ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
By: Laura Catherine Worhacz
Dearest Eucharistic Family, Incredible reflection from Saint Peter Julian, Christ, “personified in us, he makes us participants of the divine fruits of Redemption.” Jesus’ gift is to make us fully human by the divine life within. How do we find the Divine Life within? The desire to love will help us find the way to the Divine through our vocation and service to the Church. When my daily Mass participation began, I had a burning desire to read and read, to learn and educate myself in the life of our Church. It is interesting that immediately, my apostolic life kept me busy in our Lord. The more I received the Eucharist, the more my desire to serve was enhanced. Jesus led me to “the unique purpose of His Incarnation.” We are the happiest even now through our conformity to Jesus Christ. Serving our families, those in our communities, and all God has entrusted to us makes us fully human. Caring for others and sharing by our identification conforms us to Christ. To humble ourselves in the Sacrament of Reconciliation conforms us to Christ. To forgive as we have been forgiven conforms us to Christ. To live in Mary’s heart conforms us to Christ. Letting go of the world conforms us to Christ to live in Jesus’ love, which will come from our union with Him. In our desire, consent, and participation in the great mystery of the Cross and Resurrection, we have the blessings as Catholics to RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION. Our conforming to Christ can only come by Him as we are purified into His existence, a life-long process. We can remain in Jesus’ love by the living Word, following all He has commanded of us, and by loving as He has loved, placing others before ourselves, and washing the feet of another. Jesus said to his disciples:
In John’s Gospel 15:18-21, Jesus speaks of the world’s hate and even the world hating him first. Jesus has called us out of the world to be in His love; the world may not know us, for it does not know what it is to conform to in the gift of love. To exemplify Christ’s passion is to do what He has commanded us to do, “to love one another.”
Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, is the surest way for us to follow the Lord Jesus on our pathway of life. In the hymn Immaculate Mary, “And bless, HOLY MARY, THE LAND OF OUR BIRTH.” The land of our birth, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary, birthed Christ into the world to save us from ourselves, from our sins. In Mary’s “Yes,” we may imitate and find our own “FIAT” to God’s will for us, to help us be imitators of Jesus Christ and in conformity with Him, will lead us to everlasting life. It will be upon our day of judgment that we will find the “gage of our happiness in heaven” to be among the angels and saints and all those who have gone before us. In John 15:18-21, Jesus said to his disciples:
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When we hear the stories after Jesus' Resurrection, we see that those who knew Him before He died do not immediately recognize Him. Mary Magdalene “thought it was the gardener.” (John 20:15). On the road to Emmaus, two of them “were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him” (Luke 24:15-16). On another occasion, the disciples went fishing, “When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus” (John 21:4). Their eyes were prevented from recognizing him…
When I read the accounts of these encounters, it seems that they were all temporarily blinded by grief.
Too wonderful for me indeed… What does this even mean? How can I even begin to understand? The Risen Lord is here... with me, in me… in so many around me. Do I believe this? Do I recognize Him? Is there a place in my heart where I’m still blind, where I might be stuck in grief?
Far too lofty for me to reach… this is why you come down to me. You seek me, you call me… you wait for me to listen. You wipe my tears, you hold me… you heal me… you love me. Are we looking for Jesus? The Church tells us: Look to the altar. Look at the Eucharist. Look for Him there! He is risen, as He said.
I remember my catechism classes from long ago. I remember our lovely teacher saying, “God the Father sent His beloved Son so that He would die for us, that by Him dying we would live. He saved us.” That was a simple statement of faith for us. “He sent His son to die for us...” And I remember opening my eyes when thinking that someone great had given His life for us, for me… That statement stayed with me for a long time. As a child, I accepted it without too much conscious thought, for what did I know of life and death or resurrection and eternal life. My teacher, whom I loved and trusted, told me that, and at the time, that was good enough for me. As I grew, I started to explore that simple statement with more mature eyes. What does it mean for our Lord Jesus to die for us? Why did He HAVE to die? I could not understand, for understanding the Paschal Mystery is only possible as a gift of the Spirit, an authentic Grace. In my “conversations” with our Lord, I would always ask: “Would it not have been better if you had stayed here? You could have directly guided us through so many tough times. Nobody would have doubted You in the flesh, available, showing us how to live as we were meant to live. Would that not have been easier?” But the answers to those questions were not to be answered then. Not yet, for how would we accept this beautiful mystery if not for our trust in the One who loves us?
Our teacher, our trusted One, our loved One! He tells us He had to go… but only because we were to receive someone great who would give us a path to communion with Him. Part of the Trinity within us. Someone great, yes, but I did not know the Spirit. I just wanted Jesus here, present in the flesh. So how could I be okay with what is a mystery? But really, Christ knows our hearts better than we do.
In our union with the Holy Spirit, given in perfect love for our good, we are given guidance, companionship, unity, and clarity… That much is declared to us in the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord! These help us to lift the veil of mystery and allow us to approach the Divine. The gifts of the Spirit help us love our brothers as Christ loves us.
We are set free. Like the Wild Goose (a name often used to refer to the Holy Spirit), we get to come and go wherever we are prompted by the Spirit in us. This, too, can be called a mystery! How are we changed when we follow the Holy Spirit and commune with Christ Eucharistic. It is beautiful to see how we are transformed when we learn to dial our hearts to the frequency of God the Father. The Trinity is with us.
This is why Christ Jesus could not stay. I get why He had to go now, yet I still long for His hand to touch mine… Let us hold on and wait a little longer. There will be time for a face to face if we persevere on our way to Heaven. For now, He is present for us in the Eucharist and we have the Holy Spirit within us. We can commune with the Holy Trinity. We are not orphans. What a Grace this is for us!
Let us pray: Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice of love for all of us. Help us to see beyond the mystery, so that we may be strengthened in our Hope, Faith, and Love. May we get to see the light of Your face. Amen.
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AuthorsWe are Ivonne J. Hernandez, Rick Hernandez and Laura Worhacz, Lay Associates of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, and brothers and sisters in Christ. |