ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick share their experiences and reflections on living a life centered on the Eucharist.
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ELISHEBA BLOGLaura, Ivonne, and Rick share their experiences and reflections on living a life centered on the Eucharist.
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I was watching a special about the life of Fred Rogers, the beloved Mr. Rogers of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and I was deeply moved by the life of this man. He was deep, caring, compassionate, intentional, and above all, he was kind. Fred was bullied as a child for being shy and overweight and was told by the grownups in his life to act like it didn’t bother him. Even as an eight-year-old, he knew that this was wrong. He was angry and sad that the bullies couldn’t see past his shortcomings to see him, and he was sad that his parents didn’t acknowledge his experience. After many years of sadness over this, his faith brought him to a decision. He decided he would always look for the essential in each person. Two of his most famous quotes, “I like you just the way you are” and “The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self,” describe how he loved his neighbor as himself. Fred Rogers cared, he listened, he connected. He brought Jesus Christ to the world, not by talking about Him necessarily, but by the way he lived, by the way he loved.
I think we can easily forget the importance and the power of kindness. It is very difficult to be kind to someone who has hurt us or those we love. It is difficult to be compassionate to someone who just rubs us the wrong way. It is much easier to be kind, compassionate and forgiving towards someone we like. And, although it is true that there are people whose nature attracts us less than others, it does not mean that the act of liking someone is outside of our control. When we experience feelings of antipathy or even disgust towards a person, we still get to choose how we respond. “Look for the essential in each person”. What a simple yet profound idea. How do we find the “essential” in the other? By entering into a relationship with them -- by being present to them and listening to their story. If a friend is rude to us, but we know they just lost a loved one, we are more inclined to give them a pass. When we understand the “why” behind the actions, when we see the pain motivating the undesired behavior, we do not take things personally and can see the situation as it really is. We can refrain from putting up our own walls and instead reach out to the other in front of us.
When we look out and truly see, we won’t see a monster threatening our very existence, but our crucified Lord calling out for us. We will see Jesus thirsty, naked, imprisoned, lonely, mourning, or hungry. When we meet the human needs of others with kindness and compassion, we will find that the essential in them will shine more brightly. When we find that reflection of God in the other, we can then join Mr. Rogers in saying:
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Let us read one of my favorite passages, The Sending of Isaiah, in the Old Testament.
The passage is perfect for those of us who have grown to understand that a life in Christ requires recognition, repentance, and restoration, and that these are but a calling for us to “go” and serve. Let us read a related quote from Jeremiah’s Complaint.
Jeremiah was complaining that his life was hard, and that his mission to God’s people was difficult. Yet the Lord answers Jeremiah that in His presence Jeremiah "stands". Let us remember that the only individuals who could stand in the inner sanctum, in the inner space, in the presence of God, were those chosen for a mission by God, among them, Abraham, Moses, Levi, Levi’s priestly line, and the prophets of the Old Testament. Jeremiah’s life was hard, but his heart was true. The Lord says to Jeremiah, “You shall be my mouth”, and then promises to help him.
Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, we are the faithful, the rescued sinners. We must remember our repentance and confess our sins so that we may be restored. We must recognize our Savior and humbly submit our will to Him who loves us. Can we become acquainted yet again with our mission of love and mercy, empowered by our Lord’s Eucharist in His sacrifice of Love?
I am always inspired by this simple wisdom from Saint Augustine. We do what we can, not what we can’t. We give from ourselves, a humble sacrifice of time and effort. For those we can help directly, we become good Samaritans, and for those we cannot, we become their intercessors through prayer. Through repenting and leaving our old selves behind, living our lives faithfully and actively living our mission of mercy, we become as the apostles and saints. Saint Paul concisely describes this.
It is normal to feel we cannot be capable missionary disciples, for we may not recognize all of our gifts and capabilities, but even then, if we offer our Lord who we are, and what we are, He can, through us, perform what is necessary.
Let us keep our faith fully alive. By enabling our faith with action, we pass forward that which we receive in the Eucharist, that which we receive by uniting our humble offering to the sublime offering of Christ.
I enjoin us all to accept our call to Christ’s missionary discipleship. May we serve our Lord, and our brothers and sisters. That we may, by word and action, “… love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Let us pray:
Dearest Eucharistic Family, Lighting blessed candles has been a part of my prayer practice for years. It is yet another gift of faith to be preoccupied with the sacramentals of our Church. People have walked into churches throughout the ages to find statues, candle stations, images, and other beautiful holy reminders of Heaven. Jesus is present in the Tabernacle during such visits and surely smiles upon us.
Sacred beauty is a gift aiding us to raise our hearts and minds to God, gazing upon light, the face of Jesus, the face of Mary, Joseph, and the Saints can bring us to tears, fill our hearts with immense joy, and even pull us out of a dark place. The Purification of Jesus in the Temple, CANDLEMAS, is one of my favorite moments in our Liturgical year. Jesus in the most vulnerable position of life, a baby, was brought to the temple by His parents to be presented to Our Father in Heaven. Our prayer lives are meant to be communal and taken back to our homes to live out our daily duties through the heart of the Eucharist. There in the temple, in our Church, the Body of Christ is made strong with every person, every part of the body working to be alive and well for others. At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple people were waiting for Him. Simeon and Anna fasted and prayed living in hope, finally to meet and to greet the holy family assured their eyes would see eternal light.
In our Blessed Mother's arms with Saint Joseph embracing his family, Jesus is presented to glorify God. He is the purification of the world presented in the oneness of the Trinity, a triumphant moment given to humanity. WOW! Candles have been traditionally blessed for Candlemas, the annual blessing of household candles; they are to be holy reminders of the purification of our own lives. And by our entry into the temple, into our churches we remain connected to the vine, the lifeline of our baptized eternal pathway to the Kingdom of God. Saint Peter Julian Eymard was baptized on February 5, the day after his birth. He lived in the realization of his life in Christ, the light that was lit in baptism he kept burning through the Eucharistic grace he received to fully know Jesus is present among us. Jesus was at the Presentation as a baby in the temple many years before Saint Peter Julian's baptism, as a child, but with us now, fully, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist.
As I prepare this blog a week before it is published, I cannot help but think a week from today I will be dancing at my daughter's wedding on the vigil of Candlemas. We are blessed to live in grace, to see the signs we do not ask for because we know God in His Providence is the facilitator of all things and in our choice to live in grace, we are aware of His presence. Due to an illness, my husband was at death's door, granted a miracle to walk our daughter down the aisle to hand her to a new sacrament of life everlasting in the sacredness of matrimony. May we emulate our Lady who lived in joyful hope attentive to all of the blessings we have through our Eucharistic lives following the light of the world; JESUS CHRIST.
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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. |