Fr. Mark has a good post about spontaneous visits to Christ in the Eucharist (here).
I remember when I got my first place in Baltimore. I went walking around the neighborhood (Bolton Hill). It was a typical summer day in Baltimore, hot and humid. I walked passed the church on the corner and checked the door to see if it was open, it was. Inside it was cool, dark and quite (just as i like it). I took a seat in a pew to cool off and pray. I noticed a man sitting in a pew in front of me, he seemed to have the same idea. He took out a cigarette and lit it… I remember saying to myself, ‘Now that’s what a neighborhood church is supposed to be like, a place of quite prayer where you can share a cigarette with Jesus.’ (I smoked at the time however I resisted the temptation to light up in church even though I had dreams about doing the same)…
As a rule that church was always open during regular business hours. This meant that anything of value was either bolted down or in the safe (which also meant there was barely any decoration). It is a shame that churches have to lock their doors. But as Fr. Mark says, a few years ago churches were barely ever empty…
