Do This in Memory of Me: Live in the JOY of the Gospel

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

“So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”  (John 3:30)

​Dearest Eucharistic Family,
 
My youngest daughter, aged 23, is soon to be married. The planning, before long, will come to fruition and the glorious day of the Sacrament of Matrimony will forever be held for my daughter and my new son.
 
Recently, chatting with my daughter, we shared many memories of her childhood, and her present and future hopes. We both agreed upon the blessing that is to be given the gift of Christ in the Eucharist and the call we received to attend daily Mass. There were many imperfections in the growing years, however, the weekly sacrament of confession held us accountable to overtake Christ in His compassion. How truly blessed we are to live in the sacraments of our Catholic Church. Jesus teaches us the way to salvation, the way of the Cross, and the gift of the Resurrection.
 
Our Mother, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, was the first to follow the way to Our Father's heart, on earth as it is in Heaven.
 
In Saint John's Gospel, we are given a vision of light and of love. And we read in John 3:30 of Saint John the Baptist, of the decreasing of self to find life out of sin and darkness and entrance to the divine life. To find the joy Saint John the Baptist found in allowing Jesus to increase so that he may decrease was found in teaching, preaching, and ultimately dying for the sake of truth and holiness. All that John lived for was found in Jesus' love and redemption.
 
A soul connected to God through the Eucharist can find an intimacy with our Father in heaven that forms a bond of grace, a strength to endure the hardships of life. Suffering has a purpose in the mystery of God's love, we will not see all of its glory this side of the Kingdom. We trust assured that love will find the way to hope, and faith will keep us on task. There is work to be done, for sure, to lead others to find hope from the burdens of life.
 
I am offering many Mass intentions for my adult children, for their faithfulness to be nourished, and for Christ to increase in their lives. For my youngest daughter, to be married and to live another sacrament with the Eucharist as the foundation of her new life in Christ with a spouse, will hold many surprises in the wonderment of God's love.
 
As we come to the close of the Christmas season and enter into a new year of grace, the mystery of Christmas will lead us to new birth. We submit to ordinary time to be made ready for Lent, to find the resurrected life in an ever-new light. Every day is made new through the Liturgy. 

​"They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:23)

A daily holy reminder from Saint Padre Pio echoes, "Past to Thy mercy, future to Thy Providence, present to Thy LOVE."
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As one door closes, another opens for a new year. God is ready to pour forth grace upon grace for our souls to find the joy of the Gospel in the mystery of His love. Our words, thoughts, deeds, and actions, will reveal that Christ is living in us, increased by our submission to God's holy will, lived in joy, that others may come to know Jesus is with us in His Eucharistic love.

"This is not enough, my Sisters; you must find your happiness in the Eucharist, otherwise you will not endure the struggle and your strength will fail you. A Eucharistic soul’s whole thought is directed to the purpose of her vocation, and she should be ever grateful and thankful for this benefit. She must say with Saint Paul: It is no longer I who live, but Jesus who lives in me (cf. Gal 2:20). This thought ought to be its joy amid sufferings. To be with Jesus in heaven! To serve him, to form his court, to be as the angels in heaven, can there be any greater happiness?" (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, 1858 To the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament)

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.