Corpus Christi Blog

Catholic Answers Magazine; May-June 2018; www.catholic.com

Shaun: As an Evangelical Christian young adult, I took my faith seriously. Nothing mattered more than having a personal relationship with Jesus and committing myself to holiness. But my broader understanding of sin was problematic: I was a moral relativist. Something might have been a sin for me, but for others, it might have been licit.

Jessica: As a teenager, I had much to sort out about sex and all of the different points of view to which we were exposed. Contraception seemed to be more or less a personal preference, and it was rare to hear it even mentioned by a pastor or other authority. I had no clear teaching available to form my opinion on the matter except that, thankfully, my mother did teach me that some hormonal contraceptive methods could be abortive if they didn't actually prevent conception.

"1. From the foregoing catechesis on the article of the creeds on the Holy Spirit, one observes the rich biblical foundation of the pneumatological truth. At the same time, however, we must also note the difference of delineation, in divine revelation, of this truth in relation to the Christological truth. It is evident indeed from the sacred texts that the eternal Son, one in being with the Father, is the fullness of God's self-revelation in human history. In becoming "son of man," "born of woman" (cf. Gal 4:4), he was manifested and acted as true man. As such he also definitively revealed the Holy Spirit, announcing his coming and making known his relationship with the Father and the Son in the mission of salvation and therefore in the mystery of the Trinity. According to the announcement and promise of Jesus, the Church, the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:27) and sacrament of his presence "with us until the end of the world" (cf. Mt 28:20), has her beginning with the coming of the Paraclete.

“You have a Mission- if you choose to accept it”. You and I have a Mission, and we don’t have to be Ethan Hunt to accomplish it (for those who don’t know- Ethan Hunt is the character of Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible movies). You and I have a mission, that is possible, but we have to choose to accept it. And it is a mission for each and every person, no matter who a person is. And it is not a mission that you should do, like you should clean your room; nor is it just another thing added to everything else that you’ll never really get around to, but rather this mission will no doubt encompass our entire life, but will also truly give your life meaning, purpose, and joy. This mission has been given to us by the Holy Spirit at our Baptism, and fully if we were Confirmed; and so this mission dwells within us, and is meant to be lived out.

I was raised in a Catholic home and attended Mass regularly. I had received the usual sacrament as a child and attended a Catholic high school. As a teenager, I attended daily Mass for a while. I was feeling close to God. I was married in the Church at the age of 21. By the time I was 23, I had divorced and began living a sinful life. I went to church occasionally and stopped going to confession.

May the following quotes about our Blessed Mother help you grow in love and devotion to her aswe honor her throughout the month of May and prepare to consecrate our parish to Jesus through Maryon Thursday, May 31 with Mass at 6:30pm.

"Now, if the Councils, the Fathers, and even experience show us that the best means of remedying the irregularities of Christians is by making them call to mind the obligations of their Baptism, and persuading them to renew the vows they made then, is it not only right that we should do it in a perfect manner, by this devotion and consecration of ourselves to Our Lord through His holy Mother? I say "in a perfect manner," because in thus consecrating ourselves to Him, we make use of the most perfect of all means, namely, the Blessed Virgin."

― St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary:With Preparation for Total Consecration

My brothers and sisters, our 1st reading, in fact the entire chapter of Acts chapter 10 is an important chapter for the life of the Church. In this chapter, God reveals to Peter through Cornelius, a Gentile Roman officer- but believer in the God of Israel, that He hears the prayers of those who are not Jews but still believe in Him, and that He wants to pour down his love and salvation upon every human person. The leader of the Church declares, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him”. Our Gospel teaches what it means to act uprightly, but first let’s look at our 2nd reading which reveals how God shows no partiality towards people, “Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God…for God is love”. Let that truth sink in for a moment. “Everyone who loves, is begotten by God and knows God…for God is love”.

I have been praying about writing this for a few weeks now. It is a letter of praise and thanksgiving to our Lord Jesus for His love and mercy, as well as thankfulness for the witness Fr. Chad gave me of God's unlimited love for me.

Quite some time ago now, my husband had an affair. It was devastating. Not only did I have to mourn the loss of what I thought marriage was supposed to be, but my faith life went from a waterfall of grace to a trickling fountain that I could barely turn on. While my husband was deeply sorrowful and was finally seeking help for his issues, I felt completely broken. A lot of the thoughts I had when I was away from the Church came back with such a vengeance. The enemy knew how to attack me with fears, anxieties, and feelings of unworthiness to come before Jesus. I was afraid to go to Jesus, afraid of what might be in store for me if I kept striving for holiness, afraid of what my next cross would be.

Today we are given such an insightful Gospel to help us grow in faith and our discipleship. Our Gospel is the well-known analogy Jesus uses to describe who God is, and who we are meant to be in relation. Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower, and you are the branches”. You and I are the branches, and if we remain in God, and God in us, we will bear much fruit. Jesus goes on in the Gospel to illustrate 2 kinds of branches- branches that bear fruit and those that do not. Today, I will describe these 2 branches, as well as the fruit that grows, and how this growth of fruit is the journey to true discipleship. To help highlight the growth, I will share a true story of a young man named Daniel. So, let us look at ourselves and examine if fruit is or is not growing in our lives, discover what this journey to discipleship really looks like, and reflect on how we still might need to grow.

Today, on this 4th Sun of Easter, like it is every year, our Gospel is a portion of John chapter 10 in which Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. This is a well-known analogy of Jesus which is given to help us know who He is. But before you think, Oh I’ve heard all about the Good Shepherd, I want us to look at this passage as a chance to measure our lives against the ideal of the Good Shepherd, and challenge ourselves in the areas we fall short. We know that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will never leave or abandon but will always care for and protect us, his flock. Indeed, God, in Christ Jesus, has entered into a covenant with us, his people, and He will never go back on that covenant. Therefore, He sent His Son Jesus, to be the Good Shepherd, who has laid down his life for us, his flock, to save us and bring us back into Communion with Him. God is the Good Shepherd who will never go back on that covenant He has made with us, His people; but this homily will not focus so much on this truth itself, as much as how we, his people, are to relate to that truth. I feel inspired to challenge each of us, including myself, to reflect upon the high standard that we are given in the Good Shepherd. Hopefully, for many, if not all of us, this homily will cause us to take a hard look at ourselves, our lives, and those around us, to be inspired by the Good Shepherd. So, let us ask our Lord to open our mind and heart to what He wants to reveal to you today.

Our parish feast day is coming up – and this year, with double-blessings! As you may know, the Feast of Corpus Christi moves around a bit since it is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which is the first Sunday after Pentecost (50 days after Easter)! This year, Corpus Christi falls on the same day as the Feast of the Visitation, which was when Mary visited Elizabeth following the Annunciation. How blessed we are to have so many opportunities to celebrate the events in the life of Our Lord and Blessed Mother!

Our Gospel for this Easter Sunday is from Luke, which comes immediately after the appearance of Jesus to the 2 disciples on the Road to Emmaus. If you remember that story, 2 disciples who had been following Jesus when he was alive, now were leaving Jerusalem and going back home after Jesus’ death, saddened because they thought he was the Messiah who would save them. On their journey of 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus appeared and walked with them, and while they were walking Luke describes, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them all that referred to Him in all the scriptures”. Then when they were sitting down for a meal, “Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them”. And at that, at the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened and the recognized that it was the Risen Jesus with them all along.

Happy Easter everyone! Christ is Risen!!! 

For those of you who came to Mass here last week, you know that the Deacons preached. Thankfully, they each did a great job preaching on Divine Mercy and helped keep Fr. Rey and I busy in the Confessional by inspiring you (and I) to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly. I am sure Fr. Rey will attest also, that heartfelt and honest Confessions are one of the greatest joys of being a priest. Even though the Deacons preached, I was inspired by last Sunday’s readings, so I thought I would share my reflections with you here in the bulletin. (For those of you who might have been excited that I wasn’t preaching, sorry, even that can’t stop me!)

In May of 2000, Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska and declared the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Here are a few quotes from St. Faustina's Diary pertaining to Christ's message of mercy.

Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory. (Diary, no. 47-48)

Having delivered His farewell address from the pulpit of the Cross and finished the work of His Eternal Father, Jesus bows His head and dies. To make certain of His death, a centurion, Longinus by name, pierces His heart with a lance and the Divine Master, who saved up a few drops of His Precious Blood, now pours them out to prove that His love is stronger than death.

Two men who lacked courage to declare their affiliations while He was living, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, brought perfumes and spices and embalmed the body of Jesus. It was first laid on Mary's lap, and it seemed to her that Bethlehem had come back again — but really it had not. Between Bethlehem and Calvary our sins had intervened.The body was lifeless. Jesus was dead.