This Weekend’s Gospel Message
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
“While they were eating, [Jesus] took bread…gave it to [his disciples], and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’”
“The account of the first Eucharist…is not written merely to report a historical event. In the early church, [Jesus] continued to give his Body and Blood to all his disciples. Now we are the disciples. We are the ones who receive Christ in us and are charged to participate in his mission.”
Source: Pastoral Patterns, Summer 2018
Corpus Christi – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
This Sunday, we observe the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, which translated from Latin means ‘Body of Christ.’ This feast originated in France in the mid-thirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. This feast is celebrated in the United States on the Sunday following the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. This feast calls us to focus on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church.
Source: www.catholicnewsagency.com
“He Makes Himself a Gift
[On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi], once again, the Lord distributes for us the bread that is his Body…he makes himself food, the true food which sustains our life… So let us ask ourselves [today], in adoring Christ who is really present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by him? Do I let the Lord who gives himself to me guide me to going out ever more from my little enclosure, in order to give, to share, to love him and others?”
Source: Pope Francis Speaks to Our Hearts: Words of Challenge and Hope. Frederick: The Word Among Us Press, 2013. Print.