 When we hear the word conversion, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do we think of the conversion of others, or do we think of our own?
In the last few years, I have had the privilege of ministering to those expressing a desire to become Catholic through a process now called OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults). During this time of accompaniment, I have come to see the marvel of God’s ways. Each person I meet has a story, and each story is unique, yet the same. Each person brings a story of how God revealed Himself. Through different paths and different ways, hearts are called, minds are awakened… there is something more… people are searching. In the end, those seeking are really saying, “Teach us how to pray.” In an interview, St. Teresa of Calcutta was asked what advice she’d give anyone who doubts Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist. Her answer? “Pray...pray. The fruit of prayer is always the joy of loving Jesus, coming closer to Him.” Then she was asked, “What if somebody says, ‘I don’t know how to pray?’”…Mother Teresa said, “I will teach him; we learn to pray by praying. Even Jesus spent hours in prayer.” (Interview on EWTN) Jesus is always calling each one of us to himself. This is why we only have to pause for a second, look up, and become aware of His gaze. It is under this loving gaze that we become. It is through this becoming that we are transformed. This ever-present call to conversion, to metanoia, is for each one of us.
Those of us who have been baptized, who have received the Word in our hearts and in our flesh, who carry the grace of the sacraments--we are equipped through the grace of our Confirmation to share in the mission of the apostles. We have a mission to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. The question then is, how do we proclaim? I think the answer is… it depends. It will depend on the particular time and place. Therefore, to know what is needed in a particular moment, we need to constantly pray. “For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). What the world needs is witnesses of truth… authentic witnesses of love. And what I have come to discover is that in the depth of the human heart, each one of us knows. We recognize when we are in the presence of goodness, truth, and love. And I am not speaking of the kind of things this world sometimes calls love, but of that authentic, transcendental yearning, that longing for something more. In his Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis writes:
Let us remember again the words from Mother Teresa… “The fruit of prayer is always the joy of loving Jesus, of coming closer to Him.” We can not manufacture authentic joy. It is not something we can fake and hope will resonate. It is a fruit of the Spirit. It is the fruit of prayer. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Luke 1:46-47) So today, let us pause to listen… “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”’ (John 1:23). Let us pray…
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 I like to tell my wife that home is wherever she is, wherever one of my loved ones is. Home is wherever I find God among us, and I find God present in the love we share. Wherever that higher calling of love is, there is our home. As we learn to trust that God's loving hand can indeed guide us during this earthly life, we also learn to recognize the Holy Spirit marking us as His people, helping us to love as we have been created to do. Nowhere is this more explicit for us than at the celebration of the Eucharist. There in God’s temple, through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the guise of the humble Host, Christ becomes present for us, and we dwell with Jesus for a little while, experiencing the very real expression of God's kingdom on earth. Our humble King gives himself to us and for us, completely and without cost. His love is given to us without limits, and where God’s love dwells, there is our home.
We are called to give ourselves the same way Christ does, to become Eucharist for others, to feed the ones hungry the same way we are fed, and to do that joyfully, willingly, becoming love. And as we become love, we also become home to our brethren through Christ’s unifying love. We know this because:
Saint Paul eloquently states in this letter that we must love. We may not yet know how our love helps change the world, but it does change it indeed. As we become God’s love on this earth, let us remember that the expression of love in practice is charity and that there are two sides to charity, giving and receiving. Our Lord is present in both, and so must we be.
What we do for the ones in need, with love, we do for Him! Our Lord knows us, so he sometimes grants us feelings of accomplishment for our loving actions, but let us not do this just for the good feelings and vibes, but instead, grow more grateful and even more in love with Christ for His gift of love to us. To care for the sick, visit the lonely, comfort the mourning, accompany the weeping, and protect the weak. All of these are to be Christ to someone, but we are also Christ to someone when we are open to our need for love and charity, for our Lord said:
When we offer our needs, our poverty, and our lack, we open ourselves to receive love and charity from our brethren. We allow them to see and serve Christ in us, and we are then blessed. And who blesses but God? We are God’s expression of love if we take Him at His word and raise our hands in blessing as Christ did, when we give and when we receive. We are the salt of the earth.
During a recent trip to Puerto Rico, I visited my parents in my hometown of Peñuelas. The next day after my arrival, my parents woke up early in the morning and said to me “Let’s go love and be charitable” and we proceeded to go visit a few who were sick, old, and infirm, and a few who were lonely and isolated. I saw, through the eyes of our friends, that Christ was indeed there. God’s love was present in us, charity was given and received in every conversation, and love was exchanged. I had a hard time leaving every place because I felt His presence among us, and I do not believe I have ever felt more at home while on the road. May we all get to experience the gift of living charity, and the feeling of God’s love flowing through our very selves. May we all get to truly say that “Where God’s love dwells, there is our home.” Let us pray: Lord, help us to be your heart alive in this world. Let us be your eyes and ears, attuned to the needs of your loved ones, and the hands and feet that do your will in the world. Help us to love as you love, and to help make you present in the hearts of your people. Let us be always home in you. Amen.
Dearest Eucharistic Family, My youngest daughter, aged 23, is soon to be married. The planning, before long, will come to fruition and the glorious day of the Sacrament of Matrimony will forever be held for my daughter and my new son. Recently, chatting with my daughter, we shared many memories of her childhood, and her present and future hopes. We both agreed upon the blessing that is to be given the gift of Christ in the Eucharist and the call we received to attend daily Mass. There were many imperfections in the growing years, however, the weekly sacrament of confession held us accountable to overtake Christ in His compassion. How truly blessed we are to live in the sacraments of our Catholic Church. Jesus teaches us the way to salvation, the way of the Cross, and the gift of the Resurrection. Our Mother, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, was the first to follow the way to Our Father's heart, on earth as it is in Heaven. In Saint John's Gospel, we are given a vision of light and of love. And we read in John 3:30 of Saint John the Baptist, of the decreasing of self to find life out of sin and darkness and entrance to the divine life. To find the joy Saint John the Baptist found in allowing Jesus to increase so that he may decrease was found in teaching, preaching, and ultimately dying for the sake of truth and holiness. All that John lived for was found in Jesus' love and redemption. A soul connected to God through the Eucharist can find an intimacy with our Father in heaven that forms a bond of grace, a strength to endure the hardships of life. Suffering has a purpose in the mystery of God's love, we will not see all of its glory this side of the Kingdom. We trust assured that love will find the way to hope, and faith will keep us on task. There is work to be done, for sure, to lead others to find hope from the burdens of life. I am offering many Mass intentions for my adult children, for their faithfulness to be nourished, and for Christ to increase in their lives. For my youngest daughter, to be married and to live another sacrament with the Eucharist as the foundation of her new life in Christ with a spouse, will hold many surprises in the wonderment of God's love. As we come to the close of the Christmas season and enter into a new year of grace, the mystery of Christmas will lead us to new birth. We submit to ordinary time to be made ready for Lent, to find the resurrected life in an ever-new light. Every day is made new through the Liturgy.
A daily holy reminder from Saint Padre Pio echoes, "Past to Thy mercy, future to Thy Providence, present to Thy LOVE." As one door closes, another opens for a new year. God is ready to pour forth grace upon grace for our souls to find the joy of the Gospel in the mystery of His love. Our words, thoughts, deeds, and actions, will reveal that Christ is living in us, increased by our submission to God's holy will, lived in joy, that others may come to know Jesus is with us in His Eucharistic love.
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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. 
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