 Dearest Eucharistic Family, We have been called by name. It is a particular term of endearment when someone lovingly calls us by name, and it makes a difference in our response to them. Eucharistic prayer may inspire us to call on the name of Jesus in a reciprocal act of love, knowing he has first loved and called upon us by name.
What does your name mean? The name Laura is not in the Bible. However, the tradition of placing laurel leaves on one’s head as a sign of victory is ancient, and the original Latin word Laurus appears in the Bible. The original meaning of victory and crowning is a concept of very old. Take some time to look up the origin of your name and pray with it. How beautiful it is to say, “Our Father,” it resonates to the depths of our souls that we are part of someone who loves us. God has given us Jesus and the Apostles to carry on to the next generations a progeny of faithfulness. The holy name of JESUS. God saves.
What are our favorite names? Do they remind us of people who have done extraordinary things? People who have shown great mercy? Great love? I remember when my first daughter was born. At the moment of her birth, my husband said to me, “What is her name?” I looked into the precious little face and responded, “Nicole.” It is as if she was with us forever and named perfectly for her mission in life. When pregnant with my second child, I secretly said, “If we are blessed with another daughter, I would love to name her Mary after our Blessed Mother.” However, I felt unworthy to name my child Mary. I had shared the thought with a sister in Christ who said, “The best way to imitate is to emulate; why not name the child Mary!” It happened. Names are so important. As we journey to All Saints and All Souls Day, let us remember to call upon the names of the faithful ones who have gone before us. The names that draw us to love and beauty of this world and that lead us to Heaven. We remember the holy name of JESUS—the power the name holds. The sacred name of Jesus is a prayer. God saves us through the heart of Christ. With the reception of Communion, we hold the Holy Name in His True Presence. We love and serve in Jesus’ name. We bless and reign with Jesus by carrying His life in us. In our mortification of the senses, we see more clearly; we may hear angel messages. Mary heard, “And his name shall be Jesus.”
There is power through LOVE. As we behold the name of JESUS and fall more deeply into his saving grace, we learn to love ourselves in Him. We are beloved. Jesus calls us by name. In Jesus’ redemption for us, the old passes away, although maybe little by little. Christ becomes in us and, for us, a new way of living, moving, and being in God. The Holy Spirit is our accompaniment to lead us through the heart of Mary. Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament indeed holds the name MOTHER as most sacred. Mary beholds us, and our names are precious to her in God.
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 Peace… we all yearn for it, yet we look around and don't see it. In our world, in our communities, in our homes, and in our own hearts, we see division; we see strife.
I know Jesus is my peace; I have experienced this. Yet, I have also experienced how easy it is to lose sight of Christ and lose my peace. I am also painfully aware of the consequences that come from this. The peace, or lack thereof, in my home, is directly affected by me.
There is a kind of peace we experience when our environment is in order. But, more importantly, the peace we seek begins interiorly. A soul rooted in the love of Christ can find peace amid this chaotic world. Imagine how many of those together can make up a beautiful and peaceful field, a place to rest and breathe.
One of the greatest blessings in our marriage is that we often take turns losing our peace. When one of us is having a rough time, the other, like a lighthouse, points the way back to peace. In those moments, a little love and kindness goes a long way. We know we love each other, so we can give a little pass while the other is having a rough day. I have found that when anger meets meekness, it quickly dissipates.
Pride is an enemy to peace. It is the root of all evil. It breeds envy, feeds on fear, and makes neighbors enemies. Fear lies to us and fills us with worries and anxieties.
God knows everything we need, and He tells us repeatedly to have no fear.
Jesus is the peace we seek.
Let us pray:
 When I am out in the world, many people see me wearing my Crucifix pendant and feel compelled to speak with me. While some do comment on how beautiful the Crucifix is and share their own experiences of Christ, some do ask me why am I a Christian in this day and age, especially a Catholic. We then proceed to have a conversation on the whys and the why-nots.
I speak on how Christ permeates my life and how I hope that He positively touches people in the world through me. I explain that my Crucifix pendant is a self-reminder that Christ is who I aspire to emulate. I say, "If I do well, then glory be to God, but if I do not, then call me on it so that I may reconsider and repent." The Crucifix sets up an expectation, one that I try to live by. Those statements are usually received well, but invariably, I hear their complaints about the faithful, that too many of us judge and dismiss too many people. I am told that too many of us do not practice what Christ taught us, that we do not love as much as we should, trust as much as we should, or hope as much as we should. Mahatma Gandhi once famously said: "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Poignant, and I do not disagree. It takes a concerted effort to become as Christ. It takes much love, faith, and hope. It takes recognition of Christ. It takes encounter and relationship with Him. We do not just become Christ-like instantly; we grow into it consciously. We hope to grow enough to emulate Christ perfectly, but we must know that this is hard to do. We know that to love as Christ did is not necessarily easier for us who think about our lives in Christ often, yet it is true that we can grow more aware of the challenge that is to love as He did. We do not have a cheat sheet that allows us to access the easy mode of the Christian life, yet it is true that we can grow more aware of what needs doing and, to a certain degree, how to go about it. Jesus showed great humility and selflessness during His interactions with people, and that tells us that great humility is needed, and that we must learn to let go of our selfish selves and grow closer to the selflessness of Christ.
We are called to more than just being; our love is not to remain static but is meant to grow, and what that means is an individual call to each of us. Each person, every single one of us, has had their own unique life experience. We must look at each person individually and see their lives, their hurts, their shortcomings, their strengths, and their dignity. We must grow to see them as Christ sees them.
Just like Christ, we are called to compassion and empathy. We might never understand the fullness of those we meet, for we are not omniscient, but that just means that we have to work harder towards the active use of our understanding, our compassion, our empathy, and our love. This is so we may see each other through the eyes of Christ, the same as He looks at us. Christians believe Jesus died for us. He gave up His most perfect self for us, for good people and not-so-good people, for saints and sinners, for the joyful and the suffering, for the healthy and the sick, for the people at the edges of society and the ones embraced, for the shunned and the accepted... If this is true, and I believe it is, then Christ intended for us to learn to love one another in this same way. He gave us hope, that we may share it with others and hold on tight even when our lives are not going great. To support us along the journey, He left himself behind in the Eucharist.
Catholics believe Christ gives himself to us yet again in the Eucharist as a sustaining gift of communion so that our love, faith, and hope are strengthened. All that so we can go out to the world and love as He loves. Yes, we must be prepared to give a reason for our hope, but more importantly, we must be willing to work to show His love. Let us consciously put this into practice.
Let us pray: Lord, help turn our hearts into Your heart. Help us to love as You love, that armed with the confidence and trust that comes from our knowledge of You, we may bring about Your love, peace, hope, and understanding. That You be glorified in what we do in Your name. 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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