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, We have been called by name. It is a particular term of endearment when someone lovingly calls us by name, and it makes a difference in our response to them. Eucharistic prayer may inspire us to call on the name of Jesus in a reciprocal act of love, knowing he has first loved and called upon us by name.
What does your name mean? The name Laura is not in the Bible. However, the tradition of placing laurel leaves on one’s head as a sign of victory is ancient, and the original Latin word Laurus appears in the Bible. The original meaning of victory and crowning is a concept of very old. Take some time to look up the origin of your name and pray with it. How beautiful it is to say, “Our Father,” it resonates to the depths of our souls that we are part of someone who loves us. God has given us Jesus and the Apostles to carry on to the next generations a progeny of faithfulness. The holy name of JESUS. God saves.
What are our favorite names? Do they remind us of people who have done extraordinary things? People who have shown great mercy? Great love? I remember when my first daughter was born. At the moment of her birth, my husband said to me, “What is her name?” I looked into the precious little face and responded, “Nicole.” It is as if she was with us forever and named perfectly for her mission in life. When pregnant with my second child, I secretly said, “If we are blessed with another daughter, I would love to name her Mary after our Blessed Mother.” However, I felt unworthy to name my child Mary. I had shared the thought with a sister in Christ who said, “The best way to imitate is to emulate; why not name the child Mary!” It happened. Names are so important. As we journey to All Saints and All Souls Day, let us remember to call upon the names of the faithful ones who have gone before us. The names that draw us to love and beauty of this world and that lead us to Heaven. We remember the holy name of JESUS—the power the name holds. The sacred name of Jesus is a prayer. God saves us through the heart of Christ. With the reception of Communion, we hold the Holy Name in His True Presence. We love and serve in Jesus’ name. We bless and reign with Jesus by carrying His life in us. In our mortification of the senses, we see more clearly; we may hear angel messages. Mary heard, “And his name shall be Jesus.”
There is power through LOVE. As we behold the name of JESUS and fall more deeply into his saving grace, we learn to love ourselves in Him. We are beloved. Jesus calls us by name. In Jesus’ redemption for us, the old passes away, although maybe little by little. Christ becomes in us and, for us, a new way of living, moving, and being in God. The Holy Spirit is our accompaniment to lead us through the heart of Mary. Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament indeed holds the name MOTHER as most sacred. Mary beholds us, and our names are precious to her in God.
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Dearest Eucharistic Family, I have a hatbox for each of my two daughters. I have placed particular sacred objects since their births: prayer cards, books, Christmas letters, and notes from their sacramental days of First Eucharist and Confirmation. I thought to prepare for my departure from this life one day and leave my girls in the hope that what is to come in life will be changed for all of us and not ended. Memories will be forever held! The most precious item in the hatbox for each of my girls is a special rosary. My oldest daughter will receive a rosary from her hatbox that I prayed with when the prayer was new to me 25 years ago. She was three years old and listened intently as I prayed. By five years old, we have a sacred video of Nicole looking up at a statue of Our Lady, hands in prayer, leading the Rosary, resounding the Apostles Creed, Our Father, and Hail Mary’s to follow, little as she was. When my second daughter was born 22 years ago, I had crystal rosary beads wrapped around my hand. I prayed through her birth, Rosary after Rosary. An angelic nurse accompanied me through the delivery; my doctor arrived minutes before little Mary entered the world. I fondly remember rocking on a chair with my newborn daughter, praying the Rosary through the night, changing her, feeding her, praying. The crystal beads in the hatbox with a note remembering this sacred time of life! The Rosary has been wrapped around my hand for many years. It is my go-to intercession to prepare for daily Mass and petition throughout the day. The Rosary always brings to me something old and something new, a reminder of Jesus Christ’s life and mission and an invite to my mission as a disciple of Jesus. Lighting blessed candles and praying the holy Rosary conforms us to the Gift of the Holy Spirit with the promise it holds for peace from God Our Father. The virtues connected to each mystery deliver us hope in becoming what God desires for us to become in the likeness of our Blessed Mother. The Rosary humbles us to see through the Eucharistic Mystery as Saint Peter Julian reminds us, “The Eucharist is the final mystery”. Our Catholic Church recognizes miracles of the Rosary to bring peace and end wars. There is a special grace from Heaven praying Hail Mary full of grace... Yet other miracles come to us from the offering of the Most Holy Rosary. The miracles occur here and now as Mary brings us to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The Rosary has taken me through many trials of life and has set my feet to walk in God’s Providence, His Will, and trust in all things working for the good.
Obedience to the Rosary raises our eyes to look above and then within our souls. There, we find so many truths that will help our self-control and dissolve the many attacks that bring our minds to presumption and often even despair. Our Lady is with us, and, especially in the Rosary, she takes our hands; she accelerates us on a swing like a good mother until we can take flight in her love. Thereupon the Hail Holy Queen we find the perfect call to our life, our sweetness, and our hope. We resolve like blessed Hermon who gave us the Hail Holy Queen crying out from his debilitation to our mother of MERCY. Our Blessed Mother is counting on us to prepare the next generation to pray the Rosary, make it a part of our daily prayers, and cling to her as Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. The Sacred Liturgy is our highest form of prayer. The Divine Office and the Holy Rosary, another way to reach heaven. We are blessed to count on each bead, known to many as the Angelic Psalter of Mary, in union with the 150 Psalms; added to these gifts are the Luminous Mysteries from our beloved, Saint Pope John Paul II who loved our mother in Jesus’ Divine plan. May the sacred mysteries bring us a keen awareness of God’s Providence in every moment of our daily lives. May our Rosary offerings conform us more deeply to the WILL of GOD, who sent us Jesus, to humble Himself to share in our humanity. Hail Holy Queen enthroned above. O Maria!
Dearest Eucharistic Family, Finding God’s love brings purpose to our lives. Jesus’ love teaches us the value of sacrificing for the sake of others. Responsibly stewarding begins in our families, is offered to our loved ones, and then extended to our communities; love grows. “Referring to the love of the heavenly Father for us, St. John says that this love was so great that he gave his only Son for our salvation. (cf. 1 Jn 4:10) How did our Lord prove his love? He loved us through the sufferings and humility of his life.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard) We know we are loving when we choose the heavier Cross and offer our days in service, whether it be tending to children’s needs, cooking, cleaning, working in an office, or as a craftsman, layperson, or religious, our days may be offered in sacrifice to all who call upon us. “Given by the Father, he went even to Calvary; God the Father gave him to us because he loved us. Our Lord says: Love me as I have loved you. [Jn 13:34] The mere sight of him reveals his love for us: I took on human flesh; see the humility of my incarnation, the poverty of my life, all the different sacrifices I accepted out of love for you.” (Saint Peter Julian) This past week, I had the blessing of talking with someone incarcerated for three years at the expense of selling drugs. This person is working now, not married, and trying to care for children. The description of going to bed hungry while in prison, fighting for one’s food, and looking over your shoulder every second to be ready to defend yourself sounded like hell to me. I listened and listened, then offered some guidance. I recommended to continue working and aided further to bring this soul to the Sacraments of our Catholic Church with the assurance God is with us in the mystery of our lives. It was an anointed conversation that I will be praying for. Providential! We need one another to love as Jesus has loved us, catching the tears of our brethren. The one thing that keeps rising in my prayer is our time here on earth and the opportunity we have to choose the greater, the divine life. We will be accountable for our actions on that special day when we meet the mercy of God. This earthly pilgrimage is our “doing time”. It’s real to the fact we will be meeting our Savior, and when we have that moment to look into Jesus’ face, what will we see? Will we see our Fear of the Lord in God’s gift of the Holy Spirit? A fear of not loving enough? Jesus often went to a deserted place to pray. He glorified Our Father in Heaven by offering his life, his will. Our prayer, taking us to the quiet of our hearts, will keep us in the unfolding of our own death and rising through the days of our lie. “When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.” (Matthew 14:13) We follow! Mary suffered beyond our human comprehension could ever imagine, yet her prayer allows her to continue to serve us as the Mother of God and our mother. Mary’s love for us consoles her pain for the sins that Crucify her Son. Our Lady, Mother of Sorrows and of the Blessed Sacrament, is our guide to loving as we have been loved. Mary takes us into her home where we are beloved, beheld, and taught how to endure the Cross. “Nobody can have greater love. I want to give my life for you. Calvary, Nazareth, Bethlehem are all sacrifices.” (Saint Peter Julian) We will see the glory of God’s love through our lives. This world is passing away; what will remain is the love we share, the time we offer to one another, listening, and loving. The compassion of Christ has been given to us in his life-giving sacrifice of the Cross. May we do the same for all whom we meet; may they see CHRIST IN US, loving and forgiving. “When St. Paul wants to give a proof of our Lord’s love, he says: he died for me, therefore he loved me. (cf. Ga 2:20) That was the proof. My good Daughters, we cannot consider the incarnation without saying: God was so good, how he loved me!” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard September 17, 1862) “The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover…” (CCC, 677)
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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. |