Do This in Memory of Me: Be Born From Above

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

“When the time comes, God will lead us where he wills. God allows this so that we will abandon ourselves to him, to be led like Mary and Joseph. Have courage. If the sun had risen and set only once, how we would have admired its beauty and glory and how grateful we would have been to God. Our Lord is the sun of justice, but he neither rises nor sets. He remains always in his brightness and glory on our altars”. 

Saint Peter Julian Eymard (From a letter to the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, 12/23/1859, Christmas)

​Dearest Eucharistic Family,
 
In the likeness of Jesus, Our Lady always remains in brightness and gives glory to Our God. Our Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us of the “marvelous exchange” in finding the mystery of Christmas. We are blessed to be born from above, to be born of Mary. We go to the Altar with Mary to be raised out of this world into the eternal now. This is how Our Lady endured the will of God in her life on this side of heaven.
 
Mary did not rise or set; she remained faithful, trusting, and loving. Mary was born into the mystery of Christ and lived in the glorified… her soul-magnified life in an exchange of love with her father. How beautiful it is to live in God’s will. We ask, we beg, and we do receive. Whatever the answer, we know it is the will of Our Father after we have asked for His blessing. 
 
It has been overwhelmingly busy with so much going on in preparation for Christmas and everyday life. In such moments I find myself taking hold of my rosary beads to walk and pray. By reaching out to our mother, we are “born again” over and over to refresh in God’s love. Our prayer pulls us out of the world into the mystery we pray. In this, we do become a “marvelous exchange” of worship and work since our prayer empowers us to be grateful in every circumstance (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:18).
 
Daily Communion is the life blood we need to survive and prepare for eternal salvation. Our lives are being paved into the Kingdom. Jesus never sets in our souls. He is stirring up his mighty power for us to be of joyful hope and to live in what he was born to gift us with, His PEACE. 
 
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The Christmas Mystery:
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525 Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven’s glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
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The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
And the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!
 
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the Kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become “children of God” we must be “born from above” or “born of God.” Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this “marvelous exchange.” 
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This Advent, my daughter lost three friends to sudden death in a car accident. The twenty-year-old young adult driving swerved her truck to avoid hitting an animal. Three were taken, and three survived. With the news of this horrifying accident, I imagined the scourging of Christ and the unimaginable pain the parents and families must be experiencing. The accident overshadowed my Advent and lived in my heart by the grace of the Eucharist. The Eternal Little Child, by the grace of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, brings us to a marvelous exchange, the Cross to salvation; God’s love in the mystery of His majesty. On the Altar, we find the Sun of Justice, the SON OF GOD, to give glory in the highest and peace to people of goodwill. 
 
The suffering of the present day will be one day past, and we will advance with the Star Who was born for us to be born with Him. As we give more of ourselves, let us live in the arms of Mary in Bethlehem. Let us pray for those suffering so they may be born into hope never to set or rise, yet live in the brightness of glory in the hope of the eternal exchange of Our Father’s love.  

“Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.” (Matthew 24:40)
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Laura Catherine Worhacz

Laura Catherine Worhacz is a Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament and author of Consecration to Jesus Through Our Lady of The Blessed Sacrament. She is also the Director of Mothers of The Blessed Sacrament. She lives in Trinity, FL with her husband and their two daughters.