ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick
write about their lives in the Eucharist. |
I remember my catechism classes from long ago. I remember our lovely teacher saying, “God the Father sent His beloved Son so that He would die for us, that by Him dying we would live. He saved us.” That was a simple statement of faith for us. “He sent His son to die for us...” And I remember opening my eyes when thinking that someone great had given His life for us, for me… That statement stayed with me for a long time. As a child, I accepted it without too much conscious thought, for what did I know of life and death or resurrection and eternal life. My teacher, whom I loved and trusted, told me that, and at the time, that was good enough for me. As I grew, I started to explore that simple statement with more mature eyes. What does it mean for our Lord Jesus to die for us? Why did He HAVE to die? I could not understand, for understanding the Paschal Mystery is only possible as a gift of the Spirit, an authentic Grace. In my “conversations” with our Lord, I would always ask: “Would it not have been better if you had stayed here? You could have directly guided us through so many tough times. Nobody would have doubted You in the flesh, available, showing us how to live as we were meant to live. Would that not have been easier?” But the answers to those questions were not to be answered then. Not yet, for how would we accept this beautiful mystery if not for our trust in the One who loves us?
Our teacher, our trusted One, our loved One! He tells us He had to go… but only because we were to receive someone great who would give us a path to communion with Him. Part of the Trinity within us. Someone great, yes, but I did not know the Spirit. I just wanted Jesus here, present in the flesh. So how could I be okay with what is a mystery? But really, Christ knows our hearts better than we do.
In our union with the Holy Spirit, given in perfect love for our good, we are given guidance, companionship, unity, and clarity… That much is declared to us in the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord! These help us to lift the veil of mystery and allow us to approach the Divine. The gifts of the Spirit help us love our brothers as Christ loves us.
We are set free. Like the Wild Goose (a name often used to refer to the Holy Spirit), we get to come and go wherever we are prompted by the Spirit in us. This, too, can be called a mystery! How are we changed when we follow the Holy Spirit and commune with Christ Eucharistic. It is beautiful to see how we are transformed when we learn to dial our hearts to the frequency of God the Father. The Trinity is with us.
This is why Christ Jesus could not stay. I get why He had to go now, yet I still long for His hand to touch mine… Let us hold on and wait a little longer. There will be time for a face to face if we persevere on our way to Heaven. For now, He is present for us in the Eucharist and we have the Holy Spirit within us. We can commune with the Holy Trinity. We are not orphans. What a Grace this is for us!
Let us pray: Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice of love for all of us. Help us to see beyond the mystery, so that we may be strengthened in our Hope, Faith, and Love. May we get to see the light of Your face. Amen.
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At every Mass I attend, I look up expectantly to the large Crucifix that usually looks over us behind the altar. In my thoughts, I am transported for a moment to the side of our Mother Mary as she is held by the hand of Saint John the Evangelist, experiencing together the Passion of Christ, and I see myself behind them, feeling so sad… It is a difficult image to process, but every time, among the pain and sadness, I end up feeling Hope because not only do I see the act of Mercy from our Savior, but also that he left us in the care of His Most Precious Mother. Oh, to be as Saint John holding our Mother’s hand! And I can see the fear and nervousness in the air as the multitude, driven mad with angst, call out to us, asking us why we are there: “Are you also one of His?” And I see Mother Mary, face set as flint, witnessing to her son, our Lord, withstanding the shouts and the leering, and I see myself taking courage from Her steadfastness… “...Behold your Mother.” (John 27:2) “Behold your Mother!” our Lord said, and I feel her right by me now as she was back then for John. And I imagine being like John, feeling protective of Mary in the middle of all that pain and suffering, witnessing together that most efficacious moment, the self-sacrifice of our Lord, His great Mercy overflowing in action for our salvation. And I imagine us helping Joseph of Arimathea take down the body of our Savior from the Cross, and I immediately go back to our temple seeing that beautiful Crucifix covered in purple, waiting expectantly in the great silence because we now know what those three days so long ago meant and continue to mean… Can you imagine our Mother Mary during those three days? “Behold your Mother!” And I see us taking Mother Mary home and having her be part of our families. I see Mary teaching us how to love Christ Jesus and follow His example. Can you imagine Mother Mary’s great joy on Easter day? Can you imagine us, the new family, overjoyed that our Savior had overcome death for us? And I can imagine both the joy and the sadness when our Lord had to ascend to take His place at the right hand of the Father. “I have to go!” we hear from our Lord, and I believe our Mother Mary felt bittersweet happiness. She probably wanted to go with Jesus right then, but she would not let the early Church be an orphan, for her new mission was to mother us, so she stayed with us for a while longer. “Behold your Mother!” And I imagine Mother Mary partaking in the Eucharistic banquet the same as we do today. Can you imagine Mother Mary yet again one with Jesus? Mary again united to Christ, but this time also one with us, united through the Eucharist as one body, one Church, one people, God’s people, and I tremble over that. I see new witnesses learning to witness from the first witness of Jesus. A witness testifies to the truth, and Mother Mary testified to the truth of Christ with her very life. Mother Mary mothered the Apostles. If Mary Magdalene is the Apostle to the Apostles for leading them to see the empty tomb, then who is Mother Mary who watched over them but a mother to the Apostles and the Mother of the entire Church? And she is still doing this today for us, love for us present, her Immaculate Heart interceding for us, leading us by the hand to her Son, Jesus. “Behold your Mother!” She points the way to Christ. Let us pray: ”Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.” (The Memorare Prayer)
This gospel passage is heavy on my heart today.
Through this Gospel passage, our Lord speaks to us as He looks upon His Church in the world. I see so much fighting keeping us from loving one another, and the fighting keeps us from fully giving and receiving God’s mercy. Why is that? Have we, like the Pharisees of old, gotten so used to the institution’s ways that we forget what the institution is there for in the first place? We are all sinners. All who pursue a relationship with Christ are trying to overcome sinfulness. If we see our brother struggling, we are meant to reach out our hands to help, especially those most in need of our mercy, guidance, love, and compassion. Our call is to become faithful followers of Christ, as He taught us, with humility and fully aware of our need for repentance, love, and kindness.
We need awareness of our role in the life of the Church so that we may understand how our actions, words, and examples affect our brothers and sisters. Who is that we represent out in the world? If today I am a follower of Christ, it is all due to those Christ sent to help me when my life was immersed in darkness and without direction. Through their love and compassion towards me, I rediscovered once again the love and mercy of God… mercy that I had known so well during my childhood but had forgotten… and it is because of the myriad prayers poured out for me from those who loved me even when they did not know me. When I was able to see Christ in their faces, I was able to set my heart to follow Him, the true light in the darkness. I remember thinking, “I want that same relationship with God that they have.” Repentance and its acceptance are a means for us to start noticing God’s never-ending love toward us. This humility in repentance is the means to approach ever closer to Christ and His unending mercy. In the Eucharist, we receive without limits so that we may then share without limits. Christ is alive and present in the Eucharist so that we may reach Him intimately and certainly, both in the hidden reality and in the present of our relationships with one another, united through Communion. This is so beautiful… But I also remember what made me waver on the way back to Christ so long ago. What made that straight road crooked? It was the modern Pharisees whose actions confused me and kept sending me through mazes and dead-ends, keeping me from promptly finding my way back to relationship with Christ in His Church. I shudder when I consider that my actions in life may have led someone astray. Woe to us if we keep someone from finding Christ.
For all the times I have led someone away from Christ, I lay at the feet of our Lord in repentance and asking for forgiveness. I wish for all of us to grow in this awareness and commit to loving one another, for we are, in many ways, our brother’s keeper.
What have we done, indeed… We are responsible for those who look up to us and follow our example. May we take this responsibility seriously and learn to live encouraging lives so that as we live the Gospel, we may shine Christ’s light on those who live in darkness and need us.
Let us pray: Beloved Eucharistic Lord, you are counting on us to help shepherd Your flock. May we all love You with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and our brothers as we love ourselves. Amen.
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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. |