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By: Laura Worhacz "Do thou be their mother, O thou strong one. Love them even as thou hast loved Me, as I have loved them. It was through love for them that My Heavenly Father made thee My Mother. It is for them that I am giving My Blood and My life. I love them more than Myself, and I transfer to them all the claims that I have to thy maternal love. Whatever thou dost for them, will be done for Me. I confide to thee the fruits of My Redemption, the salvation of mankind." (Eymard Library, Volume 7 Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Page 95) Dearest Eucharistic Family, We are in the third week of our Lenten journey wondering with you if we are receiving all that Jesus has for us in His many gifts of the Eucharist. One of my favorite movies is Lone Survivor. If we get past all the language to the heart of this true story we find the reality of hatred and love, of war and peace. There are so many emotions in witnessing war, so many thanks to give to our service men offering their lives for our beautiful country. Michael Murphy is the main character in the movie. Michael grew up close to my hometown on Long Island, where a monument stands in his honor and it is very real for me to image his life growing up. For me the saddest part of the movie, truly the scene that pierced my heart, is when Michael Murphy’s father finds out his son was killed and throws his Rosary beads in the garbage. Tears fled from my eyes identifying with this man’s pain. We are weeping at the foot of the cross for the sin that still exits through our disobedience and the choice to do evil. Most of you are aware that I have published a Consecration book to Jesus through Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. My very favorite part of the meditations, rooted in Saint Peter Julian Eymard’s library, is his reference to Mary as “O thou strong one”. We are reminded in the above excerpt that Jesus has given us His Blood, His life, and that the fruit of His Redemption that we receive is “Salvation”. Salvation remains with us on the Altar of the Lord where every consecration of the host transforms into the Body and Blood of our Savior. God is with us, alive and lamenting with us in our pains. The greatest gift Jesus has given us after His very life is His Mother. He offered Mary to us at the foot of the Cross so she can accompany us. Mary, in the likeness of Jesus, is the strong one. She is the one who absorbed all of the ignorance of humanity with her Son. She wept at the foot of the cross and she experienced death at the foot of the cross. Mary’s life was in Heaven, where the love she offered was waiting in Its fullness. We are awaiting the celebration of EASTER and it is there where we remember what St. Paul hopes we find, “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty too, your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14). Weeping at the foot of the Cross in the hope that exists in the God of the Eucharist. We cling to the “Strong One” offering our Rosaries for all who have lost hope through the pains of their earthly pilgrimage. May our faith not be in vain but in the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, in Jesus.
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By: Ivonne J. Hernandez This past week my husband and I went to visit my aunt, who is very sick at this time. When we entered the room in the facility she is at, we found her husband, falling asleep in a hard hospital chair while she rested on her bed. He looked exhausted. He has been caring for his sick wife for a while now. We stopped by to see her on our way to dinner, and, although it is not how either one of us would have planned to spend the evening of our 27th wedding anniversary, I can see now that God had a better plan. “In sickness and in health.” The vows we took 27 years ago took on a different tone as I looked at my uncle and was reminded of what they really mean, a total gift of self. It is the reminder that to love is to will the good of the other, at the expense of our own desires, and sometimes even our needs. It is a surrender to the will of God as it is presented in the moment in front of us, and not as we wish it would be. It is in that moment, in the struggle, on the cross, that love shines like the sun. The lyrics from the hymn Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days come to mind: "As you did hunger and did thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord, to die to self, and so to live by your most holy Word. And through these days of penitence, and through your Passiontide, forevermore, in life and death, O Lord, with us abide. Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over past, an Easter of unending joy we may attain at last.” The word abide means to bear patiently; to tolerate. In the words of the hymn above we ask Jesus to abide with us through the dark times; to tolerate us. I know that when I am sick and not feeling well, I am not the best company for my husband. I become intolerant of the situation and become difficult to tolerate in turn. Yet, in bearing patiently with me during those times, the love we have for each other grows. As we walked out of my aunt’s room, we quietly held hands. Our hearts were heavy, but in that pain, there was gratitude and hope; the hope that through the grace of the sacrament of marriage we will each have what it takes when we are called to put our vows to the test. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2). “"Love one another… As I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). By: Laura Worhacz “Let us, then, breathe in Mary’s spirit; it is the same as that of Jesus, for she received it from its Divine Source. She is full of His grace, in order to communicate it to us. She is the only true and perfect copy of His virtues; she labored for three and thirty years with the Divine Original constantly before her eyes. She knows all the secrets of the love of the savior for mankind; she shares His unbounded love for us. Oh! With what tenderness and devotion does Mary love us! She loves us as only a Mother so good and so powerful can love.” (Eymard Library Volume 7 Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, page 94-95) Dearest Eucharistic Family, It seems like the world is swept away in anxieties. Good and holy people, hard working people, God’s people, filled with nervousness in all different aspects of the word. We are all experiencing the Agony in the Garden in some way; things that bring us to a place of uncertainty, things that shake us. With all this, where do we turn? Jesus went to the Divine Source while in the Garden of Gethsemane. He sweat blood begging for His cross to be taken; we know He submitted to the Will of God. Jesus went to His Father after His Last Supper. He embraced the reality of the sin of the world. He prayed. Peace is available to us in Jesus, not as the world gives it, but as He gives it. Jesus absorbed all the devilment of mankind to bring us the fullness of life. The acceptance of the Mystery of Our Father’s love calms the pandemonium of our hearts. The empowerment of God’s love is found in the Eucharist. Jesus remains in the humility He died with, so we may find the peace we are seeking by humbly offering ourselves to God. Saint Peter Julian reminds us that we have a mother; “She knows all the secrets of the love of the savior for mankind”. Mary’s Spirit is her espousal to the Holy Spirit. Living in the breath of the moment of God’s grace enabled her to be the first to be receptive to the peace of Christ. Mary lived with the “Divine Original.” She became the love that was before her eyes. Our Lady had peace through the Passion of Christ; no anxiety beheld her. Tears yes, they flew from her love; still, she had peace. Adoring the Blessed Sacrament during this Lenten Season will help sweep away the anxieties of our lives. Jesus suffered an intense Passion for us; He died for us. We walk these sacred mysteries in this holy season to raise our faith to a yet another level of Resurrected life while still on earth through the Eucharistic peace of Christ our Lord. Amen. We adore you O Christ and we praise You for by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world. |
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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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