Do This in Memory of Me: Be My Light

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

Dearest Eucharistic Family,
 
Lighting blessed candles has been a part of my prayer practice for years. It is yet another gift of faith to be preoccupied with the sacramentals of our Church. People have walked into churches throughout the ages to find statues, candle stations, images, and other beautiful holy reminders of Heaven. Jesus is present in the Tabernacle during such visits and surely smiles upon us.

"Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them, men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1667)

Sacred beauty is a gift aiding us to raise our hearts and minds to God, gazing upon light, the face of Jesus, the face of Mary, Joseph, and the Saints can bring us to tears, fill our hearts with immense joy, and even pull us out of a dark place.
 
The Purification of Jesus in the Temple, CANDLEMAS, is one of my favorite moments in our Liturgical year. Jesus in the most vulnerable position of life, a baby, was brought to the temple by His parents to be presented to Our Father in Heaven. Our prayer lives are meant to be communal and taken back to our homes to live out our daily duties through the heart of the Eucharist. There in the temple, in our Church, the Body of Christ is made strong with every person, every part of the body working to be alive and well for others. At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple people were waiting for Him. Simeon and Anna fasted and prayed living in hope, finally to meet and to greet the holy family assured their eyes would see eternal light.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, (Luke 2:22)
 
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. (Luke 2:25)
 
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, (Luke 2:36)
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In our Blessed Mother's arms with Saint Joseph embracing his family, Jesus is presented to glorify God. He is the purification of the world presented in the oneness of the Trinity, a triumphant moment given to humanity. WOW!
 
Candles have been traditionally blessed for Candlemas, the annual blessing of household candles; they are to be holy reminders of the purification of our own lives. And by our entry into the temple, into our churches we remain connected to the vine, the lifeline of our baptized eternal pathway to the Kingdom of God.
 
Saint Peter Julian Eymard was baptized on February 5, the day after his birth. He lived in the realization of his life in Christ, the light that was lit in baptism he kept burning through the Eucharistic grace he received to fully know Jesus is present among us. Jesus was at the Presentation as a baby in the temple many years before Saint Peter Julian's baptism, as a child, but with us now, fully, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist.

"...teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

As I prepare this blog a week before it is published, I cannot help but think a week from today I will be dancing at my daughter's wedding on the vigil of Candlemas. We are blessed to live in grace, to see the signs we do not ask for because we know God in His Providence is the facilitator of all things and in our choice to live in grace, we are aware of His presence. Due to an illness, my husband was at death's door, granted a miracle to walk our daughter down the aisle to hand her to a new sacrament of life everlasting in the sacredness of matrimony.
 
May we emulate our Lady who lived in joyful hope attentive to all of the blessings we have through our Eucharistic lives following the light of the world; JESUS CHRIST.

'Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."' (John 8:12)

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.