By Deacon Mel Tardy | Our Sunday Visitor

In thinking about how the Eucharist has helped to inspire and direct my discernment, my vocation, my prayer life and my ministry, I start with those who have inspired me — particularly other Black Catholics whose faith lives hinged around Eucharistic devotion.

First and foremost, my mother, JoAnne Tardy, had an exceptional devotion to the Blessed Sacrament throughout her life. Small wonder, since she attended Xavier Prep High School and Xavier University of New Orleans. Both schools were founded by St. Katherine Drexel in order to make Catholic education more accessible to African Americans. Indeed, Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in order to share the Gospel with the poor, which in her day especially meant Black and Native American peoples.