This Week
June14th - June 20th 2020
St. Patrick Church
Mass times:
Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:30 PM
Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM Streamed on facebook, 5:30 PM
Mass: Mon. - Sat.: 8:00 AM In the Church
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Wed. 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Sat. 11:00 AM: Rosary for the end of Covid 19 virus Conference call number: 717-275-8940 PIN Number 369 8340#
Saturday: Confessions 3:30-4:30 PM
Saturday June 13th: First Communion Mass 4:30 PM
Pastor’s Weekly Message 9
Today, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, we come together to consider the depths of Our Lord’s love for us which has led Him to stay with us, hidden under the appearance of the Blessed Sacrament. Although we celebrate the Institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasize its importance by a special feast—formerly called Corpus Christi. Today’s celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord, originated in the Diocese of Liege in 1246, as the Feast of Corpus Christi. In the reforms of Vatican II, Corpus Christi was joined with the Feast of the Precious Blood, to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We celebrate today, Christ’s gift to us of the Eucharist, the Source and Summit of our life together as the Church.
The Feast of Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established for three reasons: (A) To give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there; (B) To instruct the people in the mystery, faith, and devotion surrounding the Eucharist and; (C) To teach us to appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist both as a Sacrament and as a Sacrifice.
As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is an outward sign in and through which we meet Jesus who shares His life of grace with us. In the Sacrament of the Eucharist we meet Jesus, the Risen Lord who comes to us under the signs of bread and wine to nourish and strengthen us for our journey through life. As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist imparts to us, Jesus’ abiding presence in our souls. In addition, we share in His Divine life, which is an assurance of Eternal Life and the basis for the conviction that we are children of God, the Father. The Eucharist is a Sacrament of our union with Christ. In this Sacrament, Jesus gives us His own body broken for us on the cross, and His Precious Blood poured out for us in order that our sins may be forgiven.
The Eucharistic celebration is also a sacrifice because it is the re-presentation or re-living in an un-bloody manner of Christ’s death on Good Friday and of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. By means of signs, symbols, and prayers, we share in Christ’s passion, death, and Resurrection—made really present for us in an un-bloody manner. This re-living of the one sacrifice of Christ—which is the heart and point of every Mass—assures us of Jesus’ love for us and His forgiveness of our sins. Through this sacrifice, the Risen Lord becomes present on the altar offering Himself to the Father through the ministry of the priest.
On this solemn feast we are called, above all, to faith in the fact that the Eucharist, Holy Communion, is in fact a reception of the very body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ—whole and entire—in His glorified state. The Eucharist is truly the Lord, it is Christ—whole and entire. The Feast of Corpus Christi invites us to ask ourselves: What does Holy Communion mean to me? How do I receive Holy Communion? Do I mindlessly shuffle along in the communion line in a mechanical way or do I go up purposefully, aware of Him, whom I am about to receive? Am I grateful and amazed at what He has done and what He offers? Or, am I mindlessly receiving something that has been put in my mouth? How do I behave in Church? Do I stay for the whole Mass, or do I come late and leave early? Do I receive the Eucharist reverently? Do I make sure I don’t receive when in mortal sin? Do I actively participate in the Mass?
Jesus hides in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, day and night, because He wants us to dare to approach Him. He wants to nourish us so that we become One with Him. He is staying here with us—He is totally available to us.