Approaching Holy Week knowing that I will not step foot in a Church is a surreal feeling. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Eucharist these days, and thought I’d share a little meditation on Rebecca Gorzynska’s painting of Our Lady and the Eucharist.

When I look at this painting, I see a mother gazing lovingly on her Son. Her eyes are filled with tenderness, her body reverent in the Presence of the gift He has given the world. And what a gift. For 33 years Mary had Jesus, physically present to her. She was the first to hold his body and the last.

From the manger to the tomb, she was with her Son, and so I think she must have been one of the first to understand the Eucharist, to realize what it meant for Her Son to become fully present in the gift of bread and wine. She must have known Him immediately, in the way that only a mother can, and I like to think that, just as she helped and guided the apostles during Pentecost, she helped them appreciate the Eucharist.

This is a time when we are all called to appreciate the Eucharist more deeply than ever. It’s easy to take this gift for granted when we have such easy access to it. Daily mass, open Churches, adoration hours, these are all available to us almost constantly under normal conditions in the US. Most of us are living through the first time in our lives that we are not able to receive Jesus or visit Him whenever we so chose.

I grieve for that. But more so, I grieve for the times that I have passed by a Church without stopping, for the times when I could have chosen mass or adoration and felt that I was “too busy”. I grieve that I have taken the gift for granted, and for that I am sorry. My prayer this Lent is that Mary will draw me closer than ever to her Son present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that when I am blessed enough to be able to return to His Presence, I will appreciate it the way I should.

This painting is especially dear to my heart because it will be one of the illustrations for my upcoming Marian Consecration for Young Families book, to be published later this year by Our Sunday Visitor. Make sure you’re following the blog and signed up for the newsletter to get updates on the book and all other things Elevator to Heaven!

I’m linking up with Kelly this week, so click over to read her post!