ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
Dearest Eucharistic Family, The liturgical seasons come full circle and seem more rapid as I get older. What will You have us do for You, Jesus, as the Lenten Season will be upon us in a few days? Entering the season with Mary is a good start for me—the acknowledgment of her presence in the Eucharist as our mother is real. We need Our Lady to help us receive Jesus with reverence and awe. Mary was the first to be broken with Jesus and given to the world. We need a mother. God, in His Wisdom, knew that we needed maternal care. We are blessed to be held by Mary as we journey through life and another Lenten Season.
What can we do? We hear in the Psalms that it is not so much sacrifice but a humble and contrite heart that God desires.
Where can I give more of my heart to You, Lord? The external sacrifices of giving up favorite foods and a disciplined routine are excellent means to keep us obedient. Lenten fasts, sound and holy practices help us have more self-control. They help us to die to ourselves to gift ourselves to others. But the true sacrifice and gift is Jesus' life for us. He gave it freely. Jesus continues to give of Himself as He remains humble and hidden in the Eucharist. His silent presence speaks to the sinner in the depths of our souls. When we find forgiveness of our limitations and love pours out for others in compassion and mercy, life arises in our souls. The concern for us and others takes precedence. As we receive the Blessed Sacrament and carry Jesus to others, perhaps His love in us will be shared. To be broken may be to take on the burden someone holds, for it to be shared. To carry the Cross with another is to identify with suffering. Jesus took on our sins for the forgiveness Our Father has given to us in Christ. May we take on a Lenten practice of giving God His holy will for our mercy and compassion?
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Dearest Eucharistic Family, In the Gospel of Mark, the crowd proclaims that Jesus is out of His mind. (cf. Mark 3:20-21) Perhaps Jesus is out of His mind and in His heart. In a heart that beats to glorify God, Our Heavenly Father. We are in ordinary time after a busy Christmas Season, with Lent only a few weeks away. We have received the gift of the Christ Child. We are in Ordinary Time now to serve Christ's Church and soon to recall the Passion of God's love for us. What keeps us out of our minds? Prayer! Prayer aids us to find the pulsation of God within. The world is dismissed in its madly manner as we pray, and the divine life is revealed.
To find the loveable within comes from an annihilation of the spirit, an emptying of self and grace to find its way from the mind to the heart. For God so loved the world. His mind was animated by the perfection of love, and the heart of God gave us everything; He gave to us His only begotten Son. In the world's creation, there was love in the heart of God. In the creation of humanity God was crazed with hope for loveable children.
It may be a good time to examine our minds and hearts. In prayer, we can find truth in our relationships that may need mending. Working from the heart to reach out and pray for souls is possible. With Mary, we can accomplish more, for Our Mother aids us in our heart's desires.
Mary lived by the heart, her mind submissive to the beat within by the Incarnation of Christ's Eucharistic love for the world, creation, Mary exemplifies to us how we live in God’s love. Many live in a fury of spirit, trapped in their victimhood. It is Jesus who releases the bonds of death that the mind can trap us into. Jesus calls Satan out. We are to call out the demons of our lives since we are invited by our baptism to live in the heart of the Eucharist.
In this reality of spirit, we live in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven now. We function as the loveable ones; when we fail, we humble ourselves to reconciliation with God and one another. To live in the heart of Christ is to live a newness of life. Christ born to us, gifted by the wise with an epiphany of hope. Ordinary time becomes a manifestation of glory and a happy issue of mind to spirit. Mary shows us the way to live this pathway to God. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament never wavered, even holding the Body of Christ dead to the world in its mind of manor—the heart of God with Our Lady and the triumph of Jesus' love surpassing everything.
Dearest Eucharistic Family, Christmas blessings. With Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, my Advent brought me to the Christmas Season by pondering things in my heart.
Memories of Christmas past, people, places, and things seem to flash in my mind’s eye during my prayer time. Our Mother sets this example for us in a pattern of prayer for our Church. How magnificent it is to remember Mary’s Immaculate Conception over and over again; wow, it is truly the perfect preparation for the way of our Lord. We remember Mary’s “Yes”; this is God’s triumph through Mary to find the perfect vessel of grace to save our world. We are co-heirs in the mystery of salvation by our faith, hope, and love Incarnate. Imagine our Blessed Mother in the halls of Heaven, peeking through the hallways and looking into our rooms. Think of Mary with her pointer finger on her lips to say quietly in the silence with the most beautiful smile, come and see. Our Mother calls us out of our room and gestures to you and me to dream about something beautiful. Perhaps there is a hidden grace every time we offer love to God. Many things cause pain. Some things are serious: sickness, death, sudden traumas of every kind, war, and hate. Then there are the little misunderstandings and trials of the heart that try to oppress our spirit. Through the Incarnation of love, we can overcome every weight of the Cross. Remembering Jesus within changes everything. Jesus promises to prepare a place for us.
During this Christmas Season in our Catholic Church, we remember and believe. How blessed we are to know every moment is a sacred gift of time. The world does not ponder or understand this. The birth of Jesus is a new birth for all of us. We share in Jesus’ love and life through baptism and life eternal. Our delivery into the world sets us a flame to hope to ignite others to eternal life now through the Eucharist. The Church Triumphant is looking forward to our passing over to an even newer birth. As we offer every breath of life, especially the painful encounters, we can be assured Mary is holding us. The beauty we do not see now will surely be seen one day. If we cling to this with strong confidence, Christmas is with us every day of our lives. My greatest gift this Christmas is to have family around the table. Some are fallen away Catholics, some devout souls, some challenging relationships, some souls dearest to my heart. In all things Mary pondered and embraced; she leads us on the pathway to find a song of praise in our souls as we journey through this exile. We are called to love, offer, and bring to birth the gift of Christmas. The Incarnation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. O Come Let Us Adore Him, receive Him, and share Jesus, with others. There is a place waiting for us, with Mary’s serene smile of compassion, longing for the Heavenly embrace.
Let us live in hastened spirit with joy in the depths of our being, of the gift we have now in Christ and what is to come. Christmas blessings into 2024!
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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. |