By: Rick Hernandez

I often meditate on the hidden life of Christ Jesus. I close my eyes and wonder how were those first 30 years of His life in this world. If we try, we can visualize Jesus, the son of Mary, living in the household of Joseph, first as a young child doing young child things, and then later, as a young man doing young man things... How was the daily life of Jesus? I imagine it would not have been too different from ours today.

The child Jesus probably learned to read and write Aramaic at home, then probably went to school at the synagogue, where he heard the teachers read and teach from the Torah. I wonder if he liked school and if he was a good and diligent student. After school, he would go home, and I can imagine Mother Mary asking Him to help around the house. Did he carry water by Mary’s side? I can “see” Him doing that… and when Jesus was done helping with the household tasks, He probably asked to go play with His neighborhood friends. I can imagine simple fun and games played all-out with much laughter, simple little things.

Later on, Jesus grew to become a young man. “And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Luke 2:52). With more age and experience, I can imagine that He had more responsibilities. We know He was a carpenter. How did He learn the trade? I can imagine Jesus helping Joseph with his carpentry tasks. That would be what we call an apprenticeship, on-the-job training. Yes, small tasks preparing Him for bigger tasks. Once done with work, I assume that he would sweep the floors of their humble workplace as most apprentices. Can you see Jesus going back home to help bake bread or carry more water?  Of course. He must have done all of these ordinary things. Imagine. This was the Son of God incarnate! He was tasked with the work of redemption, the most significant and important work of all time. Yet, our Lord Jesus had to do all of these simple little human things... But is not God about the big important things? 

If we can interpret this image of Jesus in his early life, we can answer that question. Many of the everyday things that we did as children in our own homes, Jesus also did. Christ Jesus, all human and all divine, did all of these simple everyday things with perfect humility, perfect faith, and perfect love. Why is that? It is because He understood that all of what we do, and how we do it, matters. The little things we have to do prepare us for the bigger things that are to come.

Our thoughts and actions are our contribution to our family, the world, and the Kingdom of Heaven. Those simple things we often dismiss, Jesus, sanctified and offered to the Father. With our lives, Honor our parents! Love God and neighbor! Our lives are our offering. Like Jesus, we must become aware that both the mundane and the ordinary are part of our faithful offering to the One who loves us.

All actions have great value for God, big and small if we align them to His will for us.

But we are human, and we tend to keep our eye on the “big things”. “Go big or go home” is often said. We want our action’s value to be readily apparent for all to see.

If we think about it, we can definitively understand that every big and important task is a collection of many little jobs. When we focus on the big things and how there is so much to do, we may be tempted to take shortcuts and skip on the little things, but really, is that wise? Aren’t we then veering from the script and missing on an opportunity for a sanctifying offering? “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones, and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” (Luke 16:10).

For us, the faithful, our sanctifying offering is in what is in front of us. Our offering is in every little action, at this moment that we have, now. We call it the gift of the “Present Moment”. Those actions that we take, and our intent, do direct our lives. Let us become aware of what is our intention and what is our desire. Are they aligned to God’s will?

When we align our will to the Father’s, the little actions that we take in faith and love prepare us, in hope, for the big ones that may be required from us. At the end of the day, is our offering that we have acted justly? Have we loved as much as we could? Have we cared enough? Is our offering that we have been faithful in all things, big and small? What will we say when we are asked to give an account for our time? Remember that it is in the little things... that we show faith.

Let us pray: Lord, you knew me perfectly even before I was in my mother’s womb. You know what my right-hand does as well as my left. From You, I cannot hide. I humbly offer you all that I am, and all that I do, with my successes and struggles, in faith and love, in the hope for the grace needed to find You in all things and guide more people towards You who loves us so much. Help me to be as your hands in this world. Amen.

By: Laura Worhacz

“Mary’s Presentation in the Temple: Mary had no childhood in the ordinary sense of the word…We know nothing of her life in the Temple except that she lived a secluded life and that she practiced every virtue…She was the servant of all never loosing courage…Mary gave herself to God promptly, unreservedly and forever. She gave him her mind, her heart, her liberty, -she kept nothing back.”  - Saint Peter Julian Eymard (Eymard Library, Vol. 7, page 35)
 
Dearest Eucharistic family,

November has always been a special month for me. It is a time to remember all souls, thanksgiving, my wedding anniversary, my grandmothers passing and her day of birth, which falls on the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 11/21. For all this my heart is filled with thanks. Since October 31st,  I have been in quarantine with my husband Ray. He tested positive for COVID and has been in bed for 16 days with a temperature, fatigue, and a little cough. His temperature has finally returned to normal and he seems to have begun a new road to recovery.
​
The above excerpt reminds me of what life has been like. It has been secluded and filled with opportunity to find the virtues of God. Caring for someone sick is a gift. It teaches us the sacredness of life; every breath taken is a moment of grace. Our lives are to be lived in growing closer to Jesus, the One whom we will be with for all eternity. We grow in love by our consent to God’s life in us and by serving others. In this way we live out of this world and in the Eucharist here and now.

Thanksgiving Day is almost here. It is a time to give thanks around our tables, talk about memories, share dreams and hopes, a time to gather. As difficult as it may be to bear the cross of sickness, suffering, and even death, there is a place of hope to give thanks; it is found in the Eucharist. Our Lady was presented in the Temple; she gave her life to God and lived in thanksgiving. Mary gave her life unreservedly for the love of JESUS. This year, 2020, has brought many challenges to our world: a pandemic, election, protests… As we follow our Mother to the Temple, we may find the chance to grow, learn, and be open to the new beginnings God has prepared for those who love Him and give thanks. The Greek word “eucharistia” means thanksgiving. The Sacrament of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of JESUS CHRIST, really, truly, and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine is our means of life on earth. In serving others our Eucharistic lives become whom we receive, and our souls are found in thanksgiving. Advent is coming! 

-Laura Worhacz

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately, more than tired… depleted. Dealing with physical tiredness is something I am used to; in learning to manage my CMT (Charcot-Marie-Tooth), I have come to learn my physical limits and how to work around them. I know I need more rest than most people, and I am ok with that. But the mental and spiritual strain I’ve experienced this year is constantly testing my limits, and I’m having to learn, and accept, what those are. I am having to learn to spend more time in silence, more time in prayer. And while it can be tempting for us to try to separate our physical and mental needs from our spiritual needs, we are wholly human; one area will always affect the other. Our worries make us weary; the solution to this is rest.

“Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Luke 18:1). What happens when we allow ourselves to become weary? We can start to lose hope, and this is a danger we must avoid. A feeling of weariness lets us know that something is off, and that balance needs to be restored. This restoration is a passive kind of work. When our bodies need healing, what is required of us is to give the body what it needs and let it do its work. This is not easy. Ask anyone who has been on an extended bedrest; sometimes the hardest thing we are asked to do is rest. But our bodies are not meant to work without ceasing. Our need for rest is clearly displayed in the work of Creation when God rested on the seventh day. “Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). It is interesting to note, however, that what God commands us to do on this day of rest is pray. This is also not easy. While rest from our physical or mental labors means taking a break from the work, this is different in our life of prayer, where resting is the actual work.

​The dictionary defines weary as “feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep”. In our prayer, we experience this “excessive exertion” when we try to do the work of God ourselves. Think about it, God would not ask us to do something beyond our ability. He would not ask us to “pray always” if this depended on our limited human capacities. It is when we are faced with our limits that we can surrender to his infiniteness. It is in our poverty, that we realize we need a Savior. “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (Romans 8:26). The only way we can pray always, without becoming weary, is when we allow ourselves to enter into His rest.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11-28-30). On a different translation we hear, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Just like the restoration of the body requires us to give the body food and rest, the restoration of our souls requires us to give the soul its food and rest. This food our soul needs is the Eucharist, Jesus Christ Himself; He is also our place of rest. It is in this rest that His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity mix with our body, mind and spirit… healing the sick, restoring the broken. It is in this rest that we become truly whole…we become holy. So when you are feeling weary, do not despair. Lift your eyes to Heaven and enter into His rest.

-Ivonne J. Hernandez