Corpus Christi Blog

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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Today we celebrate what is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, as our Gospel reveals the nice and comforting truth that we have a Good Shepherd who will take care of us who entrust ourselves to his care.  We need to live this as though we believe this, so in order to appreciate this truth more fully, let us look first at our 1st and 2nd readings.

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?

I am excited to preach at all the Masses to share a very important opportunity for you.  But before I share what it is, let me relate it to our Gospel today.

This story in our Gospel is the 3rd encounter that the disciples have with the Resurrected Jesus.  After fearfully locking themselves in the upper room, they decided they needed to do something, so they went back to what they knew, their previous job and lifestyle.  Simon Peter and the other disciples went fishing.  Remember it was at the Sea of Galilee where Jesus first encountered Simon and the sons of Zebedee, and after calling them to follow him, it is there that he prophesied that they would become fishers of men.  It is telling, therefore, that this encounter of the Lord, out on the sea, is the same place of their first encounter with Jesus.

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.

There is so much we are celebrating today.  We celebrate not only the 2nd Sunday of Easter and the fact that Christ is risen from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins, but also we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.  Do you know the story?   In the 1930’s, Jesus appeared to a humble nun, St. Maria Faustina in Poland.  Jesus called her to be the secretary and apostle of His mercy, and instructed her to keep a diary and record His Words of Mercy for the whole world, of which I will quote a little from. It is Jesus himself who asked that this day be the Feast of Mercy, and so Pope John Paul II announced, the Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday. In April 2000 John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina. Pope John Paul II committed his Papacy to spreading the message of Sr. Faustina and God’s unfathomable mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation Christ gave to His Church. John Paul II himself went to confession every week and spent 1 to 2 hours in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every single day. After he was shot in 1981, the Saint asked that Sr. Faustina’s diary be re-read to him in its entirety. And God honored His servant by calling him home in the beginning hours on the vigil of the Feast of Divine Mercy on April 2nd, 2005.

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.