 Dearest Eucharistic Family, How to make ordinary time extraordinary? We learn from Jesus.
My wedding anniversary is 11/29, November 29, and on one of my anniversaries I looked up all four Gospels, 11:29, and came across Matthew.
It is the most appropriate message for marriage and any relationship, especially our espousal to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After 36 years of marriage, sickness and health...God shows us the way to be transformed daily into the Gift of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord. More important than our failures is our consent to live in forgiveness and integrity of heart. To have a great affection for the privilege to live in the Sacraments of our Catholic Church is example for what we believe to be true; eternal life. It is a sacrifice of our time to be disciplined into our prayer life. To attend daily Mass, to live in the Eucharist, is to make our lives a living prayer. This past week a dear brother in Christ passed suddenly into eternity. It is at such times we are reminded that our time on earth is temporal, our daily routines will one day be long gone. Life is precious, we know not the hour or the moment when we will see God face to face.
Mourning loss is very real, it is a wound never truly healed, however, in Holy Communion we are invited to be with God in the suffering. And there we find hope, extraordinary grace to endure the loss. The above excerpt from Saint Peter Julian teaches us to be purified through Holy Communion. The remedy for our sinful inclinations is the power of the Eucharist. Only the humble can be happy on this side of the heavens. To find humility we must find Jesus. In the life of Christ, our humanity is formed into the Divine Life. The Holy Spirit dwells in humble souls. Truly none of us are humble without combating the battle within. It is by such desire to be union with God that we can live in extraordinary grace, to find ourselves in gratitude rather than pity, in thanksgiving rather than living in self-entitlement. Our Eucharistic lives help us to live ultimately in love. And in love, we appreciate all those around us, by making every moment sacred; knowing the present days are passing and our time on earth to be cherished. When someone passes on the memories of our encounters with them are remembered. The love shared and the love we witness from their lives is a mark on our souls. May we follow the example of Mary who first showed us the way to humility. Mary was the first to live in an extraordinary condition of life by her service to God, by her yes through her espousal to the Holy Spirit. With Saint Joseph leading the Holy Family, we are sure they lived in the ultimate love because they had JESUS. When our time on earth comes to pass, we will be in the PEACE of Christ since we have tried our best to live in perfect charity. In Jesus’ love, we can be in extraordinary grace in ordinary time!
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By: Ivonne J. Hernandez 
We never know when or how God is going to lift the veil and make Himself known to us… but when He does, the memory is etched forever in our soul. The year was 1998 (as best I can recall). We had just moved to a new city. I was staying home with two young boys and did not know anyone. I saw an announcement on the parish’s bulletin about a prayer group meeting that week, so, desperate for some friends, I decided to go. I walked into the chapel and sat in one of the pews up front. I don’t remember much about the meeting, other than a woman was singing and she had a beautiful voice. I remember I closed my eyes to listen when something started to fill me up. I remember this sense of peace and joy overtaking me, and my mouth, involuntarily, turned into a smile. As I left that night and went back home, I could not wipe the silly grin from my face. When I arrived home, Rick asked me why I was smiling like that, and I don’t remember what I said… I think I tried to explain, but I couldn’t find the words. I just remember feeling like I was on a cloud, and it lasted for about three days. When the feeling wore off, I was determined to find it again, and so my search began. I would spend the next few years searching, seeking, for that fragrance; I knew I was searching for God.
This encounter with the Holy Spirit was a pivotal moment in my relationship with God. Experiencing Love Personified changes you forever. Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom… The Spirit of Truth, being welcomed, makes Himself known in your soul. A longing, a thirst, a hunger develops and grows. It leads from within. It wakes up the conscience… you become aware of the battle for your soul.
The Holy Spirit is not a bird, is not fire, is not water… He is a Person; He is God.
The Holy Spirit had always been with me, but I did not know Him. It was that same Spirit who led me to that little Chapel, for it was there, by the light of the Tabernacle, where He wanted to reveal to me His glory, so that, when that memory resurfaced, it would have a name, a place, a sound, a smell… it was a tangible experience of the Presence of God.
That evening back in 1998, I entered that little chapel looking for friendship and left filled with the Spirit of God. A group of pilgrims welcomed me, a stranger, and allowed me to find my way home.
 Often, when I am in Adoration at the Chapel, I feel small, young, malleable, open... I often get transported in memory to my childhood, when I would offer my help and presence to whoever needed it. I could only help a little, for I was little, but it was a true offer of self to the best of my abilities at the time. Yet, that little help could make a difference to someone. Even In the smallness of the offering, there was purity of intent, as it was given without expectation. I see that same smallness in the Host, in which I see Christ in all His Glory, yet hidden to those of us who only attempt to see with our eyes. In the hidden reality, the humble Host is neither little nor small. It is the King of Mercy disguised as bread, offering the fullness of his love and help to us, and with an even greater purity of intent than the child I remember.
Throughout life, we continue to grow, and even in our simplicity, we reach higher tiers of life. We are called to grow bolder in love, hope, and faith and gain greater knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. That wisdom which we glean from our Eucharistic life tells us that we are indeed small and that if we just embrace this, we can grow in humility and selflessness in imitation of Christ. Oh, that we may do all little things with great love, pure offerings to the Eucharistic King!
That smallness and simplicity in the almost routine things we do with love guide our steps, traversing slowly but surely on the way to Heaven.
I am given a glimpse of Heaven whenever my children do these small kind things, giving of themselves to others without expectation and with great love. I grow thankful to Our Lord for this gift of recognition when I see His guiding hand act upon my loved ones, littleness giving back the gift of great love... which is not so little at all, for love of God and neighbor reigns supreme over all virtues.
In my heart, often, while witnessing the routine and the mundane, I feel the hand of God operating freely in my life, His love and peace showing the way… I look up at my wall and at the Crucifix that adorns it…
At every Mass, during the moment of consecration, there is a Cross and a Host... The Cross reminds us how much Jesus loved us then… The Host reminds us how much he loves us now... today… Death and life, sacrifice and gift, sacrificial love and nurturing gift... then and now, and for all time, even beyond time.
How can we not adore Him who humbled Himself this way for us? How can we not accept this gift given to us as nourishment for the journey home?
Let us make God’s Love our vocation so that His Love may be shown to the world through our actions in life. Let us pray for vocations to the Priesthood that we may continue to celebrate the humility of Christ and His smallness in the Host, in the greatness of the Eucharist. May we learn to live Christ’s example, that in our simpleness and smallness, with love and humility, we may live our thanksgiving fully, while we continue our journey home to Heaven. Let us pray: Lord of all Creation, please help us to understand the importance of our every single task, that in the humility of daily living, we may lovingly offer you our simple, small, and humble efforts, that our vocation of love may be a good imitation of Your never-ending Love. Amen.
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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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