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!

By: Laura Worhacz

“How, then, do we act with a friend? Do we always speak to him about the present? Certainly not! We recall memories, we live them over again together.” - Saint Peter Julian Eymard (Eymard Library Volume 7, page 13)

Dearest Eucharistic Family,
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When in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, do you sometimes find yourself in conversation with Jesus about all that has happened in your life?  Sometimes it is like a written testimony on my heart, recalling every detail of so many moments in my life. They flash over and over…it is an act of the will to find God in all that has happened, in all our choices. The past has created us, and when embraced, it sanctifies our being.

Jesus calls us friends. “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (John 15:15). Jesus has told us everything; we recall the memories. Trust is found in Jesus’ love for us. Our encounter with the living God in the Eucharist, submitting to His holy will, enraptures us into friendship with the Son of God.

Jesus promises that he has the words of everlasting life. Our suffering is glorified in our charity for another; trust is formed in this. We receive grace from the Eucharist, where genuine friendship is formed and extended into the members of Christ's Body.  In our humanity, we need the gift of God’s life to resemble the friendship of God. Remembering all the blessings we have received will enable us to create a future of love in every experience of life with every precious life we share it with. Moreover, in Saint Peter Julian’s four-way prayer, we take our thoughts in all that has happened, adding them to our adoring, thanksgiving, forgiveness, and intercessory prayer; we befriend Jesus.

As we form friendships in Christ, may the trust we have found in the Eucharistic Lord be made known to others. May memories be made to be cherished. All through our lives, may the presence of our friendship in the Blessed Sacrament be glorified through our relationships, and the security of God’s divine love treasured.

By: Laura Worhacz

​ “Oh, wonderful moment in which all else is forgotten, in which we no longer desire anything else, not even heaven—for we possess it already, we have Jesus and Mary”.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard (Eymard Library, Volume 7 page 70)

Dearest Eucharistic Family,

Jean Gerson (1363-1429 Catholic Dictionary) explains mysticism as “knowledge of God arrived at through the embrace of unifying love.” Where do we find this? It seems to live inside ourselves; all we need to do is awaken our souls. Within the cry of our humanity, there is a seeking and a longing for love. God our Father has made all things perfect. He gave us Jesus and Mary. Contemplation is found in surrender, a handing over of our will to God. Obedience to our prayer life should be guarded with a shield of prominence. Set time aside, especially silent time, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46). He who created us loves us and hopes to be with us. Discipline to our prayer that streams out of our longing for love will keep us in union with the divine. Mysticism is an indwelling of security found in the awareness of the true presence of God, nurtured by our response.

Saint Peter Julian reminds us in the above excerpt that we already possess heaven now in Jesus and Mary, God’s gift to us. The reception of Holy Communion nourishes our contemplation. Tomorrow is October 13th; this day in 1917, over 80,000 people witnessed The MIRACLE OF THE SUN, also known as the MIRACLE OF FATIMA. At the gathering, many conversions of the heart were impacted, many physical healings occurred, many souls rose to the heights of heaven. Our Lady appeared for five months, thus five first Saturdays she hoped for us to share in. We were asked to make “Communions of Reparation”, moreover in the Paschal Sacrifice, these may be possessed daily, communions of love. Pray for Our Lady’s final words at Fatima to echo inside of us, “IN THE END MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH”. Mary’s earthly life can be for us an example of mysticism. Mary listened to the voice of God and so it was heard. Mary acted on the Word of God and her mystic union with her Father was lived out in her charity, thus her deeds were mystical. Jesus, through Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, will keep our “knowledge of God, arrived at through the embrace of unifying love."

The First Saturday devotion is like a five-month novena. Write down the specific intention you are praying for, and recall it every first Saturday for five months. Receive Holy Communion on the first Saturday of the month (you may offer your Sunday Communion for your first Saturday intention if you cannot get to Mass on Saturday for a just reason). Go to confession eight days before or after first Saturday. Meditate on the mysteries of the holy Rosary for 15 minutes (take a few minutes before each mystery to ponder the life of Christ and apply it to your own life) or meditate for 15 minutes at one time.
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We share in the mission to make the love of God known in the Eucharist (part of the mission statement for the Associates of the Blessed Sacrament).

By: Laura Worhacz

By: Laura Worhacz

​Dearest Eucharistic Family,

The Triumph of the Cross of Jesus Christ, our victory over sin and death. Take a moment to think of the darkest time of your life. In this memory imagine yourself crawling to the Cross of Christ. Look up, see what God has absorbed for the love of the world. We see Jesus who loved us more than life on earth. It is at the foot of the Cross where we are sanctified, transformed, redeemed. We know many of those darkest hours have worked for the good in our lives. They seem to condition us for the greater crosses that will come and to teach us to love and shed off our old selves; this is a lifelong process.  

In the First Reading of today’s Scriptures, Moses has a bronze serpent high on a pole, “and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Num 21:4b-9). We are so blessed to have the foot of the Cross to place our hearts and the inner recesses of our being.
    
Quiet time allows us to encounter reality. God longs for our silent union with Him to identify with all He has allowed to happen in our lives. We invite it in… coming face to face, heart to heart with our life, child to father. In the quiet we see our gifts and graces. In the silence we see the faults, failures and the dark times. We look up at the serpent, the bronze serpent, we let go, and let God live and move and have His being in us.

“…so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Jn 3:14).  The Triumph of the Cross of Christ continues to bless the children of God. The Monstrance is too lifted, in the Benediction the utterance of Our Father’s love is found. “For God so loved the world” (Jn 3:13-17).
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