This Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 is the first Friday of the month. On this special day, many parishes offer a Mass and Eucharistic Adoration with Benediction.The following is a teaching on Eucharistic Adoration from A Minute in the Church: Life In Christ by Gus Lloyd, available at the Pastoral Centre.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. In other words, in the consecrated host, Jesus is there, truly there. So it only stands to reason that, as Catholics worship Jesus, they would worship Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Outside of Mass, this is known as Eucharistic Adoration and is commonly done through exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
During exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a consecrated host is put into an often ornate receptacle called a monstrance. This is from the Latin word “monstrare,” which means “to reveal.” A monstrance has a glass-covered hole in the middle, which reveals the Blessed Sacrament. The monstrance is brought in in a procession, and Eucharistic Adoration includes or ends with Benediction, or a blessing by the priest who makes the sign of the cross with the monstrance.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1378, says this: “The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession.”

For further study: CCC 1378, 1418