Dearest Eucharistic Family, The daily scriptures in the Easter Season keep us in flight after the long road of Lent. The Passion of Jesus lives in our existence by the grace of the Eucharist. We hold the death of our Lord deep in our hearts. We walk with Mary to Pentecost and find the immense love of God clearly defined in our Liturgical year. Our Lady lived without sin, holding all the mysteries of faith by God’s sovereign love. “When we have said Eucharist, we have said everything.” Where was Mary during the 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus? What was she doing, thinking? Perhaps Mary was preparing for what would come next. Indeed, she remembered all that happened to her Son. Assuredly Our Lady was praying, finding the fullness of grace from the inner cenacle of her heart to the Altar where Heaven and earth meet. Mary’s life passion is Jesus, and He defined her existence. Eastertide; Mary’s spirit of hope enabled her to obtain from God the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As we journey to Pentecost, let us walk with Mary and pray with Mary. In the Book of Revelation, we have imagined a time when there will be no more mourning and weeping (cf. Revelation 21:4-5). On these Easter days, we are listening to the persecutions of St. Paul and the Apostles. We remember the healing in the name of the Lord Jesus. There will be a new birth streaming from our baptism to the birth of our Catholic Church at Pentecost.
As we keep our eyes fixed on the clouds, think of Mary, who beheld the death of Jesus, which would mold her into the perfect model of Christ, her Son. Pentecost is coming. The fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit are for us to become by our yes and openness to God’s life in us. The mystery is humbling; it is found in a gift of self by submission to God’s Holy Will. Mary saw God’s Providence in every aspect of her life. Mary’s espousal to the Holy Spirit made her become Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord through her love.
Blessings in this Easter Season.
*PLENARY INDULGENCE if recited on the first of January or on the feast of the Pentecost (accompanied by the three prerequisites of a plenary indulgence). Otherwise, a partial indulgence is granted to those who recite it.
Dear Eucharistic Family, We have entered the Easter season abandoning our wills, grasping hold of our Heavenly Father’s hand, and imagining being in the Acts of the Apostles. The Kingdom of Heaven is our eternal reality, and we see it now through the Eucharist. I recently heard someone say we live in a hostile world. True, bizarre things are happening all around us. The God of all creation has called us by name. We are blessed to be invited to set fire to the earth with his love. The hostilities and unusual happenings will be taken over by a longing of the heart as humanity finds the sacred. “Before birth the LORD called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.” (Isaiah 49:1) I attended a summit this past week, a gathering of ministry leaders, with deacons, priests, and sisters present. The importance of the faithful coming together in prayer with the Eucharist, the Liturgy as the central focus, enraptured something new in me. We who love our Catholic Church have much work to do, together, to keep Christ alive in our world today. Jesus tells us to “Do This in Memory of Me” (Luke 22:19). The Eucharist must be everything for us, as St. Peter Julian, the Apostle of the Eucharist, reminds us. The Savior of the world, our risen Jesus, longs to heal, forgive and set fire to the earth. Miracles are waiting to happen. By grace, in deep silent prayer and the reception of Holy Communion, the Kingdom of Heaven will be brought to the world. The inner cenacle lives in our souls united to the heart of God during our consuming of the Sacred Host for us to become a consuming fire of love for our God. Miracles will happen. We will keep the Acts of the Apostles in motion by growing our Church in faith and love. Charity will fall into eternal life with us by our own apostolic lives. One of the speakers at the summit recommended we create a personal mission statement, handwrite it, check it regularly, rewrite it quarterly, and follow up on its goals. Imagine if we all make a conscious effort to be our brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:9), to pray for every person we encounter and take an interest in their souls. Our desire to become saints will be blessed in this effort. I am in the middle of renewing my consecration to Jesus through Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. Each year our mother calls me to this time with her. Mary is with us always, yet going on retreat with her helps us be comforted in the care of a mother. She helps direct us and guides the fires Jesus would wish to be set. St. Peter Julian tells us the Eucharist can transform the bitterness of suffering in our lives. Mary is the one to show us this way to salvation. What legacy of love can we leave upon this earth? Believe we will see a gift of God’s promise from the heavens one day, one that the faithful will take sight of as they see everything through the Eucharist.
Dearest Eucharistic Family, Ash Wednesday will be upon us in a few days. Looking at our lives through the eyes of Heaven, what do we see? Through the grace of the Eucharist, what is revealed to us? Our individual sacrifices are varied in many ways. Perhaps we can look up together, to the head of the Mystical Body of Christ, to better see the feeble parts within. Beginning with ourselves, prayer is necessary; fidelity and self-denial are required to love in Christ.
We learn to love like Jesus by loving Jesus. During Lent, it has been a practice since before the 1500s to pray the Stations of The Cross. By this, we immerse ourselves into the Passion of Christ. Mortification has been strongly in my prayer since it seems to be the way to lose ourselves and find God. The mystery of The Scourging at the Pillar is always very intense to pray on my rosaries. Mortifying our senses to perfection can be derived from this meditation and union with Christ. Only our Divine Savior could have endured the pain from the whips; it is beyond our comprehension. The strikes to the flesh, the pain Jesus endured in His Passion, help us to dissipate all we hold onto to find what will be with us for all eternity, love. I recall the first time I watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ… I went through a box of tissues, and there was an emptying of self that seeped in my soul. The only hunger at that moment was filled by the desire to bind the wounds of Christ and cling to our Blessed Mother. We can live in love for one another by the grace of the Eucharist, embracing the reality of the love that has been poured out for each of us so intimately. Lent is a special gift to us; it is a season of hope. It reminds me of our time in adoration, in that sometimes we cannot see what is happening, yet there is a mystical blessing affirming God’s love for us. Quiet time will help us go deep within to identify with the pains of forgiveness we need to give and receive. Although we may not repair every part of our lives that have suffered, we can find peace and trust in knowing God always brings about a greater good.
Meditating in the presence of the Eucharist will draw us into the life that is to come in all of its fullness. Whenever I come out of prayer time, there is an awareness of grace, a desire to give. A fresh breath of air to take in to help me respond to situations with Jesus. Our Mother is with us in every virtue we try to grow in. Mary is in the shadows of Christ’s love for us, with St. Joseph in the Sacrament, they lived. May we find charity, almsgiving, and fasting as a special gift to Jesus this Lenten season. To live in the realm of our spiritual realities, voluntary self-sacrifice will enable us to live in conformity to the love of Jesus Christ. Mortifying our senses will help us to see past ourselves into the heart of another, thus enabling the Eucharistic Heart to pulsate Our Heavenly Father’s love. The Holy Spirit who lives in the inner cenacle of our souls will grant us the power to find the fortitude of mortification. Love has Risen!
 Dearest Eucharistic family, Blessings as we enter ordinary time! The week after Christmas, I was home alone cleaning up the house after a beautiful and lovely full-house of company. It was about 1:00 a.m. when I finished dusting, mopping, and putting things away. I was ready for my head to hit the pillow when I went to put my glass-bottom cheesecake pan up on the highest shelf. Yes, I dropped it. It was made up of glass beads which shattered all over the house as the pan hit the ground. Looking at my image of the Divine Mercy on the wall, I said to Jesus, “Well, I guess it’s not time for bed yet, Lord!” In my conversation with Jesus, the clean-up of glass became a prayer. The thought of cleaning up in love so my daughters, husband, and I would not cut our feet on the glass inspired the grace to do what needed to be done. The responsibility to clean up the mess was a priority, something I had to do, yet following the star of our lives, Jesus, it was not a burden. Like cleaning up the glass, we have a responsibility to pray for our loved ones, for ourselves, and all our Lord has entrusted to us. To protect our loved ones from the cutting, cunning darkness that surrounds us, we have the power to pray. As we enter into ordinary time, let us live in the wonderment of conversing with God throughout our ordinary days and unexpected events that come our way. Our prayers, like cleaning up the beads of shattered glass, help us in fortitude get through this journey of life. With so much going on in our world and with so many intentions coming our way to pray for the ones suffering, how can we imagine getting through the brokenness of life without prayer? Without prayer, we would be confronting life without God, who makes all things possible (Mark 10:27). The Sacrament of the Eucharist is the highest prayer. Jesus, in His true presence, desires to listen to us. Waiting to be in conversation with us, “He makes all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5). Jesus comforts us in His peace as we live out the mystery of our lives. Sometimes things are so shattered that they cannot be put back together this side of Heaven. However, we can pray, trust, and hope we will find some resurrection from the crosses of life, knowing that God will bring a greater good out of everything we ask in His holy name. Although I loved my old baking pan, my husband was able to order me a new one. Our daily plans, relationships, and life may not always go as expected. God will bring something new to us and create anew in us as we offer all to Him. In the excerpt below, Saint Peter Julian Eymard reminds us of the poor windows that let the bad weather in. The turbulence of life, the unexpected and unforeseen things that come to our days, will bring us closer to the Providence of God and form our hearts in the love of God found in the Eucharist. Opening our hearts to God’s life in us evermore is a gift. Being mindful of the inner cenacle, the place where our souls are affixed to the altar of God, will keep us in the process, just as Saint Peter Julian Eymard expresses. Prayer forms our acceptance, enfolding us in the promise of what is to come. Receiving Holy Communion is our grace this side of Heaven. “Dear Daughter in our Lord, better late than never! You surprise yourself in the process...Surely, when nothing is regulated, we don’t find time to do anything serious or of consequence. It isn’t necessary to regulate everything in detail: it isn’t possible. But should plan our day in the morning, foresee some major thing that must be done. Five minutes of preparation would be helpful. I like your penance at twenty. Later you will reduce it, we must rest to renew our strength. It isn’t the weather outside which is at fault, but poor windows which let it come inside.” (Letter to MME Mathilde Giraud-Jordan IV18/19/March 18,1869) - Saint Peter Julian Eymard
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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. FOLLOW IVONNE ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
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