Corpus Christi Blog

Dear Father Chad King,

Some time ago, it was actually Mercy Sunday, I went to Confession with you and shared my Lenten journey. You recognized the work of God in my life and asked if I would be willing to share my story. (I thought who or what group at Corpus Christi would I be talking to?) But you said, “Could you write two pages that I could have in our bulletin? I believe many people would benefit from hearing your story.”

Because I knew it was God working in my life, I agreed. We never discussed a timeline, but I had no idea that it would take this long to get the job done!

I realize now why I was not able to write this letter sooner. You are asking me to reveal a family secret. Even though you had told me that I could be anonymous, somehow, I couldn’t trust that the “secret” be known.

Thank you to everyone who helped make our 2020 Parish Picnic a huge success! I would especially like to recognize the following people for all their hard work!!

VIEW PARISH PICNIC PHOTOS

Learn more at dphx.org/cda.

Every year on February 2nd the Church celebrates a feast known today as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It is a feast where we celebrate Jesus being presented in the temple when he was a baby by Joseph and Mary. Another traditional name of the feast in the West is the Mass of Candles, because it was at this feast that they developed the custom of a solemn blessing of candles that would symbolize the light of the world, that is Christ, coming into the world and His being presented in the Jerusalem temple.

Let us look at the prayer read outside at the beginning of our procession. Today is the blessed day when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. Outwardly fulfilling Jewish law, but in reality Jesus was coming to meet his believing people. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna came to the Temple where they recognized the Lord and confessed him with exultation. So let us also, all of us gathered here by the same Holy Spirit proceed to the house of God to encounter Christ. There we shall find him and recognize him in the breaking of the bread.

Candlemas Day is another name for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Forty days after His birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for the rites of purification and dedication as prescribed by the Torah. According to the Book of Leviticus (12:1-4), when a woman bore a male child, she was considered “unclean” for seven days. On the eighth day, the boy was circumcised. The mother continued to stay at home for 33 days for her blood to be purified. After the 40 days, the mother and the father came to the temple for the rite of purification, which included the offering of a sacrifice — a lamb for a holocaust (burnt offering) and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering, or for a poor couple who could not afford a lamb, two pigeons or two turtledoves. Note Joseph and Mary made the offering of the poor (Lk 2:24).

Also, Joseph and Mary were obliged by the Torah to “redeem” their firstborn son: “The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites, both of man and beast, for it belongs to me’” (Ex 13:1). The price for such a redemption was five shekels, which the parents paid to the priest. This “redemption” was a kind of payment for the Passover sacrifice, by which the Jews had been freed from slavery.

However, St. Luke in the Gospel does not mention this redemption, but rather the presentation of Our Lord: “When the day came to purify them according to the law of Moses, the couple brought Him up to Jerusalem, so that He could be presented to the Lord, for it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord’” (Lk 2:22-23). So the focus is on Jesus’ consecration to God. The verb “to present” (paristanai) also means to “offer,” which evokes Jesus is presented as the priest who will offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice to free us from the slavery of sin, seal the new and eternal covenant with His blood, and open the gates to the true promised land of heaven.

Today is the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time and the first official Sunday of the Word of God. Today we’ll take a closer look at the second half of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis.

We ended last week with Jesus interpreting Scripture for His disciples on the Road to Emmaus. In paragraph 8 of his document, the pope continues with what occurred at the end of the story and what it means with regard to the Word of God. The scene ends with Jesus being invited to stay for a meal (Lk 24-29). When Jesus broke the bread, their “eyes were opened and they recognized Him,” (Lk 24:31). The progression in this story, from the interpretation of Scripture leading to a shared meal and the breaking of bread, illustrates the necessary link between Scripture and the Eucharist.

Something happened recently within the Catholic Church that went largely unnoticed by many people, both inside the Church and out. On September 30, 2019, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter by a means known as “Motu Proprio” which means he deemed his personal reasons were sufficient enough to issue the letter to the people by his own accord and not on the advice of the Cardinals or any other advising body. So what is it that Pope Francis thought was important enough to issue directly? He officially instituted a new celebration in our liturgical year. The new celebration is called “The Sunday of the Word of God” and will fall on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time from now on, beginning on January 26, 2020. I will spend this week and next breaking down the Pope’s official letter to us and explaining the importance of this new day in our calendar.

Today’s Feast marks the conclusion of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Ordinary Time. It’s a feast of transition from Jesus’ hidden life to that of His public ministry. It also echoes the theme of the Epiphany in that the Baptism of the Lord is another manifestation announcing Jesus’ divinity to all of His first followers and to the disciples of John the Baptist.

First of all, it needs to be pointed out that Jesus did not need the baptism of John. John was baptizing as a call to and sign of interior repentance. Jesus had no need to repent. But, nonetheless, He comes to John. John resists at first but Jesus insists. Why did He receive baptism?

First, by accepting the baptism of John, Jesus affirms all that John has said and done and affirms his sacred role of preparing the way for Jesus and for a new era of grace. Therefore, the Baptism of Jesus acts as a bridge between the Old Testament prophets (of which John was the last) and the New Testament era of grace and truth.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I recently received this letter from a parishioner & teacher at the parish and school I was at before coming to Corpus Christi. I was so thankful to hear how much our Lord has done in this woman’s heart and life, and so honored to hear that He used me to be a catalyst. I might have planted a seed, but God watered it and caused the growth, so this story is about God’s amazing love and unwavering pursuit of our hearts. I thanked her personally, and I asked her permission to share parts of her letter in an effort to inspire others to grow in their relationship with God, too. As you will read, although she was somewhat (perhaps reluctantly) practicing her faith, this woman didn’t really know what it meant or looked like to have a relationship with God. I know many people who go to Mass could probably say the same thing. Not only will you see how much her relationship with God has helped and changed her for the better, but also the joy and freedom she feels now that she knows the love of God and is actively fostering that relationship. Notice how this relationship with God has changed her outlook on life, how much she is growing in trusting the Lord and putting Him in the center of her life, and how she truly is making great strides now in becoming a disciple (something we all are called to do).

However, this parish didn’t have Discovering Christ, which is a ministry I brought to Corpus Christi to help foster the type of relationship with God she writes about. So, as you read this and find yourself wanting more of what she has, consider this an invitation from me to sign-up for Discovering Christ. Our next session begins Jan 14th. I know God is pursuing you, calling you to a deeper and deeper relationship. Perhaps Discovering Christ will be the catalyst God uses in your life to give you the joy and freedom this woman is experiencing.

Through Him, with Him, in Him,
Fr. Chad King

Dear Father Chad,
I don’t know if you even remember me, but you and I met before you took on your head pastor position.

You have such a positive, energetic, welcoming demeanor, and I felt it was the right time, person, and place to to share my first confession with you in twenty years. I had struggled with my Catholic Faith for two decades, endured some truly difficult situations, questioned “God’s love for me,” and turned away from the Church. I had absolutely no understanding of Jesus, faith, and having a relationship with Him. I was lost. I was in an unhealthy, unhappy marriage, acted like a single mom to my only daughter, and felt alone.