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 Ivonne Hernandez “St Paul expressed a wish to the Ephesians that, through the grace of the Father from Whom proceeds every gift, they should know the charity of Jesus Christ for men, "which surpasses all knowledge." He could not wish them anything holier, or better, or more important. To know the charity of Jesus Christ, to be filled with the fullness of it, that is the reign of God in man. And that reign is the fruit of devotion to the Heart of Jesus, living-----and loving us-----in the Most Blessed Sacrament. This devotion is the sovereign worship of love. It is the soul and center of all religion; for religion is merely the law, the virtue, and the perfection of love; and the Sacred Heart is the grace, the model, and the life of it.” [1] - St Peter Julian Eymard Meditation: When we speak of the human heart, we speak of a twofold reality. We speak of the organ at the center of the body, which purifies and pumps the blood that flows through the whole body, and we speak of the hidden center of the human soul, the place of decision, the place of truth. The heart “is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.” (CCC, 2563) St Peter Julian tells us that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is the “soul and center of all religion”. When we receive the Eucharist and allow His heart to transform ours, we can then become the heart of His mystical body, allowing His grace to flow to all its members. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30-31) The second commandment flows from the first. If we love God with all our heart, if we respond to His love with love, he will change our hearts of stone and give us a new heart of flesh. Loving God with all our heart means giving Him our whole heart. He wants our broken hardened hearts, so He can transform our wounds from sources of sin to sources of grace, for ourselves and for others. This new heart, this heart of flesh, this source of grace is really His own heart beating in us, dwelling within us, in the place of covenant. This beautiful Most Sacred Heart, the model and life of love, is with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament. We receive Him, we adore Him, we love Him and He transforms us into Himself. “The unity of the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: “From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice.” (CCC, 791) We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, but what about His heart? Jesus is the Head of His Mystical Body, and we, the Church, are the rest. We must bring all of Him to the world. We must become that Heart, overflowing with His Blood, pumping His Grace to every part of the Body. When circulation is cut off, the body gets diseased and a part has to be amputated if blood flow is not restored in time. By remaining united to the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are directly connected to the source of life, and, by remaining in Him and allowing Him to work through us, we can bring His love to our neighbor, who is really part of our own Body in Christ. “May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment in all the Tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time. Amen.” (Prayer after Benediction of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament) [1] Eymard, St Peter Julian. The Real Presence (p. 266). Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition. - St Peter Julian Eymard
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By Laura Worhacz The Grace of the Religious Life "He dies more confidently. Death is sweet to one who has served his good Master faithfully. It is good to die at His feet and in His arms. Then one has but one regret: not to be able to devote a thousand lives to Him. The death of the religious is merely the last act of love which perfects his crown. Oh, may I, too die the death of the just!" (St. Peter Julian Eymard, Library Vol. 3 Eucharistic Retreats) Dearest Eucharistic Family, We are all called to a Royal Priesthood by our Baptism into the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Flowing out from our Baptism is a life of grace available to us through the Sacramental life we partake in. We need to ask for grace, and daily. A great gift in our Catholic/Christian faith is to live out of this grace God has afforded us through His Son. We are never complete in this life, we are forever moving heavenward. The Reception of Holy Communion, Sacramentally or Spiritually fills us with God's Grace. Complacency and despair never need to be part of our lives. We are empowered by the GRACE of God, "For where sin abounds grace abounds all the greater." (Romans 5:20) Grace streams most vigorously when we enter into relationship with our Eucharistic Jesus. This relationship is where Jesus teaches us the way to His virtues that bring forth God's grace. "Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart." (Matt 11:29) The life of grace that poured forth on the whole world and emptied Itself out upon us happened on the Cross of Jesus Christ, where He bowed His head and breathed His last. This is the moment Our Heavenly Father's Grace overshadowed the whole world and no power could overtake it. God's LOVE is Sovereign and continues to live through those who are poor in His Spirit to be made rich in His Love. The total sacrifice of self, death to self and life for another: GRACE! St. Peter Julian Eymard, the Apostle of the Eucharist, reminds us that "death is sweet to one that has served his good Master faithfully." It is the last act of love and saves us a crown for heaven. The death to our wills sets forth the love of The Promise of Our Father that will drift into our lives by His grace. God's grace lives through our free will offering; the handing over of our souls. Our eyes need to remain fixed on heaven. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament longs for us to gaze our eyes on HIM who comes down from heaven and remains with us to witness to His continued life of humility. This kind of Love is true gift, consented to by the bowing of our heads before Jesus in the Monstrance, pleading for His grace. The same grace that Jesus offered us by His death will be given through our lives to others when we truly offer Him the emptying of our souls so He may fill us with His gifts. This is a Eucharistic Miracle that is not of old but ready and waiting to be manifested here and now, so the Kingdom of God will be established on earth through the hearts of the faithful who believe in their Baptism into Christ's Royal Priesthood. Many Blessings. Pray to Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament directing your heart to the consecration promise you have made. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Blessed are you, Mary exalted daughter of Sion! You are highly favoured and full of grace, for the spirit of God descended upon you. We magnify the Lord and rejoice with you for the gift of the Word made flesh, bread of life and cup of joy. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, our model of prayer in the cenacle, pray for us that we may become what we receive, the body of Christ your son. AMEN By Ivonne Hernandez "O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.” [1] – St Elizabeth of the Trinity Meditation: Tomorrow we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the “central mystery of Christian faith and life.” (CCC, 234) As I ponder on the relation between the Three Persons of the Trinity, I think of the role relationships play in my life. “I would be a saint if it wasn’t for other people.” I would say this jokingly to my husband whenever there was a relationship in my life that I found particularly challenging. The reality is that it is the opposite that is true. The Eucharistic life can only make sense in view of our relationships, first to God and then to others. We were made in the image of God to share in His own blessed life. “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) We become what we receive when we, wholly given to the creative action of the Eucharist in us, can be then broken and shared…for others. Relationships are difficult. They bring out the best in us, and they bring out the worst in us. The reality is that we wouldn’t know who we are on our own. Just like I can only see my face if I look in a mirror, I can only define self in my relations. The deepest and ultimate truth of our identity is that we are beloved children of God, and our goal is to remain anchored in that truth and look at our other relationships from that place of Love. I am a mother to my child, and I am a wife to my husband. Without them I would not be either. It is in the challenges that these relationships bring that we find opportunities to grow. We have every day opportunities to grow in virtue, and especially in charity. Loving those who are cheerful and kind is easy, but loving those who are hurting and are hurtful in return is hard. It is by dying to self (sometimes many times in a day) and living for others that we grow in holiness. If you have been blessed to experience unconditional love when you felt you didn’t deserve it, if you were having a really bad day and someone’s kindness and mercy opened your heart to the love of God, you must keep that in mind often and do unto others. This is how we live as Eucharistic people; we are broken and shared for others. We dwell in the inmost life of the Blessed Trinity and let that permeate every relation in our lives. We let the mercy and love of God overflow in us. We remain in God and He remains in us. “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (2 Cor 13:11) [1] Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Kindle Locations 2125-2129). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. |
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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. |