Corpus Christi Blog

Happy Feast day everyone. Today, we the celebrate Feast of Corpus Christi- the Body of Christ. The belief that the Bread and Wine is transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and given to us to consume so that Jesus can dwell in us and us in Him- and that we, as His members, can become the Body of Christ. Indeed, for us as a parish, our names sake, the Eucharist, the Body of Christ is the source of our growth into the Corpus Christi we are meant to be.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Eucharist the “Source and Summit of the Christian life”. The Eucharist, which is Jesus, is the source and summit of the Christian life. The Eucharist is not a thing, not just a belief that we as Catholics have, no, the Eucharist is a Person, it is the Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ- it is the life and love of Jesus given to us.

Notice also that the Church doesn’t says the Eucharist is the source of the Catholic life, but of the Christian life. The Catholic belief of the Real Presence the Eucharist is a revealed truth by Jesus in the Scriptures and handed on through the Apostles. This truth was believed by every Christian from the beginning of the Church to around year 1517 and the Protestant Reformation.

And today 502 years later, there are many Christians, including some Catholics, who believe that one Christian denomination is as good as the other, and it doesn’t matter which one goes to as long as they believe in Jesus Christ. But that can’t be true, because Jesus gave Himself in the Eucharist to His One Church, and all that Jesus said is either true or He and all His teachings are a lie.

What a special day today is, not only is it the Lord’s Day, but today we also celebrate Father’s Day, and this year it happens to fall on Trinity Sunday. If someone would ask you who God is? Perhaps you might think of the Blessed Trinity- and remember what you learned years ago that God is 3 Persons in 1 Divine Nature- so a Communion of Persons. Which is right, but beyond the mystery of that mathematical equation, we can understand the 1 Divine Nature of God as what He is- what makes God- God, compared to the nature of a stone for example. So, God’s divine nature means that God is infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, love, goodness, and generosity- just to name a few attributes. Knowing that is God’s nature, He could do nothing but, what is good and loving. The 3 Persons of the Trinity is who God is- who is the being acting from the Divine Nature- so that God is, what God does, is loving, and generous, and good first and foremost within themselves from all eternity (as obviously 1 person can’t give of themselves- to themselves-so there must be more than 1 Person in God. God has revealed Himself as 3 united but distinct Persons, the Church Fathers have called the Father the Lover, the Son as the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit as the Love constantly given and received between them. That is what Jesus means when He says in our Gospel today, “Everything that the Father has is mine; the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you” The 3 Persons of the Trinity has given and received the fullness of each other from eternity. But now, in God’s generosity, God has made human beings to have a special share in His Divine Nature- somebody else who the Persons of the Trinity want to give of themselves to, and other beings who has the attributes of knowing, loving and being good and generous, and who can and hopefully will grow to share fully in God’s Divine Nature. How amazing and generous our God is. Now that we have an understanding of the Blessed Trinity only somewhat in our minds, let me try and relate what that truth means for us. Let me try and do justice to this important and special day, and tie Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday together, because really, they are always connected. After all, the Trinity reveals a Fatherhood, and together with the Son and Holy Spirit, a Communion of 3 Persons whom we are called to share in. Some of us are called to share specifically in the Fatherhood of God, but all of us are called to share in God’s divine nature and live in this Communion of Persons for all eternity. To help us as fathers and families to share more perfectly in the nature and family of God, let me begin in a poignant and straightforward way.

Friends, in prayerful preparation for this homily on this feast of Pentecost, my heart rested on the image described in one of the first verses from our 1st reading from Acts: that of the Holy Spirit, in the image of fire, descending upon Mary and the Disciples gathered in the upper room. Reflecting on the image of Fire, I thought about the story of Moses and the Burning Bush- the burning bush represented the presence of God through which God spoke to Moses, the bush was on fire, but it was not being consumed. I thought about other places in Scripture that the Lord is portrayed as a ‘purifying fire’. And I thought of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which always has a flame coming from it. Indeed, the Heart of God is burning with love for us, always wanting to ignite us.

Friends, in prayerful preparation for this homily on this feast of Pentecost, my heart rested on the image described in one of the first verses from our 1st reading from Acts: that of the Holy Spirit, in the image of fire, descending upon Mary and the Disciples gathered in the upper room. Reflecting on the image of Fire, I thought about the story of Moses and the Burning Bush- the burning bush represented the presence of God through which God spoke to Moses, the bush was on fire, but it was not being consumed. I thought about other places in Scripture that the Lord is portrayed as a ‘purifying fire’. And I thought of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which always has a flame coming from it. Indeed, the Heart of God is burning with love for us, always wanting to ignite us.

Two weeks ago, in the Gospel John chapter 10, we heard Jesus use the analogy of sheep and Shepherd, saying that His sheep hear his voice. And last week Deacon preached about what it means to love one another as God loves us, which Christ commands us to do. Today, the two ideas are tied together for us. I remind you of that as our 1st verse in today’s Gospel summarized the two points: “Jesus said to his disciples, whoever loves me will keep my word”. Those who really love Jesus will ‘keep his word’. What does it mean to keep his word? To keep his word means to listen and obey all that He has said. Of course, to listen and obey what Jesus says, we first have to hear his voice. Our Gospel goes on to say that the Holy Spirit “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you”. Wow, I know that we all desire to know and love Jesus, so let’s take a moment and evaluate ourselves and let the Holy Spirit remind us all that Jesus said. Do you know all that Jesus said? Do you read the Scriptures regularly? Or do you only hear what is proclaimed if you come to Mass on Sundays? Are you keeping his teaching close to your heart, by remembering what was said minutes, hours, days later? Again, if we really love Jesus not only will we know what He said but also strive constantly do what He commanded.

Our Gospel begins: “My sheep hear my voice”. Let’s pause right there. We hear many voices- the voice of Alexa, the voice of the annoying GPS lady which tells she has to ‘recalculate’ when we miss a turn or go the wrong way. When I get ready in the morning, a voice reads to me the Office of Readings. But we know that the voice is not real- the GPS lady really doesn’t know where we are, it’s the satellite that is telling her. And the voice that reads to me the morning prayers, really doesn’t know what it’s reading as there are many mispronounced words- especially in Latin.

The question is do we treat God as that kind of voice? Treat like God is distant, not really knowing where we are or who we are? And so we so often don’t really try to hear God’s voice.

Last week on the Feast of Divine Mercy, I invited you to join me and your fellow parishioners to Consecrate yourselves, and our Parish to Jesus through Mary using the 33 days to Morning Glory Consecration. I shared with you the true story of Mary imploring people to conversion and her being so influential in the world in order to lessen and prevent evils, like Communism. I talked about how Our Lady is credited with preventing the bullet from killing her servant, John Paul II, and how she inspired and used John Paul II to spread Jesus’ message of God’s unbounded mercy. We will see in week 4 of the Morning Glory Consecration how John Paul II consecrated himself to Mary, in fact his Papal Motto was Totus Tuus- meaning ‘totally yours’. Did you know it was Mary who was the catalyst behind the holiness and legacy of now St. John Paul II? Did you know Mary was and wants to be so active in the world in preventing evils and bringing about God’s will? Have you ever wondered how much closer to God you could be if you and I would intentionally let her guide us? That’s what the Consecration is all about- letting her lead us even closer to her son Jesus and God’s will for our lives than we ever could on our own.

You may or may not know, the Diocese of Phoenix is currently celebrating our 50th anniversary. To celebrate the past 50 years of blessings in gratitude, and to assure continued blessings and growth for years to come, Bishop Olmsted would like at least 100,000 Catholics in the Diocese to Consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary, but also strongly encourages parishes to consecrate themselves. As your pastor, I would greatly like our parish to be one of those parishes, not only for the good of the Diocese, but so that we can be lead to become the Corpus Christi we are meant to be. Personally, I first consecrated myself when I was in college using St. Louis de Montfort’s Consecration. But a couple of years ago I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary using Fr. Gaitley’s Consecration, which personally I find more inspiring. For those who don’t know, Fr. Gaitley describes 4 Saints- St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and St. Pope John Paul II- all who have all had a special devotion to Jesus through our Blessed Mother. As a parish we’ll have an introduction on this Thursday, May 2, especially if you haven’t Consecrated yourself in the past, and the 33 days of daily reading and praying will begin Thursday, May 9. You can purchase your own book to have for your own to renew each year, or we’ll give you a free handout to help lead you through the Consecration. In addition, we’ll meet each week on Thursday evenings, for those who can, to watch the video and discuss what we have read about that Saint’s devotion through Mary. Finally, we will Consecrate ourselves on Monday, June 10- the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church- the Monday after Pentecost. Then we will reap the blessings.

My brothers and sisters, our readings today are so rich and full but before I jump into our reflection beginning with our well-known and powerful first reading of Moses and the burning bush, let us pause and ask God that we too will encounter our Lord as Moses did. To warn you though, you might find this homily a stronger homily than others, and like Moses, it might make you a little uncomfortable, but I would not be doing what I’m called to do as your pastor if I don’t.

Ready or not, the season of Lent begins Wednesday. Yes, we celebrate Ash Wednesday in a couple of days. Are you ready, do you know how you are going to draw closer to our Lord this season? What you’re going to give up or take on this Lent? Perhaps you’re thinking, whoa I can’t believe the season is upon me already, so maybe I’ll just do what I’ve done before. Well, before you think about falling into that pattern of doing what you’ve always done, let us first think about what the purpose of lent is and reflect on what Jesus says in our Gospel today. Have you ever thought about what the purpose of Lent might be? Maybe you’re thinking, well it is to prepare for Easter. Yes, you’re right, then what is the purpose of Easter? As you know, during Holy Week and Easter we celebrate the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Easter and the Resurrection is the source of our salvation, the source of the forgiveness of our sins. A couple of weeks ago, St. Paul in the second reading said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still stuck in your sins”. Jesus took all the sins of humanity, past, present, and future, to the Cross, and by his Death and Resurrection, then we have the forgiveness of our sins, that is, we don’t have to be stuck in our sins. Therefore, if the purpose of Lent is to prepare us for Easter, then it should be said, that the purpose of Lent is to help make the Death and Resurrection of Jesus effective in our lives, which will lead us to grow in our discipleship of following Jesus more closely. Have you thought about that- the purpose of Lent is to help you grow in holiness and follow Jesus more closely? Many people tend to give up something, usually something small, during Lent, and then look forward to taking it up again, sometimes over-indulging after Easter. If that has been you, think about if have you met the goal of growing closer to God by doing that? It is OK to give up something, even something small, but we must do it for the purpose it is intended. The purpose is to grow and strengthen your self-discipline so that the discipline can then be applied to another area of need in our lives. But ideally, the purpose of Lent is to begin something that will help bring about a lasting change in us away from sin and closer to God. Now let’s look at the Gospel for a few ideas.

Our Gospel today continues the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes in which Jesus is teaching his disciples how they are to live as set apart from the world, which as we just heard is a very high expectation. Jesus calls us to ‘love our enemies’. Yes, Jesus means those people we so often try to avoid because they annoy and frustrate us, we are called to love and do good to them. And if that isn’t hard enough, Jesus seemingly commands his disciples to do the impossible: be merciful as our Father is merciful. So often, we can hear Jesus’ teaching and perhaps feel a little, OK, better said, A LOT overwhelmed and unqualified, just like the first disciples must have felt. However, in this homily instead of trying to stir us on to do that which is so difficult, let me reflect on our 2nd readings from this week and last week to help shed light on one very critical aspect which makes our difficult task possible, and not so unbelievable as the first disciples must have thought. Indeed, this critical point makes it possible for us, but it also heightens the urgency and severity to Jesus’ words, and should make it more convicting for us. To do this, I am going to need your participation. Throughout this homily, I want you to be thinking about one very important question. That very important question is: Why are there so many atheists and agnostics in the world today?

To begin my homily, I have two questions for you: First, raise your hand if you want to be happy? I know that’s a crazy question, of course all of you raised your hands because we all want to be happy. In fact, true happiness is what we were made for! Good, today Jesus tells us how to be happy.

Second, raise your hand if you want to be a Disciple? Good, I do too. If you remember in last week’s Gospel, Jesus called Peter, James, and John to become fishers of men and they left everything to become Jesus’ disciple. This week in our Gospel, Jesus gathered the 12 disciples with a large group of people and began to teach them what it means to be a disciple. So those who raised your hand and said you also wanted to become Jesus’ disciple, listen up. Our Gospel reading says that Jesus “raised his eyes to his disciples and said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours”. Sound familiar? Yes, today we heard Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. You are probably familiar with Matthew’s Beatitudes- “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, they will be comforted, and so forth”. And even though both Gospels say ‘Blessed’, the Hebrew word Jesus uses in both versions more accurately means ‘happiness’ or ‘to be happy’, of course if you follow Jesus’ directions, you indeed will be both happy and Blessed! There are also some differences in Luke’s version compared to Matthew’s. First of all, Luke uses the 2nd person- and he says ‘blessed are you’, rather than Matthew’s more general 3rd person- in which he uses ‘blessed are they’. And secondly, Luke’s version is more rigid and imposing, as there is a whole list of woes or curses included, which is quite the different tone from Matthew’s nice and comforting version. Therefore, can you imagine the disciples listening intently as Jesus looked into their eyes and said, “Blessed, Happy are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Happy are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. I imagine those words were consoling, after all, keep in mind, the 12 disciples left behind their families, their jobs, and all the comforts of home to follow Jesus. But then Jesus goes on to say, “Happy are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in Heaven”. I can imagine the disciples after hearing this last declaration of what it means to be happy, were like ‘I don’t want to think about people hating, excluding, and insulting me. Uh Jesus, can you go back to what you said earlier, those are more comforting?’

Welcome back, class. Again, keep in mind that in this section of the class we are discovering who God really is. And so, if you remember last week, we learned that Jesus went into the synagogue of his home town, and read the prophecy from Isaiah in which the future Messiah, the Anointed One of God, will bring good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed. Then Jesus startlingly declared that that prophecy, the long-awaited coming of the Messiah, had been fulfilled in their midst. In other words, Jesus declared Himself to be the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Before I go more into today’s lesson which describes who God is, first, let’s look at how the people responded to Jesus’ declaration that He was the Messiah, “all were amazed at his gracious words that came from his mouth”. Amazed at his gracious words, I’m hoping I’m misinterpreting how Luke meant it. But if not, what a reaction! In other words, ‘oh good, thank you for being the Messiah’, oh, gee, thank you for being the One who brings good news and freedom’. Gosh, I sure hope they didn’t get it, or really did not fully understood the magnitude of what Jesus was saying, because I’d expect jumping up and down for joy, I’d expect they would be running to tell everyone who they saw, or at the very least a little more heartfelt gratitude, anything other than a passing thanks without much meaning. But wait, that rings familiar to me, isn’t that how you and I can sometimes approach God? With so much indifference, like we don’t really recognize the magnitude of who He is, and we don’t really know or fully understand all that God has done and is doing for us.