Do This in Memory of Me: Behold Your Name

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

Dearest Eucharistic Family, 
 
We have been called by name. It is a particular term of endearment when someone lovingly calls us by name, and it makes a difference in our response to them. Eucharistic prayer may inspire us to call on the name of Jesus in a reciprocal act of love, knowing he has first loved and called upon us by name.  

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

What does your name mean?  
 
The name Laura is not in the Bible. However, the tradition of placing laurel leaves on one’s head as a sign of victory is ancient, and the original Latin word Laurus appears in the Bible. The original meaning of victory and crowning is a concept of very old.
 
Take some time to look up the origin of your name and pray with it. 
 
How beautiful it is to say, “Our Father,” it resonates to the depths of our souls that we are part of someone who loves us. God has given us Jesus and the Apostles to carry on to the next generations a progeny of faithfulness. 
 
The holy name of JESUS. 
 
God saves.

“Jesus means in Hebrew: “God saves.” At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 430)
​

What are our favorite names? 
 
Do they remind us of people who have done extraordinary things?
 
People who have shown great mercy? 
 
Great love? 
 
I remember when my first daughter was born. At the moment of her birth, my husband said to me, “What is her name?” I looked into the precious little face and responded, “Nicole.” It is as if she was with us forever and named perfectly for her mission in life.
 
When pregnant with my second child, I secretly said, “If we are blessed with another daughter, I would love to name her Mary after our Blessed Mother.” However, I felt unworthy to name my child Mary. I had shared the thought with a sister in Christ who said, “The best way to imitate is to emulate; why not name the child Mary!” It happened. 
 
Names are so important. As we journey to All Saints and All Souls Day, let us remember to call upon the names of the faithful ones who have gone before us. The names that draw us to love and beauty of this world and that lead us to Heaven. 
 
We remember the holy name of JESUS—the power the name holds. The sacred name of Jesus is a prayer. God saves us through the heart of Christ. With the reception of Communion, we hold the Holy Name in His True Presence. We love and serve in Jesus’ name. We bless and reign with Jesus by carrying His life in us. In our mortification of the senses, we see more clearly; we may hear angel messages. 
 
Mary heard, “And his name shall be Jesus.”

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” (Luke 1:31)
​

“The Eucharistic reign of Jesus Christ, His glory. Liberty and strength through mortification; light through recollection; power through love.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, 1863)

There is power through LOVE. As we behold the name of JESUS and fall more deeply into his saving grace, we learn to love ourselves in Him. We are beloved. Jesus calls us by name. In Jesus’ redemption for us, the old passes away, although maybe little by little. Christ becomes in us and, for us, a new way of living, moving, and being in God. The Holy Spirit is our accompaniment to lead us through the heart of Mary.
 
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament indeed holds the name MOTHER as most sacred. Mary beholds us, and our names are precious to her in God.

Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.
​

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.