Do This in Memory of Me: Take Hold of My LOVE

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

Dearest Eucharistic Family,   

July has always been my favorite month of the year. It represents summer, taking a break before the busy fall and holy holiday season come. July, the month of the Most Precious Blood in our Catholic Church, also represents for us the love of Christ that was poured out for us on the Cross and remains with us on the Altar. 

In one of my daily invocations, I ask Jesus, “By Your Precious Blood pour forth Your grace, Your love, and protection over my family and all my loved ones, keep them safe in their travels.”  

It is in the power of love that our offering is taken and given. One day during Mass I offered prayer for a certain sister in Christ who was suffering from heart issues; identifying with all she was going through while caring for her large family, my heart brought her issue to my tears. Later that day I received a text that she was feeling better, and her doctor diagnosed her and recommended a prescription to care for her medical condition. God made known to me the power of His grace and the love that extended to the intercession of prayer for this dear lady’s healing.   

“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” (John 1:7) 
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We hold God’s love by taking of it and sharing it. The Eucharist brings the presence of Christ to our lives on earth. This gift of God’s love changes everything, with the bread and the wine changed, we are changed when we consent to God’s grace. Cleansed of our sin, the return of our love manifests a deep intimacy with Christ. In the union of His love, miraculous things can happen. Taking hold of His love brings to birth the miracle of God’s love.   ​

“All creatures depend on one another. Animal and vegetal life need one another; everything is balanced. The whole of creation is made for us humans, even the sun and the moon. It seems impossible, but it is true! And when there will be no more humans, there will be no need for the sun. God wanted to create us for himself, so that he would be our goal, since he is love. God subjected all created things to us humans. Everything in creation depends upon us, everything respects us, and everything honors us. God could have submitted us to the angels who are more perfect and we would still have been honored; but he did not, because the angels in a way would then have been our goal.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard) 

In this passage above we learn of God’s desire for us to place Him before anyone or anything in our lives. In our love for one another, “Through Him, with Him and in Him,” we unite in the mystery holding onto the love promised to us by our God. In the gift of July, we are invited to meditate on the gift of God’s love poured out on the Cross. This blood has sanctified our lives and gives us the life that pulsates from the Altar where the Eucharist is confected, and we are invited to share in the sacred mysteries by partaking in the life-giving blood of JESUS CHRIST. 

On many tabernacles, we find the symbolism of the pelican. It is a natural inclination of a mother bird to feed her babies.   

Catholic Dictionary: PELICAN  

“A symbol of sacrifice, selflessness, and generosity. Emblem of the Eucharistic Christ, whose blood resuscitates the living soul, as the female pelican was thought to nourish her young from her own breast. In the hymn Adore Te, St. Thomas Aquinas addressed the Savior, "Pelican of Mercy, cleanse me in Thy Precious Blood." As a sign of God's providence and solicitude, this sea bird is often depicted in ecclesiastical writings, painting, murals, and stained glass.” 

“The moment God gave us the intelligence to know him, a heart to love him and a spirit to serve him, he wanted us to love him perfectly. God did not want the cherubim to be our goal. No! This is not his wish. He wanted to be the first to receive our love. Why? Because he wanted to be our goal. He said to us: I love you more than anyone ever loved you. Therefore, you will love me in preference to all others. You know me, and you know my gifts; therefore, love me. I love you more than anything in the world. I love you more than any man could love you. Therefore, love me. And there’s more: I am greater than you and all your fellow creatures because I created all of them. Consequently, you will love me more than all your fellow creatures.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard) 

How blessed we are to live in God’s love.   ​

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.