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 Worhacz “…it is because she approached nearer than any other to the perfection of His humility.” - Saint Peter Julian Eymard (Eymard Library Volume 7, page 167) Dearest Eucharistic Family, Do this in memory… of Me -- Humility present in the Blessed Sacrament and the Word of God. The Eucharist is our food for the journey of grace; God’s Word humbles our existence. In the above excerpt, St. Peter Julian reminds us to consider the humility of Mary; her salvation came forth from listening to the voice of God. Mary was closest to the humility of God. Jesus lived in her womb; his birth into her life brought love to others. Recall all the times you needed to hear God’s voice and have opened to a scripture that affirmed, consoled, guided, and sometimes chastised you. Mary listened to the voice of Jesus in life; the humility in which He lived and died, she absorbed. Over 20 years ago my husband had his gallbladder removed. It was then that we learned of the beginning of his liver disease. He went in for surgery and I found myself in the hospital chapel. There was a Bible, which happened to be open on the book of Job. I began reading and reading… and reading. The nurse came into the chapel to inform me the surgery was complete. In what seemed like a flash of time, the surgery was over; I was immersed in the word of God. This experience called me to greater communion with God; it led me to daily Mass. I often think of people who are not nourished by God’s Word. Like many of you, I did not grow up listening to the Word of God. I am elated to know now that I have been blessed to hear God’s voice. With that, I have a deep desire to share the fire of God’s love in His Word, in the Eucharist, in His LOVE. Mary's salvation began on earth from the streams of life that came forth from hearing God's voice. The humility Jesus lived on earth, died for and rose with, remains as a gift in the Eucharist. Mary has followed the way to salvation through the humility of Jesus. She witnessed the humility that was transformed into the Eucharist after the death of her son. Our Father in Heaven gave us the gift of salvation through Jesus' love. The humility of Christ was taken on by Mary in Word and deed; she leads us in the way of salvation. Let’s take some time today to pray to the Holy Spirit and send a scripture passage to someone who may only hear God’s voice through our intercession. Blessings!
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By: Ivonne J. Hernandez “Listen kindly to our prayers, O Lord, and, as our faith in your Son, raised from the dead is deepened, so may our hope of resurrection for your departed servants also find new strength.” (Collect Prayer for today’s Mass, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, All Souls Day)
I find it interesting that our society seems to be fixated with certain aspects of death, like zombies, haunted houses and Halloween. People pay a lot of money to go somewhere and be “scared to death”. But then, when it is time to talk about preparing for our own death, people think it is morbid and turn quickly to avoidance. Today, as we remember our loved ones who have passed from this life and pray for their eternal rest, we also strengthen the hope that we too will rise again with Christ, not only on the last day, but also today, as we rise from our pain and our fears. I have discovered that the more I bring my fears to prayer, the more they lose their grip on me. Losing my father at the young age of nine, the reality of the separation we experience when a loved one dies was too much for me to deal with at the time. For many years I avoided looking at that wound. I became an expert at distraction and escape, but God had a different plan. The very wound that made me feel abandoned, became a source of love and grace. It is now the place where God shows me, over and over again, that He is my Father. “Brothers and sisters: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). This love that was poured out on the Cross, is in the cup He gives us to drink (Mk 10:38). When we accept the pain and suffering that life brings, and bring it in prayer to God, we find the love that casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). And it is that love that will transform our wounds into rivers of flowing grace, into witnesses of His love. |
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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. |