24 Hours with the Lord - Corpus Christi Weekend - Fri June 9 at 6 PM to Sat June 10 at 5 PM

 

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).  This celebration definitively ends the “extraordinary” part of our Liturgical year.  During the week we’ve already been celebrating days of Ordinary Time since the Solemnity of Pentecost.  However, from next Sunday onward to the Solemnity of Christ the King at the end of November even our Sunday celebrations will be overwhelmingly those of Ordinary Time.

But we end the “extraordinary” part of our Liturgical year remembering Jesus’ mandate to his Apostles at the Last Supper: “Do this in Memory of Me.”  And so we do …

The Solemnity of the Corpus Christi along with attendant processions entered into the Church’s Liturgical Calendar during the time of the Reformation.  It seeks to underline the importance that the Church has given to fulfill what Jesus asked of us to do, and to take seriously Jesus’ words that the elements of bread and wine brought to the celebration of the Eucharist really do become the Body and Blood of Christ. 

With greater possibility for movement, the first half of the twentieth century was marked by various regional, national and even international Eucharistic Congresses to focus the eyes of all Catholics on the Eucharist.

In these years immediately following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Catholic Church here in the United States has decided to organize a national Eucharistic revival to bring us together again, focusing on Eucharist, which the Second Vatican Council had declared “the source and the summit of our faith.” 

Since the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic we at St. Philip Benizi have been actively promoting Eucharistic devotion.  Even when we could not meet together physically, every Thursday night we livestreamed a Holy Hour from our “Chapel of Undisclosed Location” during which we prayed the Rosary in bilingual fashion with the Blessed Sacrament exposed ending with Benediction.  When we could start meeting again under our tent in the St. Joseph Courtyard, we immediately offered Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament in both English and Spanish on Thursdays.  When we returned to the Church, we continued our weekly Holy Hours on Tuesday evenings in Spanish and on Thursday Mornings in English. 

Further during this time we have been graced by the creation of our “Nocturnal Adoration” group which prays in vigil before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed, each 2^nd Friday of the Month beginning at 10 PM and ending with Benediction and Mass at 6 AM on Saturday. 

As part of our participation in the national Eucharistic revival, just held our 24 Hours with the Lord this weekend in preparation for this great Solemnity of Corpus Christ.  And we will continue to actively promote both Eucharistic Devotion as well as the Prayer of the Holy Rosary as part of our Parish’s spiritual life both “in season” and “out,” looking forward to participate in the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress planned for October at the Cathedral. 

The Eucharist is as Jesus declares in the Gospel Reading today “The Bread of Life,” it is food for our journey.  Let us always appreciate and honor what we received from our Lord at his last supper, and then strengthened by it seek to share our gifts with others, especially with those in greatest need.

-- Fr. Dennis