Do This in Memory of Me: Share in the Cup of My Blood

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

​Dearest Eucharistic Family,

One of my favorite images on the walls of my home depicts Saint Ann, our Blessed Mother, Saint John the Baptist, and Jesus (above photo). The imagery of the cousins looking to one another and Jesus with hand raised, seemingly to bless his little loved one, holds the warmth of love. This love gave birth to John the Baptist and empowered him to die, to live for Christ.  

​“He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3:30)
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What empowers us to live?
 
Each of us will have a different response, yet rooted in the one source of life, Christ, is the only actual existence that will bring us to eternity. 

John the Baptist preached the truth. His voice was heard loud and clear to bring light into the darkness. He certainly shared in the Cup of Christ's Blood even before it was poured out. He preached for the love of our Messiah. Saint John the Baptist shared an intimacy with Christ and deep-rooted love that led John into the desert of his soul. He lived in the Kingdom of Heaven while on earth and saw nothing for himself as a benefit. All for Christ. He loved Jesus. The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist came to us from activity in the womb of Saint Elizabeth to a dynamism of life in the Spirit, THE HOLY SPIRIT.

We have a purpose in Christ to share in His love. Our baptism births us into the Kingdom of God as His beloved children. We hold the gift to pass on to the generations by teaching our faith, catechizing into the knowledge of everlasting life.
 
In high school, a very dear friend was killed in a car crash; I was about 17 years old, and she was 19. I was asked to sleep over at her home the night of the accident and chose to go home knowing my parents had a curfew for me. In God's mystery of love, it was my friend's time to leave this world. It was and will forever be a cup of suffering for her loved ones. We lost her life in this time and place. However, it held a reason beyond our human understanding. The experience sailed with me forever and will continue; it never left me. I often wondered what I would be if I did not have a fear for my parents. Fear of the Lord is love and sharing in the Cup of suffering through obedience to what is asked of us, true love. Love for our parents and respect holds the same sentiment as our love for our Creator; it is entwined with our love of God.

The suffering, the Cup of Christ’s Blood makes it possible for us to have fortitude in this life. We are living for heaven now in our Eucharistic lives.
 
Saint John the Baptist had no fear except for fear of not loving to the extreme purpose of proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. He lived in the freedom of spirit, hoping to make a difference, to change the wrongs of life into the right way of living. He cried out! He humbled himself, holding to the life he shared from the blessing he received at the Visitation.
John answered and said, 

"No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.” (John 3:27)
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​Voices proclaiming the Word of God to all we meet may change the life of another.  

‘"What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.’ (Luke 1:57-66) 

What will we be? 
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Witnesses to Christ's love? With the hand of the Lord upon us, strong in the spirit, the Holy Spirit, the manifestation of our dedication to life in Christ will aid us to the Incarnation. 

“You, who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22)

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.