Do This in Memory of Me: Offer

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

“Anytime we incarnate love, enact kindness, listen generously, offer deep sympathy, embody compassion, give someone a glimpse of hope, perform even the tiniest work of mercy or justice or hospitality, we participate in the mystery of the Incarnation and the labor of Christmas to bring to birth.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard) 
​

​Dearest Eucharistic Family, Christmas blessings. 
 
With Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, my Advent brought me to the Christmas Season by pondering things in my heart.

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

Memories of Christmas past, people, places, and things seem to flash in my mind’s eye during my prayer time. Our Mother sets this example for us in a pattern of prayer for our Church. How magnificent it is to remember Mary’s Immaculate Conception over and over again; wow, it is truly the perfect preparation for the way of our Lord. 
 
We remember Mary’s “Yes”; this is God’s triumph through Mary to find the perfect vessel of grace to save our world. We are co-heirs in the mystery of salvation by our faith, hope, and love Incarnate.
 
Imagine our Blessed Mother in the halls of Heaven, peeking through the hallways and looking into our rooms. Think of Mary with her pointer finger on her lips to say quietly in the silence with the most beautiful smile, come and see. Our Mother calls us out of our room and gestures to you and me to dream about something beautiful.
 
Perhaps there is a hidden grace every time we offer love to God. Many things cause pain. Some things are serious: sickness, death, sudden traumas of every kind, war, and hate. Then there are the little misunderstandings and trials of the heart that try to oppress our spirit. 
 
Through the Incarnation of love, we can overcome every weight of the Cross. Remembering Jesus within changes everything. Jesus promises to prepare a place for us.  

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14)

​During this Christmas Season in our Catholic Church, we remember and believe. How blessed we are to know every moment is a sacred gift of time. The world does not ponder or understand this. The birth of Jesus is a new birth for all of us. We share in Jesus’ love and life through baptism and life eternal. Our delivery into the world sets us a flame to hope to ignite others to eternal life now through the Eucharist. The Church Triumphant is looking forward to our passing over to an even newer birth. 
 
As we offer every breath of life, especially the painful encounters, we can be assured Mary is holding us. The beauty we do not see now will surely be seen one day. If we cling to this with strong confidence, Christmas is with us every day of our lives. 
 
My greatest gift this Christmas is to have family around the table. Some are fallen away Catholics, some devout souls, some challenging relationships, some souls dearest to my heart. In all things Mary pondered and embraced; she leads us on the pathway to find a song of praise in our souls as we journey through this exile. We are called to love, offer, and bring to birth the gift of Christmas. The Incarnation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
 
O Come Let Us Adore Him, receive Him, and share Jesus, with others. There is a place waiting for us, with Mary’s serene smile of compassion, longing for the Heavenly embrace.  

“When the angels went away from them to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.” (Luke 2:15-18)
 
“And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13,14)

Let us live in hastened spirit with joy in the depths of our being, of the gift we have now in Christ and what is to come.
 
Christmas blessings into 2024!
​

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.