Corpus Christi Blog

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.

Happy Easter everyone! We come now to the end of the 3 holiest days of our year- on Holy Thursday our Savior gave us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist through His ministerial priesthood and on Good Friday Jesus died upon the Cross for the forgiveness of sins. Today Christ is risen from the dead. As we journeyed toward Easter, each of us are called to experience the joy and glory that our Lord has for us; but like our readings today teach us, faith is a journey and it takes time for the understanding and joy to sink in. In order to grow in faith and fully appreciate the fact of Jesus’ Resurrection, we must place ourselves with the disciples so we can feel what they felt and experience what they experienced. Join me as we reflect on their journey.

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.