Yesterday I was on the phone with one of our dear friends who is wholeheartedly devoted to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. She is experiencing great loss at being unable to even make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament during these days of quarantine. After we spoke, my heart was filled with compassion as I experienced the pain of the faithful who long to worship God in our churches and to receive the comfort of His Sacraments. I began to plead with our Lord on their behalf, and He gently showed me how to see this situation from a different perspective.
Looking with the eyes of faith, as Mother Luisita always taught us, I can already see the good fruits the Holy Spirit is bringing out of this disaster. Firstly, our separation from Jesus in the Eucharist is increasing our longing for Him. That is a good thing! Many Catholics today lack faith in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Could this pain we feel be offered in reparation for the many offenses our Lord has suffered by our lack of love and gratitude to Him? Could it be offered for those who have not yet come to understand the gift we have?
During the persecution in Mexico, Mother Luisita, our sisters, and all of the faithful suffered from the closing of churches and attacks on the priesthood. How consoling to know that SHE UNDERSTANDS! In her we can see that these sufferings, borne with trust in God, yield abundant heavenly fruit. Her soul was radiant with a great love for Christ in the Eucharist, a deep respect and appreciation for the holy priesthood, and a tremendous sense of gratitude for the overwhelmingly gratuitous gift of God to us in Holy Mother Church. These difficult times will help us see more clearly that the Church itself is a pure gift from our Father’s Heart, sprung from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, out of love for us. How tenderly He nurtures us through her. The felt absence of our Mother, the Church, grows our fondness for her.
A few days ago, as I was walking in our parking lot praying the rosary, I waved cheerfully to a young man who was walking by the gate. He stopped and told me that even though he could not receive Jesus in the Eucharist, he knew that I had received Him, and so he was able to be close to Him through me. “You are like a Tabernacle”, he said, “and I can sense the joy!” I assured him that when I and all of my sisters receive Jesus, we do so for him and all who are unable to receive, holding them in our hearts. At these words, the young man began to weep…and I think it is safe to say that Jesus wept with him. O Lord, what a glorious reunion it will be when we are embraced by You again in the Eucharist, in the Heart of our Mother, the Church.
If you would like to read more about our Mother Luisita’s great love for Jesus in the Eucharist, please ask for her collection of letters in our book From A Mother’s Heart.
