Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or as we more commonly call it, Corpus Christi Sunday. The Eucharist is the life of the Church and today we call to mind the great gift of Christ’s own body. When Christ surrendered his spirit on the cross, water and blood flowed from his side and the great outpouring of the Body and Blood was made complete. We celebrate that gift every time we gather at the table of the Lord.
Today is also an opportune time to examine our disposition, both internally and externally, as we come to the table of the Lord. Does the manner of our dress reflect the worthiness of what we are receiving? Yes, even in summertime when it is hot outside we still need to take care that the clothes we wear to Mass are appropriate for coming to the feast of the Lord. Am I participating fully and joyfully, or just going through the motions? Have I reflected on my need of God’s mercy and forgiveness, and have I forgiven others who have trespassed against me? Do I acknowledge the presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament by word, gesture and action? All of these questions are good “food for thought” as we come forward to receive the “food of everlasting life.”
It can become too easy for us to grow slack in our zeal for the Eucharist if we do not keep the power of this sacrament foremost on our mind and in our heart. Remember that what you are doing is receiving the very body and blood of your salvation, Jesus Christ. Stop and re-read that sentence.
You are receiving the very body and blood of Christ. Not a representation of that body and blood, not a likeness of it, or a symbol, but the real presence of Christ. We could discuss that singular point from here to eternity and not even begin to approach the richness of it.
It stands to reason that when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ we should come with joy in our hearts. Too often I see people in the communion line who look like they’d like to be anywhere else but in Church. It appears to me that they are walking to their grave instead of walking to their life! I’m not talking about fake emotion or silliness, but approach the Body and Blood with a deep reverence and joy that radiates from within. Also, please be extra careful should you choose to receive the Body of Christ in your hand when you transfer the consecrated host to your mouth. Take one step to the side and immediately consume the consecrated host. Occasionally I see someone drop the consecrated host and then stare blankly as not knowing what to do. Pick it up immediately and either consume it or return it to the minister. Should you see someone receive communion and then walk away without consuming it (perhaps they carry it in their hand or worse yet, put it in their pocket), please let one of the ministers know immediately.
Recall as well that our celebration of the Eucharist does not simply end when Mass ends. We carry that Body and Blood in our life throughout the week. When we live as a Eucharistic people it makes a difference in our lives. We are to live as one who has been redeemed. We carry Christ within us so that we can go and be Christ for others. “Become what you receive,” as St. Augustine says.
We also have the great opportunity at CtR to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament of Jesus 24 hours a day in our Adoration Chapel so that we might continue to cherish the gift of the Mass throughout the week. I highly encourage you to stop by the Adoration chapel before or after Mass, or any time during the week, to give thanks to God. We have more than 300 parishioners who dedicate an hour a week at all hours of the day and night to spend in adoration. We do have, however, some hours in the week when there is just one person in adoration. It would be wonderful to fill that time with additional adorers. Please consider joining this most vital ministry of our parish. It’s a blessing to not only to the one who spends time in adoration, but clearly for the parish as a whole. There is information in the Adoration Chapel on how to join, or contact Anthony Brown, who does a masterful job of coordinating the ministry, at
anthonyjbrown@yahoo.com, or 281-798-4901.
You might be interested to know that it is a long standing practice of our archdiocese that the entire weekly offertory collection of Corpus Christi Sunday from every parish is given to St. Mary’s Seminary to support the training of seminarians. Most seminarians are in residence and study at St. Mary’s Seminary on Memorial Drive in Houston, while others are at Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas (where our two men from CtR, Matthew Najvar and Angelo Luna are in formation) or St. Joseph College Seminary in Covington, La, and a few others are at the North American College in Rome.
As you can imagine, it is very expensive to maintain a large seminary like St. Mary’s, as well as providing room, board and tuition for men undertaking both university studies and ministerial formation. In order to help meet the financial needs of operating our archdiocesan seminary and providing for the formation of our seminarians, each year the entire collection of every parish on Corpus Christi Sunday is given to the Archdiocese. I ask you to be generous this weekend in your offertory gift to support the seminary, and since we do not keep any of the collection for ourselves, might I be so bold as to ask that you also be extra generous next weekend in your gift to the parish so that we might make up a bit for what we give this weekend to the archdiocese? Thank you.
A group of 54 of us from CtR leave late this afternoon for our 12-day pilgrimage to Ireland. You may recall this is the trip we were scheduled to take the week after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last year. We obviously postponed in the wake of that great devastation, but we were able to reschedule the same itinerary for this June. We land in Dublin tomorrow morning and hit the ground running, moving clockwise throughout the country. We’ll celebrate Mass daily on the pilgrimage in some of Ireland’s most gorgeous churches and cathedrals and will be praying for you, and we kindly ask that you keep us in your prayers as well.
I’ve been to Ireland previously on my own, but this is my first experience with a group so I’m looking forward to it. We’ll visit many of the main sites throughout the country (yes, the Guinness Brewery will be one of them), but I’m especially eager to visit St. Coleman’s Cathedral in Cobh, where many of our Irish ancestors departed from the Emerald Isle to a new life in America. The Cliffs of Moher are always breathtaking to see, and Galway is one of my favorite towns in the whole world so two nights there will be special. We will later make our way to Crough Patrick, where good St. Patrick is said to have spent the 40 days of Lent in prayer and fasting. And, of course, we’ll celebrate Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Knock, the Queen of Ireland, the site of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It promises to be a spirit-filled trip. Thank you for your prayers and rest assured we are carrying your intentions in our hearts. I’ve even arranged for an Irish priest, Fr. Eamonn Shelly, LC, to preside at the
9 and 11 a.m. Mass next Sunday in my absence, so when you hear his Irish brogue it will almost be like you are there with us!
Sláinte!