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, The month of May comes with so many blessings. Every day we rejoice in the gift of Our Blessed Mother, yet especially, we honor and invoke her in May. She is our Mother, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Mary is the first to live in a pattern of prayer in our Church. She shines forth what sacrificial love will expect of us. Mary watches over our lives with motherly affection and embraces us through our prayer. Our rosaries offered connect us to the fruit of her womb. We celebrate Mother’s Day in remembrance of Mary; we thank you, mom. The daily scriptures during the Easter Season have been building us up in hope. We are inspired by faith, given grace to be poured out to allow God’s life to live through us. The above excerpt from St. Peter Julian goes deep within. Who inspires us? Jesus, why are we here before You in the Blessed Sacrament? Why are You here? Why are we here together?
Jesus will fill our hearts, ”May he give you the desires of your heart” ( Psalm 20:4). Jesus teaches us all things, how to live and move and be. Immersing our prayer into the sacrificial love Christ offers us from the Cross helps us find our center. Knowing we are so loved by God allows us to live in forgiveness, in return for Christ’s love. Jesus is here for us, in a humble piece of bread; He teaches us to become one in His person, to abide in His love. There have been so many times I have knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, carrying the weight of the world. Instantly, hope transforms the burdens into a silent conversation with the Lord that soothes, clarifies, and guides us to peace. Why are we here together? We are the Body of Christ. After leaving our adoring time, who do we rely upon this side of Heaven? Who can depend upon us? Is there a center of love in this life? Yes. The Blessed Sacrament at the center of our lives forms us and inspires us to be what Jesus is to us for others. Rejoice! What do we rejoice in? I rejoice in the gift of my faith, in the blessing to know Jesus Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. My husband, daughters, my entire extended family… My sisters in Christ, my brothers in Christ…The gift of our Blessed Mother, who loves us beyond telling… St. Joseph... This is the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is with us now in the Eucharist. Upon our reception of Holy Communion, we are in Heaven while on earth. Our world was left a mark of faith from Mary, forming the center of her life through Jesus. She rejoices in carrying out God’s will by helping her children live in the same pattern of prayer through the heart of the Eucharist. People far from the faith or receiving without hope may need to see our compassion and love to know Heaven is real. The divine reality of Eternal Life will be upon us. Burdens, sadness, and sorrow are real; loss comes with a heartache God alone brings to light. May our Eucharistic Adoration bring Heaven to Earth so others may be removed from despair and REJOICE.
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We all have obstacles preventing us from fully receiving the love God wants to give us, sins that block the flow of grace to us. The life of a Christian is one long process of restoration. Our Father constantly invites us to give every part of our lives over to Jesus so He can redeem our brokenness, every wound, every sin, and transform us into Himself. The process is long and often painful. We need to learn to trust Him with the parts of our hearts that have been trampled on, hoping that His promises are true… That He is the way and the life, that He is the Truth, and that the TRUTH will set us free. When we tell God, “please come into my life, please take away this sin that is hurting me, that is hurting those I love,” He comes right up to that wall we spent so much time building up, that wall that is keeping us from feeling the pain we are not ready to deal with…and he knocks. We hear Him calling; we want to let Him in, but we cannot find a door. There was a door there once, but we sealed it shut. In trying to keep the pain away, what we did is block ourselves from receiving the only thing that can heal us…the love of God. This encounter with Truth is a moment of tension. On one side of the wall, we are trapped, oppressed, burdened by our sin. On the other side is God, calling us to come to Him, asking us to let Him break down the wall. But we are attached to the wall. It has become our comfort, our support. And even though it hurts us, it is scary to think it won’t be there anymore. What will happen to the parts of us that are attached to the wall? How will we get through the pain of that separation, of that stripping away of all the things we placed as substitutes for God? So God patiently waits and lets us wrestle with Him until we reach the point of surrender and finally say,
Mary, who had no walls between her and God, silently offers these words with every breath of her life. Never is that silence more eloquent than when her heart speaks them at the foot of the Cross. It is there that her Immaculate Heart is pierced open with pain for each one of us, her children. It is there where she brings us when we hold her hand in prayer, to a place of encounter with Her Son. Today, as we begin the month of May, the Church invites us to walk with Mary, “our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” It also lifts our eyes to St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Pondering on this Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we see that the rest found in God is not one of inactivity but one of life and creativity. We find rest when we take up His yoke. We find rest when we surrender to God.
With Mary, at the foot of the Cross, we find the strength and courage to surrender. It is there where we find our rest. This rest is not something we can provide for ourselves; it is the gift He wants to give us. And, although we live in the hope that one day we will be in a place of eternal rest in Heaven, where there will be no more sorrow or pain, we can experience His peace while we are still in this valley of tears. At the Last Supper, Jesus says:
What did Jesus leave us during the Last Supper? The Eucharist, the gift of Himself …His Body broken for us… His Blood poured out for us… We know how the story ends, so we give thanks. We know the promises are fulfilled; we know the tears are wiped. When we look at the Cross and see the price paid for us, we hear Him say to each one of us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” There is no reason to despair; no part of you is broken beyond repair. You are worthy of restoration. “Come to me… and I will give you rest.”
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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. |