Corpus Christi Blog

(Continued).

(2) The Pillars: Catholic Doctrine
And then, dear friends, what else does our cathedral need? It needs solid pillars to support the vaults. What are these pillars? What foundation is needed to support the graceful slenderness of the Gothic rib-vaults? The Catholic doctrine we have received from the apostles is the only solid foundation we can find.

If everyone defends his own opinion, theological hypotheses, novelties, or a pastoral approach that contradicts the demands of the Gospel and the perennial Magisterium of the Church, then division will spread everywhere.

I am wounded when I see so many pastors selling off Catholic doctrine and sowing division among the faithful. We owe the Christian people a clear teaching, firm and stable. How can we allow bishops and episcopal conferences to contradict one another? Where confusion reigns, God cannot dwell! For God is Light and Truth.

(Continued from last week).

The great cathedrals of the West could have been built only by men of great faith and great humility who were profoundly happy to know that they were sons of God. They are like a song of joy, a hymn to God’s glory sculpted in stone and painted in glass. They are the work of sons who love and adore their heavenly Father! All were glad to carve into stone an expression of their faith and love for God, and not for the glory of their own name. Their art works were meant to glory and praise God alone. Modern Western man is too sad to achieve such works of art.

He has chosen to be a solitary orphan: how can he chant the glory of the eternal Father from whom he has received all? Well then, what shall he do? Before the ruins of Notre-Dame, some have been tempted to say: See, this building has served its purpose. Let us build something new, more modern. Let us build something after our own image! A building that speaks, not of God’s glory, but the glory of man, of the power of science and modernity.

“As a bishop,” said Cardinal Robert Sarah at a May 25th conference in Paris, “it is my duty to warn the West: behold the flames of barbarism threaten you!”

Allow me first of all to thank Monseigneur Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, and the curé of Saint FrançoisXavier parish, Fr. Lefèvre-Pontalis, for their fraternal welcome.

I have come to present my latest book: The Day is Now Far Spent. In this book, I analyze the profound crisis of the West, a crisis of faith, a crisis of the Church, of the priesthood, of identity, a crisis of the meaning of man and human life. I discuss this spiritual collapse and all its consequences.

This evening I would like to repeat these convictions I hold so deeply, by putting them into the perspective of a moving visit I made yesterday. Just hours ago I was at the cathedral of Notre-Dame of Paris. As I entered the gutted church, and contemplated its ruined vaults, I could not help but see in it a symbol of the situation of Western civilization and of the Church in Europe.

Friends, if you remember last week’s Gospel in which Deacon preached about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, what it means to be a disciple. Perhaps the last verse will jog your memory, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God”. In other words, to be a disciple, to truly follow Jesus we cannot be look back to what we left behind, but we must have eyes and hearts looking forward to where Jesus leads us. I bring last week’s Gospel up because today’s Gospel and the sending of the 72 others comes immediately after that verse. However, what I want to do today, is to continue the theme began last week about what it means to follow Jesus by highlighting perhaps the greatest example for us in St Paul, and unpacking a few but powerful verses of his writing in today’s 2nd reading.

St Paul is the first witness and teacher about what Christianity and Discipleship is all about. Keep in mind also, that before Paul became perhaps the greatest evangelist the Church and world has ever known, Paul was Saul- a devout Jew who persecuted the Church Christ established. So, if there is hope for a man like Saul, there is hope for you and I, and every lost soul we pray for.

Father Chad spoke to everyone about a “do-it-yourself” retreat in preparation for Marian Consecration. He welcomed everyone to share in this retreat and invited participants to come every Thursday night. The retreat is called 33 Days to Morning Glory. I would like to share a short story, or should I say, a gift from God, with everyone. In our house we have a prayer room. Every morning at 6:30 AM, before my wife, Rose leaves for work, I will go in there to light six candles – a candle for Jesus, St. Michael the Archangel, Guardian Angel, St. Joseph, St. Jude, and Mother Mary. In the middle of those candles is a statuette of the Divine Mercy image of Jesus. We start every morning with the Holy Rosary followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Then we pray for a list of people and finish with a prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. When we're done, my wife will put out all six candles and finish getting ready for work. After my wife leaves, I would go back upstairs and do some work on the computer. One morning, when going back upstairs to our prayer room, I notice all six candles were still alight. I called my wife and told her, “you forgot to blow out the candles this morning.” She replied, “No, I did blow them all out.” So after that day, we would double check the candles before leaving the room.

I can hardly believe that as of July 1, it has been five years since I began at Corpus Christi as your pastor! As I like to say, time flies when you’re having fun! It truly has been a fun and blessed five years. This parish has been a community for about 30 years. Some of you have been here from the beginning and others have come more recently. It has been great to see such a strong community of faith already formed by the two previous pastors – Fr. Sigmund and Fr. Hoorman – and to see it flourish even more over the years. I am excited to lead us as we grow and thrive still more in the years to come.

To the beloved parishioners of Corpus Christi Parish,

On behalf of my parishioners of the Mission Sagrada Corazon, I would like to convey my most sincere gratitude to you.

I have been out of the parish for almost 5 years now, yet it feels like yesterday and that you have never forgotten me. Your generous support for my appeal for the building of the Mission Church of Sagrada Corazon is a testimony of how you still remember me in spite that I am long gone. Your remembrance will leave a lasting impression on my priestly life as I continue to serve Him.

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.

Dear Parishioners of Corpus Christi,

I first want to thank all of you for so warmly welcoming me into your parish; it has been a great joy to be here. So many people approach me and tell me what a great joy it is to see me here, but I know that the blessings are coming abundantly more from you, rather than the other way around!

I recently had the great joy of being present at the ordination masses of the transitional deacons as well as for our newest priests! This is a special time for the whole diocese, but in a unique way for the priests and the seminarians. Our Lord speaks in profound ways to us in these masses; he graces us in a way that is so difficult to explain! By God’s grace that could be me in 6-7 years!

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.

Dear Parishioners of Corpus Christi,

Words cannot describe how wonderful my two-week home visit was. It was such a delight to be back at Corpus Christi, my home away from home. Thank you for such a warm welcome.

I had an absolutely beautiful experience being home with my family and friends, but I do look forward to returning to my new home with the Missionaries of Charity in Chicago. There is peace in my heart to continue discerning with the sisters of St. Teresa of Calcutta's order.

Recently, I was listening to St. Joseph's Workshop on Relevant Radio, as I often do during my afternoon trips to the ballet studio. Fr. Matthew Spencer was reflecting on how difficult the vocation of marriage is. He said that people often ask him if he thought things would be so much better if priests could get married. He said that he responds, "Are you kidding?? I hear the confessions of married people! NO WAY!!" He said he was kidding, but I think he was only half-kidding because, let's face it, marriage is hard!