Do This in Memory of Me: Pray

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

for 
“Prayer is the sacrifice of every person, as that of the priest, including the four ends of sacrifice. Priests have two goals, while the ordinary person has only one. He has only one sacrifice – himself. What is his prayer? What is the prayer of an ordinary person? […] The sacrifice, the offering is such a small thing. What has the Church done so that the layperson, like the priest, can have the same victim? This is the work of the Holy Spirit, coming into us and forming the same prayer by his grace and love. This prayer becomes divine by the Holy Spirit working in us. Not only does he pray in us, as St. Paul says, with inexpressible groanings – [postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus] [Rm 8:26], he groans in us with the groanings of love and repentance. He identifies himself with us, so that we may pray with him. He forms in us a spirit of prayer so that we might offer worship to God.”  (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Personal notes)
 
Dearest Eucharistic Family, to live in a spirit of prayer with “groanings of love and repentance” is a deep invitation from our beloved Saint Paul. It is truly there, in our prayer of this expression, that our hearts are most clearly affixed to God. The Holy Spirit generates through our life journey, by our consent, an exchange of love with Our Father in Heaven. 
 
“The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith, and discernment for the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritual direction). Men and women so endowed are true servants of the living tradition of prayer.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2690)
 
The gift to us is grace; we exchange our groanings for grace and the blessing to see through the eyes of heaven the sufferings of the present day. How we react to the afflictions of life is the witness of love the world will see from hearts down through the ages who have trusted in being formed in a spirit of prayer.
 
The mystery of our lives unfolds a little more as our hearts are expanded in our relationship with Jesus. Saint Peter Julian allowed revelations to come to him until the end of his days on earth. This revelation is the last book of the bible and to our lives. To live in all that is being revealed at every moment in the embrace of God’s love is a pure gift. To endure suffering knowing they are for a Divine purpose, makes them holy, makes them sacred. 
 
The above excerpt states the prayer of our groaning becomes divine, the Holy Spirit setting fire to the love that unfolds as it is shared. 
 
Summer is around the corner, and it is always a good time for me to be on retreat. Sometimes I make a retreat from my very own home or have the blessing of being away with the Lord. The important thing is to set time aside to pray, listen, and perhaps journal for the special graces God will give to us in conversation with Him.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes the importance for every baptized person to develop a living relationship with God. A spiritual retreat is a great way to do this, through the supportive setting of prayer or teachings. 
 
To prepare our hearts, we may want to take time to evaluate our time with God, our neighbor, and the work we offer on mission with Christ’s Church. 

​To set priorities and stick to them as best we can is helpful. To be docile to the Holy Spirit may be achieved by praying to the Holy Spirit and asking for the power that comes forth from the Gift of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. 
 
God has given us everything we need to live in His love. He showed us a life lived in the Miracles of Christ, His Son, and blessed us to know Jesus would die for our salvation. To pray and live in an eternal conversation with God by the Gift of the Holy Spirit keeps us alive.  
 
“Pray always and never lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)

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.