 5 people at Mass on Sunday, now there are 50 to 60. Weekday Mass and adoration numbers vary, but it's typically around 20 students every day. "I have always been grateful to that priest, but I am doubly grateful to him now", said Fr Mark.

The reason this approach has worked, Fr Mark explains, is because by having Eucharistic adoration you are putting "Christ at the centre" and it is therefore "Christ who does the work". Fr Mark adds "once we put Him at the centre it's Him who directs it" and then any barriers to evangelisation in a secular environment "are all taken away".

By providing daily Eucharistic adoration, the students have been able to develop their relationship with Christ. Andrew, a student at Kent, had experienced trouble with his faith in the past but he explains "I bumped into Fr Mark and the Chaplaincy and I haven't been able to leave since".

Andrew cites the impact adoration has had on him and his relationship with the Lord Jesus. "I didn't really know what adoration was at all", Andrew said, "I learned all about it here… and it's been the most life changing aspect" of his time at university. "I love it, to be honest" he adds.

Priscilla, an international student at the university, said the Chaplaincy was her first experience of adoration. At first, she really struggled but after some advice from Fr Mark she speaks of the "benefits" of adoration. Her advice for other people like her, who don't know where to start, is "it's like riding a bicycle, you have to practice to get good at it. So if you really, really want to get the benefit of adoration you have to go."

This advice is emphasised by Fr Mark, who said the key to adoration is "very simple" you have to be there because "adoration is an encounter with the longing of God for us" and if "we surrender, we discover how great it is."

In adoration, Fr Mark explains "we look at Him and He looks at us". Fr Mark said in the world today we often hear talk of "love languages, such as words of affirmation and gift giving", well the love language of the Lord, he explains "is quality time".

"Every time you read in the Scriptures about the Lord's encounter with somebody, His desire is to be with them", Fr Mark said. In adoration, Fr Mark adds, the Lord Jesus "fulfils the desire of His heart to be with us and us with Him."

This is something student Barbara speaks about in her experience of adoration: "In adoration, I just let everything wash down. I don't even know what's going on around me because it's between me and Christ. It's just me and Him."

Nothing else matters, Barbara said, because "everything comes from Him. So nothing else matters aside from Him."

Andrew explains why adoration appeals so much to young people like him: "as young people we're so used to doomscrolling on social media. I've noticed that our minds are never at rest. It's always one thing to the other. It's always TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram.

"Oh I've got to do this. I've got to do this assignment. But just being in adoration. It's only Jesus that can fill a whole big room with such peace. And it slows you right down. And that is adoration".

Andrew's reflection on young people today is exactly why Fr Mark offers adoration every day, as Fr Mark stated: "the reason that we have that we have adoration every single day is because I think it's essential to provide a space for the hearts of young people, young men and women seeking Christ and those who are not seeking Him to rest, to come here and to allow Him to speak".

When someone asks him why adoration is so important, Fr Mark says "I say, look, the Lord is really present, so come and be with Him. Allow Him to convince you that He's here and that you are intimately linked with Him. That's what we want, and that's what He wants."

The students attending the Chaplaincy at Kent express their overwhelming gratitude to Fr Mark for showing them the beauty of adoration. Andrew said "Fr Mark is a big, big blessing. I would say everyone within the chaplaincy appreciates Fr Mark" and this is because, Andrew states, "he's opened us up to things like adoration, which is really, truly life changing. And I wish a load of parishes would do it more frequently. We've got it here daily."

The pastoral support from Fr Mark also shines through, as Barbara explains "he's always available to be there to help you. And also the fact that he is willing to offer adoration, confession and Mass every single day. You literally have no excuse to say, 'oh, I couldn't come'. He offers it every day."

The ministry at the Chaplaincy at Kent is filled with hope and optimism, especially this Jubilee Year. But, Fr Mark explains, it is in the Blessed Sacrament that we find hope "because It's Christ. And Christ says, if we follow Him, everything is possible."

Fr Mark and the students at Kent Chaplaincy were interviewed by the Archdiocese of Southwark as part of Archbishop John Wilson's campaign to promote Eucharistic adoration in the year of hope.

You can find out more about this campaign at: www.rcaos.org.uk/hopeinadoration

Watch a video with interviews: https://youtu.be/TJnVdPMabls