Our Lady And The Eucharist

I found the following reflection on Our Lady and Jesus in the Eucharist at the My Daily Eucharist site. The reflection was written some time ago by Archbishop John J. Meyers who I am proud to say is the archbishop of my home archdiocese, Newark, NJ.
As the archbishop illustrates in him reflection, Mary and the Eucharist are inseparable, for where Jesus is, there too is His Blessed Mother. I thought this a fitting reflection for our Blessed Mother's birthday today.

We cannot forget that the mystery of the Eucharist is inseparable from another reality: the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of Christ and in the life of the Church. In the Mass, Jesus entrusted to us his redeeming sacrifice. It is Mary who prepared the way for this sacrifice. Through her act of obedience, she allowed God to use her so that Christ the Redeemer might take on a human nature. Indeed the body and blood shed for us on the cross and offered on the altar were fashioned miraculously by God within her. The Christ we receive in Communion is the Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary. The Christ we adore in the tabernacle is the Christ who became man through her. Thus every time the Mass is celebrated, Mary is present in a very special way, just as she was present at the sacrifice of Calvary. When we receive him, we are united in an effable way to his Mother and to all the saints and angels, and every time we honor Jesus in his Eucharistic presence, we are made aware of her whose faith helped make him present to us.As your Bishop, I wish to assure you of my prayers. At Mass every day, I pray that we may be united by the offering we make of ourselves, joined to the sacrifice of our Redeemer. Every day, too, as I pray before the Blessed Sacrament, you are present in my thoughts. Brothers and sisters, please remember to pray for me. I very much depend on your prayers.

Immaculata Magazine
Bishop John J. Myers