 Dearest Eucharistic Family, We are in the Easter Season, a time for renewal of grace in our lives. The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not something passed, it is held in our hearts and reigns in MEMORY, "Do This in Memory of Me." Lent is also passed on for this year, but the glory of Easter is the fulfillment of the season; we do not dismiss it, we rather take it with us in the fullness of grace just as our mother did. To live in the blessing of grace is a treasured gift for the faithful. I was in prayer to prepare for this blog and the thought of choice came to me. To live in faith, grace, and God's light is our choice, an act of the will. Then I found the reflection below from Saint Peter Julian: to serve Jesus with our will, "without choosing." Such a beautiful thought it adds to the concept of choice: it falls into obedience. To live in obedience to our prayer and sacrifice, to strive to live in imitation of Jesus Christ without choosing, is to live in disposing ourselves to God's triumphant glory in us. By the grace of the Eucharist, we see every challenge, every Lent, and every sorrow through the light of the Blessed Sacrifice and God's creative power over all the earth. As Christians, we continue to live making up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. We cling to the reality that HEAVEN AWAITS us and the Kingdom of God is with us now upon the Altar of the LORD. To live in heaven now helps us to see the miracles of life all around us. The gifts and the blessings surrounding us.
Since we cannot see grace, it is seemingly realistic, especially amid suffering, to separate from the gentle Jesus. To live in obedience is to live in grace even when we cannot see; this brings us hope. The Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a spring of LIVING WATER, a place of refuge. To espouse the Holy Spirit as our Lady did reveals to us the entrance of obedience and submission to God's will through the mobilizing force of grace, a gift. To live in a bouquet of love for our God is for us to live as Jesus has lived, so others may come to know HIS GLORY.
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 A few months ago, I was having a conversation with a priest who had just returned from a 30-day silent retreat. I asked him if it was easy to enter into the silence. He said that it took him about three days to let go of all the noise in his mind… three days. I then shared that I’ve always felt a desire to go on a silent retreat, but that I am afraid I would go crazy. He then said something I had not considered before. He said that he too would go crazy if he had no one to talk to for 30 days, but that is not what he was doing. He was talking with God. And right there, in a moment of silence, I felt my heart respond. An almost imperceptible movement of desire, stirring below my thoughts.
For Christians, the goal of silence is not emptiness; it is Presence. Perhaps nowhere can we see this with greater clarity than in the tomb of the Tabernacle.
Things are not what they seem. Our natural eyes can’t see; our natural ears can’t hear. When we cry to God from the depths of our grief and suffering and He seems silent, let us not give up hope.
Yes, the King slept in the flesh… but only for three days. And in the silence, God was acting. Three days of darkness, three days of silence. “God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.”
By: Rick Hernandez  We have finally reached the end of Lent, getting even closer to the celebration of Easter, where we remember, in thanksgiving and full of joy, our Lord Christ's Resurrection! But before we get to Easter, we have to remember that Christ experienced His Passion. How often do we, in our very lives, desire the joy of Easter, without embracing the suffering from the Passion? As the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA/RCIA) coordinators in our parish, my dear wife Ivonne and I walk hand-in-hand with many seeking to become Catholic Christians. It is often that these beautiful souls come to the Church, not by being celebrated by those close to them, but instead by going through their own Gethsemane, left alone and abandoned by those they deemed friends and family. I believe in my heart that, in those moments of loneliness and solitude, they are experiencing something of what Christ suffered that day in the garden.
What great courage those seeking Christ have! What great love they profess when they move forward in that conviction of Christ calling them ever-closer to Him, even amid discord, disinformation, and disharmony. We are seeing this today, in a country where religious freedom is supposed to be one of our most important individual rights. Can you imagine them, the called, in those places where the persecution of our faith is open and encouraged? How many martyrs have we seen? We have witnessed too many, even in these modern times. May our Lord's love and compassion be ever with them. But what about us? Do we consider these things and live our faith publicly? Do we live our faith openly and faithfully? Or are we just too comfortable with what we do, that we even fail to accept a little discomfort as an offering to acknowledge Christ in our lives and witness to His love for us among our peers?
History reminds us that standing for faith has always carried a cost. I often think about Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero, martyr and Archbishop of San Salvador. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Church in El Salvador was suffering severe persecution, trapped in the middle of a de-facto civil war between the Salvadorean government and many insurgent groups. Archbishop Romero knew that no one in the country was safe, but knew even better that those who were poor and isolated were bearing the worst from the conflict. He became the voice of the voiceless, defending the people and their faith while serving the poor and the displaced. For that criticism of the conflict, and his insistence on keeping the churches open, he was ordered shot and killed halfway through saying the Holy Mass on March 24, 1980. I often wonder if I would have the courage of Archbishop Romero if I were ever called to forfeit my life for others... and I look up onto the Cross of Christ, and I know that, because of love, He paid that price... Could I love like that? I do not know, but I pray that if it were to happen, that I be given the strength and conviction needed, that my love be strengthened enough that I would accept it the same way Christ did. The same way Saint Peter and Saint Paul did. The same way Saint Oscar Romero and Blessed Miguel Pro did.
There is no Easter without the Passion. Most of us are not called to make that ultimate sacrifice of dying for our faith, but we are all asked to figuratively die to ourselves in small ways so that we may live in service to others. Let us keep our eyes and ears open and remain willing to follow Christ, for we are called to embrace this death of self, and live a life of selflessness and service, just as Christ himself lived. We are called to bear witness to this with our very lives. This is our small sacrifice. This is our offering.
Let us pray: "Lord, so great is our love for you that even though we walk in a world where speaking your name can mean certain death, your faithful still speak it and speak it all the louder. Help us work for a world where all may speak their creeds and pray their prayers without fear of violence. Hear the prayers of those who abide with you in dangerous times and in dark valleys, and who die with your name on their lips. Draw them quickly to your side, where they might know eternal peace." (Prayer for the Christian Martyrs)
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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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