Do This in Memory of Me: Behold the Love I Have for You

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz  

“God loved me from all eternity. From all eternity, I was present in his mind, in his heart, in his goodness. I am therefore eternal in divine love. In return, I must at least love God in the few days of this present life. God (predestined) called me by his pure goodness to benefit from the grace (and the glory) of our Lord Jesus Christ. I was born in the full sunshine of revelation. He made me to be born in the best conditions for salvation.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Personal notes, 1862) 
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Dearest Eucharistic Family, 
 
Time passes so swiftly, and in the activity of our lives, it is easy to forget this world as we know it is passing away. The Lenten Season stops us in our tracks to look up and to look within. Last year, I was blessed to be on a pilgrimage to Israel. I remember a beautiful Liturgy with the sun shining brightly, Mass on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Gazing out onto the water, kneeling on the bow of the boat, tears were streaming from my eyes. It was imagining Jesus walking on the water and the many miracles in the Holy Land that seeped into the depths of my existence and touched my heart so profoundly. 
 
God keeps reminding me how much He loves. Our sins, shortcomings, and omissions set a tone for us to shy away rather than confidently behold God’s magnificent love for us. We are forgiven and invited to actively participate in our redemption by working out our salvation.

“When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,” (1 Corinthians 2:1-3)
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We can live in the mightiness of grace by our submission to God’s holy will. The gift of the Eucharist is strength for our frail humanity. 
 
My spiritual father, Saint Peter Julian Eymard, had a dream that did not come to fruition. He desired to build a cenacle in Jerusalem. Saint Peter Julian had the details and the plans with every hope for this establishment to be made in the Holy Land. The revelation for the cenacle to be manifested in his heart by the annihilation of self was the fruit God manifested in this holy saint, later titled “Apostle of the Eucharist.” In letting go, God’s love filled Saint Peter Julian so immensely that he desired to become a total Gift of Self in return for all the love he received. The cenacle, the Altar, brings to us the Body of Jesus Christ. In our reception of Holy Communion, God’s love for us overcomes every obstacle. When we comply with grace and truly live as forgiven, we can embrace and share the blessings of living in the love of God found in the Holy Eucharist. 
 
Our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel invites us to cleanse our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls; we are temples of the Holy Spirit. Lent is a good time to examine the fruits and gifts given to us and bring them to the cenacle, where they will be built into God’s love and dwelling forever. 

The Cleansing of the Temple.

“Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.” (Matthew 21:12)

“To love is to will the good of another.”  All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only the good can be loved.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church/CCC, 1766)
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“My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.” (Luke 15:31-32)
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“Since Our Lord Jesus Christ in his Sacrament is the gift above all the gifts of his love, the most gentle and strongest link of his divine and fraternal charity, the perfect gratitude is expressed at the feet of the throne of mercy and love” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Personal notes)
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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.