May 24, 2008
Dear Parishioners,
Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord: Corpus Christi. We celebrate this Feast to honor the Real Presence of the Risen, Glorified Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This miracle is the profound center of our Holy Catholic Faith. In every tabernacle in every Catholic Church Christ stays with us to comfort us, to feed us, to gather us in unity. On every Altar where a Catholic priest offers the Holy Mass, the true Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Risen, Glorified Jesus is made present for us to Adore and to receive. Of course, our preparation for such a great miracle is filled with devotion. We go to Confession for any mortal sins; we fast for one hour from all foods and liquids other than water; we dress in our Sunday best to show honor and respect to the Real Presence of our Lord; we arrive early for Holy Mass and we remain afterwards to make our thanksgiving; we participate fully in the parts of the Holy Mass; we walk with reverence toward the reception of Holy Communion; we look adoringly at the Sacred Host as Jesus comes to us in Holy Communion and we adore Jesus, our God; we bow our heads and return to our pews reflecting on the Presence of Jesus in our Body; we kneel in thanksgiving and love when we return to our pew.
My thanks to those who participated in our Forty Hours of Adoration and the Closing Ceremonies, Procession, Benedictions and reception last Sunday. To respond to my call to be with us particularly on Sunday afternoon for the closing ceremonies and Benediction showed a reverence for the Eucharist and respect for me as your Pastor. It also showed your understanding of the larger picture in our life by changing your schedules to be with your Parish Family centered around the Holy Eucharist. My thanks to the Knights of Columbus, the Choir, the Youth Choir, the First Communicants and their parents, the Hispanic Community, the Reception committee, the Youth Group, the Altar Boys and all who helped to honor our Lord and build up our Parish.
Here is a good web site for learning about the Real Presence of Jesus – the Holy Eucharist: http://www.therealpresence.org/index.html After entering, you will see places where there is perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. On the right you can click on many topics; go to “Eucharist”. Below I have given a few reflections on this Solemnity and Dogma for you:From “Conversations with God” by Fr. Fernandez:
“ When we spend time with the Blessed Sacrament we make an act of faith. It was faith in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist that led to devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass as well. In the first centuries of the Church the Sacred Species were reserved so that Communion could be taken to the sick and to those who were in prison awaiting martyrdom because they had confessed their faith. As time went by, the faith and love of believers caused them to make both public and private devotion to the Holy Eucharist far richer. Their faith led them to treat the Body of Christ with the greatest possible reverence and this also led to greater public devotion. We can find many testimonies in the most ancient documents of the Church to the veneration by the early Christians which later was to make way for the feast we celebrate today....This Solemnity goes back to the thirteenth century. It was first established in the diocese of Liege, and Pope Urban IV instituted it in 1264 for the whole Church. (There had just been a Eucharistic Miracle at Bolsena and the blood stained corporal from a Mass taken to the Pope staying in Orvieto. You can see the corporal today in the Cathedral of Orvieto.) The centre of the feast was to be, as Pope Urban IV described it, a popular devotion reflected in hymns and joy. In the same year Satin Thomas Aquinas, at the Pope’s request, composted for this day two Offices which have nourished the piety of many Christians throughout the centuries.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church - The Eucharist §§ 1322 - 1419
“ 1324 The Eucharist is "source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."
1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."
1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic Celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.
1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy Excerpt:
“ Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
160. The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is observed on the Thursday following on the solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. This feast is both a doctrinal and cultic response to heretical teaching on the mystery of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the apogee of an ardent devotional movement concentrated on the Sacrament of the Altar. It was extended to the entire Latin Church by Urban IV in 1264.
Popular piety encouraged the process that led to the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi, which reciprocally inspired the development of new forms of Eucharistic piety among the people of God. For centuries, the celebration of Corpus Christi remained the principal point of popular piety's concentration on the Eucharist. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, faith, in reaction to various forms of protestantism, and culture (art, folklore and literature) coalesced in developing lively and significant expressions Eucharistic devotion in popular piety.
161. Eucharistic devotion, which is so deeply rooted in the Christian faithful, must integrate two basic principles:
* the supreme reference point for Eucharistic devotion is the Lord's Passover; the Pasch as understood by the Fathers, is the feast of Easter, while the Eucharist is before all else the celebration of Paschal Mystery or of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ;
* all forms of Eucharist devotion must have an intrinsic reference to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or dispose the faithful for its celebration, or prolong the worship which is essential to that Sacrifice.
Hence, the Rituale Romanum states "The faithful, when worshipping Christ present in the Sacrament of the Altar, should recall that this presence comes from the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, and tends towards sacramental and spiritual communion"(169).
162. The Corpus Christi procession represents the typical form of an Eucharistic procession. It is a prolongation of the celebration of the Eucharist: immediately after Mass, the Sacred Host, consecrated during the Mass, is borne out of the Church for the Christian faithful "to make public profession of faith and worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament"(170).
The faithful understand and appreciate the values inherent in the procession: they are aware of being "the People of God", journeying with the Lord, and proclaiming faith in him who has become truly "God-amongst-us".
It is necessary however to ensure that the norms governing processions be observed(171), especially those ensuring respect for the dignity and reverence of the Blessed Sacrament(172). It is also necessary to ensure that the typical elements of popular piety accompanying the procession, such as the decoration of the streets and windows with flowers and the hymns and prayers used during the procession, truly "lead all to manifest their faith in Christ, and to give praise to the Lord"(173), and exclude any forms of competition.
163. The Eucharistic procession is normally concluded by a blessing with the Blessed Sacrament. In the specific case of the Corpus Christi procession, the solemn blessing with the Blessed Sacrament concludes the entire celebration: the usual blessing by the priest is replaced by the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament.
It is important that the faithful understand that this blessing is not an independent form of Eucharistic piety, but the end of a prolonged act of worship. Hence, liturgical norms prohibit "exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for the purpose of giving the blessing"(174).”Friday is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Remember the 12 Promises of our Lord made to Saint Margaret Mary when He appeared to her at Paray La Monial. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus brings many blessings to you and your families. Saturday is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Mother to St. Elizabeth.
God bless you and may our Lady keep you in her care.
With my prayers,Fr. Arnsparger