By: Laura Worhacz

"Mary was modest in the world. She eagerly sacrificed her privacy and the sweetness of heavenly contemplation in order to go to her cousin Elizabeth, to congratulate her and render her assistance… she gave heed to the call of charity and withdrew when she was no longer needed."  - Saint Peter Julian (Eymard Library Vol. 7, page 60)
 
Dearest Eucharistic Family,

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14). In a recent conversation with a dear loved one regarding the suspension of Mass, I heard the words: “My family is very happy watching the Mass on TV from our family room.” Yes, we know that some people cannot come back to church with compromised immune systems and the like. There are those who can come back to Mass and will choose not to. Perhaps it is a lack of knowledge that the Bread of Life that comes down from HEAVEN to the Altar is the flesh of the Son of God. We who have been given the gift to know Jesus Eucharistic have a responsibility to make Him known and loved. “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise” (Ephesians 5:16).

We are living through a special time of grace, one that calls for sacrifice, sacrifice to nurture others into the knowledge of the love of God found in the Eucharist. A drum roll may be necessary, a loud trumpet blast, something that will wake the still baptized life into a flame of hope. Only love can do this. Mary accomplished the waking of the Spirit when she greeted her cousin. The child leapt in Elizabeth’s womb at the sacrifice of Mary.
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Jesus is coming again and there is much to prepare. When we make provisions for a celebration, we make calls, reach out, send invitations, explain the event… To whom more is given still more is expected.  For us, faithful ones of Jesus Christ, Jesus Eucharistic, sacrifice is needed now more than ever to nurture others back into the pews. This time of sacrifice is one for us to learn from one another, a time to love one another. For some a simple response may be, “it is wonderful we have had the opportunity to live-stream and offer a spiritual Communion prayer”, however, receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is for us the greatest gift this side of Heaven. He is the healing of our souls, the life blood of our baptism, the love of our lives. Sharing the love we have for Our Holy Redeemer, our best friend, and the spouse of our soul Christ Jesus, will invite others to His banquet of LOVE. Our Father in Heaven first sacrificed His Son for love of us and Mary shows us this way to Jesus. We follow Christ Jesus and Mary in our sacrificial love for others, we do this in Remembrance of HIM.

By: Ivonne Hernandez

When we speak of the human heart, we speak of a twofold reality.  We speak of the organ at the center of the body, which purifies and pumps the blood that flows through the whole body, and we speak of the hidden center of the human soul, the place of decision, the place of truth. The heart “is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant” (CCC, 2563).  St. Peter Julian tells us that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is the soul and center of all religion. When we receive the Eucharist and allow His heart to transform ours, we can then become the heart of His mystical body, allowing His grace to flow to all its members.

When Jesus was asked, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”, He replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:28-31). The second commandment flows from the first.  If we love God with all our heart, if we respond to His love with love, he will change our hearts of stone and give us a new heart of flesh (Ez 36:26). Loving God with all our heart means giving Him our whole heart. He wants our broken hardened hearts, so He can transform our wounds from sources of sin into sources of grace, for ourselves and for others. This new heart, this heart of flesh, this source of grace, is really His own heart beating in us, dwelling within us, in the place of covenant, the hidden center of the human soul. This most beautiful Sacred Heart, the model and life of love, is with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  We receive Him, we adore Him, we love Him. He transforms us into Himself.
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“The unity of the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice” (CCC, 791). We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, but what about His heart?  Jesus is the Head of His Mystical Body, and we, the Church, are the rest.  We must bring all of Him to the world. We must become that Heart, overflowing with His Blood, pumping His Grace to every part of the Body.  When circulation is cut off, the body gets diseased and a part has to be amputated if blood flow is not restored in time. By remaining united to the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are directly connected to the source of life, and, by remaining in Him and allowing Him to work through us, we can bring His love to our neighbor, who is really part of our own Body in Christ.

It is in this unity of the Mystical Body that we celebrate today the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In honoring Our Mother, in rejoicing together, we become a community of one heart and mind. And together, with Our Mother, we adore the Sacred Heart. “May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment in all the Tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time. Amen.” 

By: Rick Hernandez

​A few decades back, my parents traveled to Cleveland, OH, to lead a retreat with their missionary A few decades back, my parents traveled to Cleveland, OH, to lead a retreat with their missionary brothers and sisters. They landed at the airport and were met by their hosts, waiting for a few of the retreat participants arriving on a different flight. Weather problems were affecting the airport, and a few flights were canceled. Talking amongst themselves, they wondered whether the people in transit would make it in at all.

After a while, the flights did get canceled, they got together to discuss what to do. In a corner away from them was a young man lying on the floor and reeking of alcohol. He had been listening intently to their conversation; he reached out his hand and with a desperate voice said: “If they cannot make it, take me instead. I will go.”

Now, let us imagine ourselves in that situation… this is a group of Catholic missionaries that now had two openings for the retreat, and a man, intoxicated, down on his luck, asking them to let him go with them. Let us think deeply about this. What would we have done?

Through the virtue of Prudence, the Holy Spirit begets the gift of Counsel, allowing us to judge a situation promptly and rightly. Taking counsel from the Holy Spirit, our merciful missionaries reached out and grasped the young man’s hand.  They invited him to come with them.

​During the retreat, they provided for him, listened to his story, taught him of the love of Christ, and put him in contact with a group from the local parish. That retreat changed his life. The local parish group cared for him, helped him get back on his feet, and get back to the dignity of a well-lived life. He discovered Christ acting in his life through the actions of others.

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes. You are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
- St Teresa of Avila

That young man is now a not-so-young man, a leader of his community of faith, a solid member of society, and a loving reminder of the Mercy of God. He is today the one that reaches out his hand to help others in need.

“…We must celebrate and rejoice because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Lk 15:32).

We have recovered our brother by our willingness to allow God’s love to act through us, His Body.

When we are all together at the Eucharistic banquet, sharing of the love of our Lord with our brothers and sisters, I am reminded that some are not present, and we ache for them. I think about this often. How many people went through that airport that day? How many of them spared a look towards that young man? How many exchanged a word or two with him? How many smiled? How many offered to share a part of a meal? How many listened to his story? How many spent a minute or so thinking about a loved one because of him? How many wondered what would Jesus do? What would I have done?

It only takes one merciful soul to reach out to another and acknowledge Christ in them. Would that merciful soul have been mine? What would keep me from doing so?

There are so many in need, yet the enemy is constantly conspiring against us, always attempting to cast us one against the other. We must not let the enemy discourage us from helping our brethren. We must hold fast to charity and nurture it in our hearts, for it is the most important of the virtues that the Holy Spirit imparts on us. Let us love one another. Let us care. Let us fight the apathy that the enemy uses. Christ has no body now on earth but ours. Can we help a soul find its way home? Can we help all our souls find their way home?

“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand…, without cost you have received; without cost, you are to give… As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you” (Mt 10:7-8,11-12). 

Let us both be good and do good; let us reach out our hands to the neglected ones without being discouraged. Let us also accept the hand that is offered to us in the peace and mercy of Christ, that we may all work together towards the goal of Heaven, for I just cannot imagine Heaven without all of us there.

May our Good Lord bless us abundantly with Love, Mercy, Prudence, and Right Judgement. Amen.