« Eucharist: the beating Heart of Christ in the Eymardian Lay Body... »
Associates of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation, cultivate in your hearts and lives the same sentiments as Christ, so that the lay family of Saint Peter-Julian Eymard may become an ever more human, fraternal community and be in a permanent state of mission. May the formation of discipleship and the apostolic culture of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation’s body live a permanent commitment to listening to the voice of the Lord in adoration, in the poor, the sick, and those in need. To celebrate, adore, and serve. It is imperative to remain vigilant and steadfast in responding promptly to God's call to mission. Docile to the Holy Spirit, the members of the Eymardian body exist to carry out what the Lord asks, asks of them, and desires, in order to be impelled by the Kingdom of Christ’s love (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). The Spirit of the Lord is stronger than allurements contrary to his will. It is our responsibility, therefore, to listen to and obey God’s voice, to submit to God in all things. His word and his love are irresistible.
Therefore, being an SSS associate means being a missionary! The Eucharistic mission has basic requirements: to pray without ceasing, to give the Lord our hearts, freedom and attention so that His Spirit may dwell within us and communicate to us what God wants. The path to holiness passes through this experience. The associates’ missionary dynamism springs from the Cenacle, from the spiritual experience of celebrating the Eucharistic mystery and adoration. Thus, the Word of God, whispered to the heart, becomes an irresistible force of interior transformation and service. During adoration, the associates are invited to widen the tent of the inner cenacle to receive the Lord’s Spirit, who guides them to pray fittingly. The Spirit only desires to fill, inundate, convert, and sanctify. He wants to be the driving force and inspiration of everything. Never hinder His work! Therefore, Eucharistic life cannot be superficial, but deeply rooted in Christ, at the service of His Kingdom. Given the disciple’s disposition, the Master energizes the mission. It is the Eucharistic Heart of Christ that pumps the wholesome missionary blood into the bodies of the associates — Blood oxygenated by obedience, watered by patience, and nourished by charity.
May none of us abandon our brothers and sisters. The Eucharistic mission consists in living and revealing God’s mercy. Without the process of being ground wheat, crushed grapes;, there is no bread or wine. Serving the bread that humanises and saves recreates life permanently. Together, let us overcome the forces of death, cross deserts, darkness, and abysses. Welcome one another in the charity of Christ.
Lovely is the light of the Eucharist that overcomes darkness; valuable is the associate that becomes bread. Fair is the Virgin Mary who proclaims the Gospel of joy; is the Samaritan of the Blessed Sacrament who sees, pauses, and cares for his brothers and sisters. In the Eucharistic mission, we must imitate God, who sees, hears, and knows people’s anguish and suffering. This God, who comes down from heaven, descends to earth and communicates his merciful love. This kind of love springs from within, from the deepest depths of oneself, and is transformed into acts of service. Therefore, may the love of the Blessed Sacrament lay men and women be fruitful.
It is the heavenly Father who calls, enables, and sends the associates with the mission of proclaiming the good news of love, defending the life of suffering people. It is their responsibility to listen to the cry of the people, to be agents of life and dignity for their brothers and sisters. Jesus is the way and the Holy Spirit is the guide of this mission. Remain steadfast in communicating the Gospel of the Eucharist, "whether listened to or not" (Ezekiel 2:7). Eucharistic missionaries must eat the Word, savour the Eucharist; not only read, but devour the Word: be the living Word, be the Eucharist. Obey the Word as a "corpse"[1], chew it like bread. Eating the Word, living the Word; nourishing oneself with the Eucharist and living the Eucharist means integrating it into one’s own being, so that it may shape life, form the cells, and set the mission in motion. The interior teacher sustains the witness of the Eucharistic faith and encourages the laity to be bread broken for the people. The Word and the Eucharist must be deeply rooted in our bodies, in our being; thus, nothing in us will remain disconnected from these two sources of the Church’s life. Therefore, the Word and the Eucharist must be within us, etched into our hearts, and can never be silenced. They are gifts that shape the conduct and personality of our members. The Holy Spirit acts profoundly and produces his fruits.
It is increasingly necessary to expand our interior spaces to welcome the Word, celebrate the Eucharist, and share love with our brothers and sisters. These actions must be engraved in our hearts. It is true that associates are called to conform their lives to the Word and to develop a Eucharistic attitude, being a gift and a mission for others. By communing with the Word and the Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament laity direct their decisions and attitudes toward witnessing love that transforms lives. The effective influence of love is abundant when it is realised through self-giving. The formation of a Eucharistic person is only possible if the gentleness and delicacy of love are cultivated within them as ethical demands of the mission.
The Eucharist, the New Covenant sealed with redeeming blood, is the culmination of your total submission to the Father and your absolute obedience. To love as Jesus loved and to give yourself as He gave Himself is a painful, all-consuming experience, but this is how you follow Him: by giving yourself to the end! God's strength for everyone! Being a lay associate requires a true exodus, a true Passover to pass from slavery to freedom, from subjection to redemption, from pain to joy, from mourning to celebration, from darkness to light. Where does this transforming power come from? It comes from the Word that guides, enlivens, and strengthens the heart; it comes from the Eucharist, the Bread come down from heaven, the flesh offered for the life of the world, the gift of resurrection and new life.
Indeed, it is Christ himself who gives himself to us as food: the Incarnate Word, dead and glorified, who sees, pities, and helps; therefore, he is the Good Samaritan Shepherd who strengthens the weak, raises up the fallen, heals the sick, and frees captives. As regards our attitudes of loving, serving, caring, sharing... Jesus in the Eucharist is the greatest example of mercy: he lightens the burden of life, fills us with strength and hope, and sustains us on the path of resurrection. In the joy of the Holy Spirit, let us follow in his footsteps, let us be more human and closer to one another in order to serve!
The Eucharist implies friendship, love, forgiveness... May all learn from Jesus to give their lives for love; may all be faithful, obedient to the Word of God and persevere in self-giving in sacrifice for the good of others. The gift of self, taught by Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of the Eucharist, was modelled on Jesus’ filial obedience to the Father and his self-giving. May this concrete gesture of love motivate and animate us in our self-giving.
May Mary, Mother of God, Woman of the Eucharist, living Cenacle of love, help us.
Bishop Jorge Alves Bezerra, sss
Bishop of the Diocese of Paracatu (Brazil)
Extract from Notibip 113 - September 2025
St John XXIII Province - Colombia/Perú
[1] In Ignatian spirituality, there is a Latin expression, “Perinde ac cadaver,” which literally translates as “in the same way as a corpse,” meaning docile obedience [explanation added by the translator].
