A new Adoration Chapel was dedicated Dec. 8, the feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, at St. Mary Church of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Walnut Creek.

A standing-room only crowd attended a Mass celebrated by Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ. The chapel was dedicated after Communion; after Mass, there was a reception at the school and the chapel was open to visitors.

In the chapel, the Eucharist is exposed for adoration as a place of intercession with the Lord. The chapel is an extension of the Mass, the bishop said, a place where we can come in and pour out our hearts to Jesus Christ.

The crowd broke into applause when the bishop said: What makes the Catholic Church different than others? Only we believe that the bread and wine is changed at consecration into the body and blood of Christ