Dearest Eucharistic Family, We are blessed to live in our Church's pattern of prayer. Advent is a special opportunity for us to find the Christ-child within, and just as Mary carried Him, we carry Him in our reception of the Eucharist. The coming of Christ, His second coming, His imminent nearing to us, glorifies God’s will in our lives as we surrender to the preparation of our souls for the salvation of our existence. The word "Advent" comes from the Latin word "adventus", which means "coming". (Catholic Dictionary) After an 85-day stay in the hospital with my husband, I am still trying to process the trauma of his illness, the suddenness of suffering, and the changes our lives have endured since we are home. I had no idea that God would have me learn wound care twice daily to sustain the healing process of my husband’s recovery. In submission to the task, there have been so many blessings. The image of suffering before my eyes constantly keeps the soul in the beating heart of God. Every morning on the way out of Mass, I kiss the hand of a statue of Saint Francis, precisely at the point of the stigmata on his hand. The open wound is a holy reminder of Christ’s suffering. To care for, to love, to cherish seems the perfect way to prepare for the coming of Christ. Jesus is already near to us in Communion, our participation in His love brightens His light in our lives. We look to the stars, to the heavens, to the clouds there is the mystery of the veil between God and humanity, love unites us. I believe in my heart that the rearrangement of my life in caretaking of my husband is for the glorification of the Sacrament of our Marriage. It is in sickness and in health that our promise was made 37 years ago. In the Eucharist, we have everything we need to prepare and to live in joyful hope. We have Mary to emulate and the rosary to chat with her about the mystery of Christ. I was thinking recently about how blessed it is to know the power of the rosary. It is through praying day in and day out the life of Jesus Christ that we are prepared for the Cross and His Resurrection in IT. By this prayer, we are made strong, put together, and grounded in faith. God Our Father arranges everything perfectly. Our participation in the Eucharist and by our prayer, whatever comes to us will be held in Jesus’ love for us. The season of Advent glorifies Our Father as we love one another. We think of our loved ones and pray for the perfect gift to give. Kissing their wounds, bandaging the pains of others, and living in divine understanding is an awesome gift. In the forgiveness of sins we have received from Jesus, He held nothing back from loving us. As we prepare the way of the LORD, may we surrender to the open wound of humanity. The perfect gift of love reveals heaven to the world. Many have not encountered Christ; many have not found the Christ child within themselves. They may only meet Jesus through our lives.
How will we be remembered? Will we leave the perfect gift under the tree on Christmas?
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By: Ivonne J. Hernandez  Hospitality is one of the charisms my husband and I share, both individually, and as a couple. People often tell us that they just feel comfortable in our home. As hosts, we do not get stressed out. We do not rush from the table to clean up; we don’t fuss over a spilled drink or a burnt side dish. Once our guests arrive, it is all about the time we share together. It is about telling stories while creating new ones. It is about living. It is about love. But hospitality begins way before anyone shows up--it begins with an invitation.
“What can I bring?” This is usually the first thing I hear right after someone accepts an invitation to join us at our home for dinner. Why is this? Some might say it is the result of social expectations--we are taught it is not polite to show up anywhere empty-handed. But I think there is more to this “almost” universal response. Like a great choir or symphony, our communities are more than just the sum of its parts. We are meant to participate, to belong. We are not extras in a film. Each one of us has something we bring to the table, be it the physical one or the metaphorical one. But we don’t get to choose what we need to bring. We need to know what is needed, what is required of us.
I heartily dislike potlucks. By a potluck I mean a table with a procession of slow cookers, each with a surprise dish behind every lid. The result? Dishes that do not go together piled next to each other on a plate. I prefer it when someone is directing, and the parts come together in beautiful harmony. A host can ask guests to bring something in particular. It is even better when they are asked to bring something they love to make--something they will be happy to share and feel proud of. The end result, rather than a collection of individual dishes, is a beautiful meal--a true celebration.
As Eucharistic people we have been called and invited to a banquet. The King of the Universe has prepared the table. Each one of us is invited to share of ourselves, but not haphazardly, without direction. We do not rely on luck for a well-balanced table. The Host knows our strengths and weaknesses and wants to weave us together for the great celebration. More than the sum of our parts, we bring our unique gifts to become a new creation. We share of ourselves and are satisfied in the great celebration.
You have received the invitation… Will you attend? What are you bringing? Oh, and bring a friend! There is always room at the table.
 What does it mean to be holy? What would this look like? We do not live in theories but in the reality of life, and it is in the reality of this life where we must grow in holiness. We do not live in theoretical love, but in the practical action of love, which is charity. And we do not live in theoretical faith, but in the practical action of faith, which is trust. It is not about feelings, but about actions. What good is the “theoretical” without the practical? The virtuous feelings we receive from our faith, hope, and love, are meant to prompt us to virtuous action. We read in the Letter of James that without action, our faith is dead.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard, the Apostle of the Eucharist, was a man of action. His life was a Eucharistic life fully alive, and one we are called to emulate. The Eucharistic life presupposes our relationship to the Eucharist. We attend the Holy Mass, and we live it as the privilege it is for us. The Holy Mass is the source and summit of our faith. However, there are areas and moments in our lives that take place in between the source and the summit, and it is there where we must choose to live the Eucharist. How do we do this? How do we relate God's Eucharistic life to everyone we interact with? We live the Eucharist when we live the love we receive from Christ, which prompts us to practice charity, mercy, and compassion. When we are Eucharistic, our hearts are stretched, and we can receive and practice patience and courage. We receive and share joy and peace, living gratefully. This is especially true when we make of our lives a living gift. This is how God gathers his people, by utilizing us and our gifts to do His work of love and mercy, here and now. The Eucharistic life is dynamic, not static. If we do not recognize this, there is some work on our part to be done. We tend to concentrate on being good, and it is true, we all need to be good and do good. Yet to be good is not the same as being holy. Holy presupposes good but goes beyond it, for it is a higher call. Holy is what we are called to be.
Let us think about this for a minute. Every day, there are hundreds of things we have to say yes to, just as many as there are things we have to say no to. And what marks a day on the road to holiness as either good or challenging is how many of those yeses we say and how many of those noes we say. To live Eucharistically means to say the right yeses and the right noes. The more we grow consistent in our persistence in Christ, the more we can consistently say the right yeses and noes. Guided by the Holy Spirit, this gets us ever closer to holiness. Yes, we need to be consistently “good,” but in thanksgiving to God, and for His sake. He is with us and in us, here and now, asking us to take care of each other, and to love one another as He loves us. This is one of the yeses we have to say, a persistent yes to love, compassion, and mercy. In the same way, we must consistently say no to hate, apathy, and anger. Yet for some of us, this is hard to do. Perseverance is hard when we see there is still so long for us to go. We need not despair, for the long road is not traveled all at once, and hope will help us advance.
Let us concentrate on the present moment. Right now, we can consciously make a choice to do good, to be holy, to make of this precious moment an offering to God. Our lives in action are what we must use to grow in holiness, to grow ever closer to our Lord and to those who need us. I have heard on so many occasions that it would be so much easier to be holy if we were alone. I am not sure of that, for I find, that it is in the mindful sacrifice and offering of my time to others that I persist in following God’s will in my life as a faithful servant. If we were totally segregated from the world, separate from one another, I think we would cut the vein of love that flows God's message to our brethren who do not know Him, do not love Him, and do not adore Him.
Through us, God’s Grace can flow. Without our right disposition, the flow can be reduced and choked. Let us pray that today is the day that we perfectly persist in Christ, and follow Him, saying yes to His call to us. May we firmly say no to the temptations that keep us from holiness. In our Lord we trust. 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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