Dearest Eucharistic Family,
 
This past week my husband found out on Facebook that a second cousin from Upstate NY was in a severe car accident and in ICU. We called his wife to extend our concern. We hung up the phone as if we received a spiritual “pep talk” after hearing, “God has a plan, and we will learn from this. So many have come to bring me food and comfort; I do not know how people live without God; Jesus is with us holding our hands through this trial; we are strong in God and will get through. Our parish priest and community are with us...” We received this message from our cousin in a genuine, joyful tone. A faithful heart amid suffering came from a dedicated sacramental life—a life that lives for God, one’s own family, and community—responsibly stewarding the privilege to be in Christ Jesus through the heart of Mary. 
 
We called our cousin to extend our love and received a loving, faithful heart of hope and gratitude in return.
 
It is beautiful to witness the love of God found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

For sure, we are baptized into our eternal reality. The Eucharist is our hope to be purified into the Sacramental grace, our doorway of hope in the midst of suffering. In the above excerpt, we hear the words of Saint Peter Julian advising us, to be totally given to Jesus. To be love, burning with zeal, like fire in a heart that longs to return love for love. 
 
It seems like an eternity from one Daily Mass to the next. Prayer reminds us of the Liturgy and the Eucharist we have received. In this pattern of prayer with Mary, we remain faithful to be totally given to God.
 
We are weeks away from another Lenten Season. We have time in ordinary time to listen to the voice of God in his Word to prepare for another desert experience. As we open our hearts, let us be elevated with the Sacred Host; raise our hearts to see Heaven now. By death, we find life anew and a doorway of grace to what has been hidden in our hearts. 
 
Our hearts beat with the Sacred Host by the Incarnate life, and we are called out of ourselves daily to let Jesus be known through our existence. The scriptures this past week remind us of conversion, the conversion of St. Paul and his fatherly care to St. Timothy and St. Titus. It brought to mind so many who have ministered to me to learn the teaching of our Catholic faith. The greatest gift I have ever received was finding myself in church, where there was the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament almost 25 years ago. It was then an intimate relationship with Christ through the heart of Mary was found. As Catholics, we are blessed to be in a spiritual conversion forever. Baptized in this life unto the next, purgatory, and please God, the fullness of Heaven. 
 
May all we have found in the mystery of God be professed in every situation, in all we do and speak. Our words are important and may invite another soul to come to know the love of God found in the Holy Eucharist. 

By: Ivonne J. Hernandez

​It always amazed me how, whenever I was pregnant, whether I was walking down the street, shopping at the mall, or going to Mass on Sunday… no matter where I went, there seemed to be pregnant women everywhere. It is like being pregnant gave me a special radar to hone in on those who were in the same boat as me. We would notice each other and share a smile that said, “Hang in there… I see you. I see your pain, your sacrifice, your love. I see the difficulties you are dealing with in a world that refuses to make room for you and the child inside you, a world that values productivity and speed as you slow down. Hang in there, my friend; you are not alone.” The rest of the time, which has been the majority of my life, I am sure many pregnant women have walked by without me noticing, without me seeing them… without a glance of love to acknowledge their plight. When I’ve done this, I have sinned in what I have failed to do, “through my fault, through my fault, through my own grievous fault….”

Sins of omission are very difficult to deal with, and we should put in extra effort to identify them, lest we compound the omission by omitting to look for them. Acknowledging the limitations of our human nature, we must put checks and balances in place to help us cover all our bases… especially the areas most prone to neglect. The call to love our neighbor requires this; we must not delay. God does not ask the impossible of us. He has given us to one another to help “cover our six.” Just like a pregnant woman has eyes to notice other pregnant women, a person in a wheelchair sees others without mobility. The mother of an autistic child sees her neighbor’s undiagnosed child with empathy. The hard of hearing has more patience with the loudness of the old man standing in line behind him. We can not expect, as individuals, to have eyes that see what is hidden from us; we can only see what we see. But we can choose to see more by actively seeking the company of those different than us.

We must have the courage to expand our view to see all the dimensions of human suffering. What stops us from doing this? A phrase in Spanish comes to mind… “ojos que no ven, corazon que no siente,” which translates to “eyes that don’t see, heart that doesn’t feel”…or… “what you don’t know, can’t hurt you.” If we are already suffering, looking to our neighbor in a similar situation brings us comfort; we know we are not alone. But seeking to see suffering we are not going through ourselves right now? That requires courage; that requires love. It requires the courage to be willing to be moved with compassion, to be moved to action fueled by love. Once we see, we can not say we did not know. Once we see, we can not ignore anymore.

One day, as I walked out of a store with my cane, a young man held the door for me and offered to help me with my bags. I gratefully accepted, and we talked as he pushed my shopping cart toward my car. He asked me what was wrong with me; why did I need a cane to walk? After I told him, he shared that his mom also has an illness that makes it difficult for her to walk. He didn’t know that not long before he showed up, I was feeling frustrated that this store did not have an automatic door, nor did it have attendants to help me. I was already tired from shopping and now needed to exert more effort to get my stuff to the car. God heard my cry, and he called the young man. If this man had not experienced his mother’s suffering, he might have walked on by without noticing I was tired, for my suffering was not evident to all. It is not like I had fallen on the ground; almost everyone would leap to help in that circumstance. No, my physical and mental pain was hidden from most. His mom’s illness had been the instrument God used to open this man’s eyes and heart to see me this day, to help me and bring joy and light to my day.

​Why does a good God allow suffering? I might not know the full answer, but I know that on that day when I was walking out of a store, the suffering of the young man’s mother and my own worked together to bring greater glory to God. When we look at the Cross, we see what is required of love. Let us open our eyes and expand our worldview. Let us not be afraid of allowing the suffering of others to break our hearts, for Christ is ready to heal and strengthen us, to then use us in His service… to help us bring sight to the blind and bring comfort to the afflicted.

I have always loved the Christian life’s focus on newness. We are called to become a new creation through our Lord Jesus Christ. As the splendor of a new dawn presents the beginning of a new day, our spiritual day is also meant to start with the contemplation of Christ’s life present in us. We witness the splendor of His presence here among us and in us. Christ’s Word rings in our ears and minds and is meant to guide our thoughts and actions so that we may become little Christs in our small communities and among those who need to know Christ. We help others know Christ by being like Christ. At Mass, we pray that we may become what we eat. During Communion, we are changed. In that most intimate moment, we are made whole and new, no longer just us.  For a few moments, we live our prayer that we may become one with Christ.
 
As beautifully encompassing and fulfilling as the Mass is, how do we live this prayer beyond the Eucharistic banquet? To do this properly, Saint Peter Julian Eymard encourages us to offer God what he called the “Gift of Self” or the “Gift of our Personality.” We give up what we are, our desires, hang-ups, thoughts, and our very selves so that we may become one with Christ, that He may live in us, and that His Holy Will be done in us and through us.

​The perfect selflessness of Christ was the gift of His own personality to our Father, the Most High.  For most of us, it may be easy to see how to be selfless in situations we consider extreme, like during the Crucifixion, but how can we find it in ordinary, day-to-day life? There seems to be a misconception of what it means to be selfless. I believe it is seen as something that you turn on or off. Do you become selfless by denying your own needs?  No. Do you become selfless by denying your dreams and motivations? No.
 
So, being selfless as Christ is selfless is what exactly? It is turning our lives, needs and dreams, motivations, and charism, who we are, into a gift to others. It is to keep an open mind and a willing heart, to gift our fellow brothers and sisters with our very selves. When we are able to make that mental switch, committing our lives to be a gift to God and others, then we become genuinely selfless. This is part of the gift of self, the gift of personality. If we are willing and able to allow Christ to live in us and take over, then we will discover that Christ will say to us:

Many Saints have spoken about relinquishing desires, wants, and expectations so that we may become empty vessels, vessels that may be filled to the brim by the Grace of God. A saintly life means we are vessels, vessels of God’s Grace. Just as water is transported to combat thirst, we, vessels of grace, transport God’s gifts to those we interact with, fighting faithlessness, hopelessness, and the lack of love. Do we actively think about our role as vessels of God’s grace? Do we take our participation in the Eucharistic banquet as a call to distribute that which we receive from God’s goodness? Grace is God’s gift for us, but what do we do with our gifts?  If we gift ourselves to God, then we are His instruments.  We are called to be pliable in His hands so that we may allow Him to do His sacred work in the world through us. That is living a saintly life.
 
This does not mean that we are all called to go out to the nations and preach and minister as the apostles. It does mean that we all have an essential part in God’s mission of Mercy and Love that is ours, and we must allow His Will to mold us and guide us to our daily mission in life through the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
We are called to be like Christ. Let us take every new day and choose to be a new creation in Him. Let us allow ourselves to be His hands in this world so that we may help our loved ones to know and love Christ through His Real Presence in our lives. May we be much less like us and much more like Christ.
 
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, allow us to grow in humility and accept your will for us. Help to make of ourselves a gift to You, that You may reside in us, live presently in us, and minister to the world through us. May we always be Your new creation. Amen.