Corpus Christi Blog

A couple of parishioners thanked me for my Pentecost homily (the outline of which is available on the website) because it helped them understand who the Holy Spirit is and the life in the Spirit we are meant to live. I wanted to highlight a couple other resources to help foster this deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit:

• Thewildgooseisloose.com—(Wild goose is what the ancient Celts used to call the Holy Spirit) a 14-part video series by Fr. Dave Pivonka TOR, a priest I know from Franciscan University of Steubenville.
• Session 7 "The Holy Spirit and the Life of Grace" of Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained," which can be accessed through Formed.org with our Parish code: VD6QM2.

May the Holy Spirit continue to guide you into the relationship and life He wants for you!

Through Him, With Him, and In Him,
Fr. Chad King

From a treatise by Saint Gaudentius of Brescia, bishop (Tract. 2: CSEL 68, 26, 29-30)

One man has died for all, and now in every church in the mystery of bread and wine he heals those for whom he is offered in sacrifice, giving life to those who believe and holiness to those who consecrate the offering. This is the flesh of the Lamb; this is his blood. The bread that came down from heaven declared: The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. It is significant, too, that his blood should be given to us in the form of wine, for his own words in the gospel, I am the true vine, imply clearly enough that whenever wine is offered as a representation of Christ's passion, it is offered as his blood. This means that it was of Christ that the blessed patriarch Jacob prophesied when he said: He will wash his tunic in wine and his cloak in the blood of the grape. The tunic was our flesh, which Christ was to put on like a garment and which he was to wash in his own blood.

From the dialogue On Divine Providence by Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin
(Cap 167, Gratiarum actio ad Trinitatem)

I tasted and I saw.

Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through hissharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, themore I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; whatI receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greaterhunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light,as you really are.

The proceeding is a brief reminder of the context in which Pope Francis, while he was still Cardinal Bergoglio, was speaking, followed by his third statement:

In the period leading up to a conclave, the cardinals of the Church gather in a series of meetings that are known as the "general congregations." In these meetings, they are allowed to make brief statements— known as "interventions"—about the problems they feel need to be addressed in the Church and what kind of man the next pope should be.

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The proceeding is a brief reminder of the context in which the then-Cardinal Bergoglio was speaking, followed by his second statement:

In the period leading up to a conclave, the cardinals of the Church gather in a series of meetings that are known as the "general congregations." In these meetings, they are allowed to make brief statements—known as "interventions"—about the problems they feel need to be addressed in the Church and what kind of man the next pope should be.

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On my way up to the mountains for a few days of vacation, I listened to a series of CD's from Catholic Answers that I had checked-out from our Parish Library. (Did you know we have a library in the office for you to check-out books and CDs for free?) In the next couple of bulletin letters, I want to share with you some of what I heard:

In the period leading up to a conclave, the cardinals of the Church gather in a series of meetings that are known as the "general congregations." In these meetings, they are allowed to make brief statements—known as "interventions"—about the problems they feel need to be addressed in the Church and what kind of man the next pope should be.

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In celebration of Easter and with Pentecost drawing near, our Music Director, Matthew Henry, and I thought it was time for something new—time to change the Mass parts that are sung. Over the next couple of weeks, I strongly ask you to come to Mass a few minutes earlier so that we can all learn and practice the new melody. With this in mind, I found the following excerpt from a sermon by Saint Augustine to be inspiring:

Let us sing to the Lord a song of love

Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints. We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song. A song is a thing of joy; more profoundly, it is a thing of love. Anyone, therefore, who has learned to love the new life has learned to sing a new song, and the new song reminds us of our new life. The new man, the new song, the new covenant, all belong to the one kingdom of God, and so the new man will sing a new song and will belong to the new covenant.

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Our God loves us so much that he would do what many think is unthinkable. God sent his only begotten Son to become human. The Father wanted Him to take on our finite human nature in order to allow us to share in His infinite divine nature. To what extent are you and I doing that?

Last week I revealed some of what God had done in those who were able to attend the Discovering Christ series. Today I want to share with you some of the testimonies of those who came to the Parish Mission that was held March 14th-17th. I share these as a way to perhaps inspire us to desire and grow closer to God all the more, because when I hear what God is doing in the lives of others I am certainly inspired to want that too. Additionally, when we desire God more and take steps to grow closer to Him, such as attending a Parish Mission, God is faithful in meeting that desire in some way.

In this Year of Mercy, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, I wanted to share with you how good God has been to His people of Corpus Christi through the Discovering Christ series and Lenten Parish Mission. I share it to give glory to God for outpouring His love and life so generously, as well as to open our hearts to appreciate and desire the goodness of God even more.

You might remember in December I advertised an Evangelizing series called ChristLife to help individuals come to know and form a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through His Church. ChristLife is a three-part series — Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ. Each series includes seven weekly meetings and a day-long retreat.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Happy Easter! What a glorious time this is. Our Lord, out of love for each and every one of us, gave up his life for our sake, for our salvation, because that is what love does. Our Lord submitted himself to the laws of the underworld so that by his rising again he could destroy the laws of sin and death. Because of what the Lord has done, now death is only temporary and not eternal. Our Lord has made eternal life possible, but to attain what the Lord has made for us we must die to ourselves and live for Him. We must submit our whole selves to his care and let Him lead us, and we must choose to follow Him every day of our lives. If we do, then we will begin to experience his love more and more in our everyday lives. God has so much life and love that He wants to give us, beginning here in this life, and all the way to eternal life through growing in faith and absoluteknowledge of His love and providence for us.

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus the Messiah's entrance into Jerusalem to fulfill his Mission—to make salvation possible for every person. We have begun Holy Week—the week in which we celebrate Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection through which we receive our salvation.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not let this week be just an ordinary week. Throughout Lent, many have given up something, sacrificed some pleasure, given of themselves in some way to others, and/or spent more time in prayer. Now that Easter is drawing near, some have the tendency to slack off a little in their Lenten resolution and practices. Similarly, there are some people who do not come to any of the Holy Week festivities, except maybe Mass on Easter Sunday. But we cannot not fully experience the joy of the resurrection for ourselves if we do not first journey with our Lord through His suffering and death. So instead of slacking a little on our Lenten practices, let us enter even more so for one more week. Let us pray even more ardently. Let us offer sacrifices and fast even more. Let us purposely unite all of our sufferings and pains with Christ's. Let us be willing to die to ourselves a little more this week so that we can more fully experience the true life in Christ through the Resurrection. It is important that we enter into this holiest of weeks with a lively faith in our hearts.

Dear Parishioners,

I was asked to write a short letter giving an update on my time in the seminary. I am in my fifth year of seminary studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. I studied for two years at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, OH before being asked to transfer to Catholic University as part of a three-year scholarship program. I am now in the third and final year of that program. I graduated last year with a Bachelor's in Philosophy, and this year I have been working towards a Licentiate in Philosophy. A Licentiate is the equivalent of a Master's degree, but it is an ecclesiastical degree that will give me the ability to teach philosophy at a Catholic university or seminary if the need arises.

The Pastoral Council at Corpus Christi consists of seven voting members (excluding clergy and staff) of the lay faithful who are active parishioners. The council helps to promote communication, understanding, and resolution among Parish ministries/organizations and parishioners. The council meets with the Pastor about once a month to help discuss, prayerfully discern, and advise me on various topics or issues regarding the parish. I would like the members to be of various ages and areas of involvement, but still have a well-rounded knowledge of the parish as a whole.

If you would like to be considered, please write a letter or send an email to pastoralcouncil@corpuschristiphx.org. It should be at least a paragraph in length and should introduce yourself, what ministries/organizations you have been involved with in the parish, and whyyou would like to serve in this capacity. Thank you.