Corpus Christi

[franciscanheart]

Yesterday, I received this email from one of the permanent deacons at my parish. For now, I'm withholding my own thoughts. What are your reactions to this?

 

Greetings, My Friends:

In prayerful preparation for this weekend, I have been pondering these words that we hear when we receive Communion at Mass:  “The Body of Christ.” And, when possible: “The Blood of Christ.”  To which we respond with firm conviction…hopefully… “Amen.

Do we understand the fullness of those words?  Do we comprehend their meaning in our lives?  Do we receive and embrace the love that those words proclaim to us?

Or would we be more accepting and comfortable if the words were “Kinda like the body of Christ” and “Sorta like the blood of Christ?”

So, ponder for a moment the words of Jesus from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in today’s 2nd Reading:

"This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."   In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,  "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."  (The emphasis is obviously mine.)

Jesus said “is” not “like.”  That is what we celebrate this weekend.  The reality of His sacrifice.  The reality of His presence.  The reality of the Sacrament for us.

The tradition of this celebration includes a Eucharistic procession at the end of Mass to proclaim the reality of Jesus in the Eucharist and in our lives to all the world.  Some of you may remember a time in our history when we had a large Eucharistic procession in the Catholic community.  We don’t do that much in the Church anymore.

But why don’t we…you and I…commit ourselves to being our own procession?  We can commit to processing the resurrected Jesus into the world ourselves!  We can carry the Lord to the world by our love and by our lives and by our words.  We can be a priestly people and manifest the reality of Jesus to a world that is hungry for the Bread of Life both in the reality of his presence in the Eucharist and in the reality of Jesus in the hearts of all of God’s children.

“Go in peace, glorify the Lord by your lives.”  We can do that.

“The Body of Christ.  The Blood of Christ.   Amen!”

Deacon [Name]

 

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Reading 1
GN 14:18-20
 
In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand."

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

Responsorial Psalm
PS 110:1, 2, 3, 4

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool."

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion: "Rule in the midst of your enemies."

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor; before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent: "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

 

Reading 2
1 COR 11:23-26

Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,  that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,  took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,  "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

 

Sequence - Lauda Sion
Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

 

Gospel
LK 9:11B-17

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.

As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."

They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."

Now the men there numbered about five thousand.

Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down.

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

[dUSt]

This is great!

[franciscanheart]

Okay, so since you're my only bite, @dUSt (and you have a small reason to concern yourself with how I might respond to such a message), here's what I thought (in the form of an email to some of my close friends at the parish)...

While I am positive he's well-intentioned, I was a bit disappointed with the message. It's true that Jesus says, "This is my body, and, "This is my blood." Where I think our deacon errs, perhaps, is in not urging us to look deeper, and to participate more fully in the life of the Church.

It was made mention that we don't lead processions "as a Church" much anymore, BUT WE DO. And we should. [Our parish] does not lead a procession -- likely for traffic reasons; we do host a lot of people for Mass every week -- but some parishes DO! RIGHT HERE IN DFW. And truly, all over the world.

If you and I believe, ladies, that Jesus is TRULY PRESENT as Catholic doctrine states -- body and blood, soul and divinity, contained in what appears on the outside to remain an unchanged piece of unleavened bread -- why would we NOT process? Why would we not CELEBRATE PUBLICLY?

Why, pray tell, would we not encourage ourselves and our fellow Catholics to get out on the street and bring Jesus to the world? You don't have to shout for people to accept Jesus. You don't have to talk to ANYONE. You don't even have to look at them. Look at HIM. Follow HIM. BE WITH HIM.

It's a shame that we should accept as fate that we would not do this.

I was talking to the other women at Bible study last night about the Anima Christi. In that discussion came up the time that Jesus lives -- TRULY PRESENT -- in our bodies. Growing up, I was taught to observe a time of respectful silence after Mass, to kneel back down and pray IN THANKSGIVING for the sacrament I'd received. I was told that I should thank my Lord for this good and perfect gift with as much enthusiasm as this type of gift demands.

My husband bought me a fancy new car? I'M GOING TO SMILE AND JUMP UP AND DOWN. Should I not then spend a few minutes with Jesus after Mass, thanking Him from my heart? OF COURSE I SHOULD. Because:

1. He just gave me the whole of Himself -- body, blood, soul, and divinity -- in the Eucharist.
2. The Eucharist is still present inside me, in mostly whole form. I am now a LIVING TABERNACLE for Christ!

It's true: we can genuflect to each other after the reception of Holy Communion because Jesus literally lives in us for a period of time the same way He has lived in the tabernacle in anticipation of our arrival in the sanctuary. How beautiful!

So, yes, "make yourself a procession" by your good words and deeds; Christ asks you to do that. But please also consider why we do not process physically on this high feast. Please consider joining a procession in a place where they do make the effort. Maybe most of all: do not let the inconvenience of some public walking be the reason people do not encounter Christ physically present -- or your faith in the same.

Edited May 26, 2016 by franciscanheart

[dUSt]

Yeah!

[truthfinder]

Franciscanheart,

yes - I believe you've got it! The last parish I was at does the procession, not that far but with full ceremony, and the neighbours - some'd come out and watch.  They've just seen Jesus, maybe for the first times in their lives. 

[DominicanHeart]

I just love Corpus Christi! I can't wait for our Procession on Saturday night. Please pray for good weather. We got rained out of our May procession and don't want to get rained out again. I feel that at this point in time, it's especially important for us to make a public statement of our belief in the Eucharist and our Love for Him. 

[franciscanheart]

1 hour ago, truthfinder said:

Franciscanheart,

yes - I believe you've got it! The last parish I was at does the procession, not that far but with full ceremony, and the neighbours - some'd come out and watch.  They've just seen Jesus, maybe for the first times in their lives. 

Totally. And isn't that amesome? That hits me in the feels.

36 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

I just love Corpus Christi! I can't wait for our Procession on Saturday night. Please pray for good weather. We got rained out of our May procession and don't want to get rained out again. I feel that at this point in time, it's especially important for us to make a public statement of our belief in the Eucharist and our Love for Him. 

I hope the rain holds off!

The next question: How do I address this with the deacon?

[Not A Real Name]

You response reminded me of this video.

https://youtu.be/cZ5aYoSr3Hg

 

[Nihil Obstat]

1 hour ago, truthfinder said:

Franciscanheart,

yes - I believe you've got it! The last parish I was at does the procession, not that far but with full ceremony, and the neighbours - some'd come out and watch.  They've just seen Jesus, maybe for the first times in their lives. 

And we are praying for cooperating weather again today! As usual rain threatens, but we are confident. Brand new canopy, donated by Una Voce and the very great efforts of one of the older parishioners, to remedy the perplexing disappearance of the old one...

We have joined forces with Fr. Kenyon and St. John the Evangelist this year, so double the triumphalism!

 

I will post pictures if anyone would like them.

[truthfinder]

4 minutes ago, Nihil Obstat said:

And we are praying for cooperating weather again today! As usual rain threatens, but we are confident. Brand new canopy, donated by Una Voce and the very great efforts of one of the older parishioners, to remedy the perplexing disappearance of the old one...

We have joined forces with Fr. Kenyon and St. John the Evangelist this year, so double the triumphalism!

 

I will post pictures if anyone would like them.

Me! and nice to hear about the collaboration. 

[Nihil Obstat]

I am excited. And it means solemn Mass too. Now I just need to find something to waterproof my knees.

[Archaeology cat]

Yes, Franny! I'm hoping for good weather so we can do the procession this year. I loved it one year when I was in Oxford for Corpus Christi, and the procession went through the city. In Liverpool the Cathedral had a procession, but only around the Cathedral I think. Our parish didn't have one, but it would've been amesome to do it. Would've been something a bit different for Toxteth. 

[franciscanheart]

Last year (or the year before or the year before?), there was a procession from one church all the way through downtown to the Cathedral. It was amesome. I hate that our whole parish is getting an email saying these don't still happen, and kind of accepting that that's okay (if it was true).

[AveMariaPurissima]

My parish does a procession for Corpus Christi every year, with altars set up outside on the front lawn of the church.  It's really beautiful. The church is on a fairly busy road, so we're witnessing to lots of people.  There's rain in the forecast for Sunday, but I'm hoping the weather holds out long enough for us to still have the procession. 

[Nihil Obstat]

The weather held in spectacular fashion.  In obedience to the King. Pictures will be forthcoming.

[dUSt]

3 hours ago, franciscanheart said:

Last year (or the year before or the year before?), there was a procession from one church all the way through downtown to the Cathedral. It was amesome. I hate that our whole parish is getting an email saying these don't still happen, and kind of accepting that that's okay (if it was true).

Do you know of any procession going on in the DF Dub? Your confirmand needs to council you.

[franciscanheart]

25 minutes ago, dUSt said:

Do you know of any procession going on in the DF Dub? Your confirmand needs to council you.

I don't know of one as big as the one last year to the cathedral. There will be a pitiful one in the interior of our parish before Masses this weekend. I know St. Monica is doing one around the perimeter of their campus. I'm pretty sure St. Patrick does the same every year.

You tell my confirmand to text me any time. I reach out, but I'd need to set up camp outside her residence to get any kind of consistent response.

[Nihil Obstat]

Here is a link to the Facebook album I created. I will post some highlights.

Start of Mass. More people seemed to trickle in over time.

Chanting of the Epistle. The rain was pouring and we heard thunder at this point.

Chanting of the Gospel. Rain still pouring.

Father gave an incredibly poignant homily on St. Philip Neri's and our own faith in the Holy Eucharist.

Oh no! This was not our brand new beautiful canopy I have heard so much about. At this point I assumed it was not finished in time and I would have to wait for the next procession to see it.

The end of solemn Mass.

But rejoice! Here is the canopy!

Start of the procession.

Clouds. Not a drop of rain.

Processing to the first altar in the back of the parish parking lot.

More clouds, but not a single drop of rain.

The procession was about the length of a full city block, but keep in mind that we spread out to fill the whole street. In past processions we stuck to the sidewalk. This was much better.

Second altar.

I was about two-thirds of the way to the back of the procession, so this gives you an idea of the number of people. As mentioned above, many people (including a decent amount of traffic) stopped to watch us.

Third altar.

Clouds all around us.

Now heading back to the church.

Not a very pretty church, quite frankly. 

Back inside for solemn benediction.

And the recession. Priest celebrant was Fr. Antony Sumich, FSSP. Deacon and Subdeacon were two priests from the Anglican Ordinariate. I do not recall/remember their names. Also vested in front is Fr. Lee Kenyon, Episcopal Vicar and dean of the Canadian Deanery of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (the Ordinariate).

Make of this what you will. Weather was terrible all week. Pockets of sun and violent downpours seemingly at random. On Saturday Fr. Sumich held a rosary procession for good weather. In his homily he made a pointed comment about all of creation obeying its King. Poured, with thunder, all through Mass, and the moment we opened the doors, nothing but sun. Not a single drop of water. Third year in a row, it has been identical circumstances and outcomes each time.

[Nihil Obstat]

Pictures from a much more skilled photographer than myself.

 

[Nihil Obstat]

One more, one more.

Small clarification. As far as I can tell, the priest who served as subdeacon is not an Ordinariate priest. I had assumed he was.  He is a Catholic priest from England.