Posted on June 7, 2015 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Praised be Jesus Christ!
This time of the year is always a Feast-filled time. Beginning with Pentecost, we enter a period of major feasts from Trinity Sunday to Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, St. John the Baptist, and Sts. Peter and Paul. As Christ ascended into Heaven and sent to us the Holy Spirit, we now begin to see the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. These major Feasts, in previous eras, were welcome respites from the rhythm of everyday life. My hope is that we are able to enjoy these Feasts with the same fervor and relaxation.
The Feast of Corpus Christi, which we celebrate today, is yet another reminder to us of the importance of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. Without the Eucharist there would be no Church. The Eucharist, the real body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, is the life blood of what it means to be a Catholic. God has become one of us, and has left us Himself in a very real way in the Eucharist, so that we could become more like God. God desires that each of us come the knowledge and salvation of God. To do so, we must become more like Him. We must love as much as He does.
This is also primiarily what the Feast of the Sacred Heart seeks to remind us. A reminder that God does not seek to punish us, but seeks to save us. The Sacred Heart was a reminder to the Church, in a time that needed it most, that God truly did love us. Certainly God has standards, and God has expectations, but as the Cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel reminds us that His “heart burns with love for us.” God has these standards, and has given them to us, because He desires we become more like Him. He knows that without those, which He has given out of love, that we can never imitate Him or His Sacred Heart.
As we celebrate these many Feasts over these next few weeks, let us enter more fully into the msytery. Perhaps we can read more about what the Saints said about these particular feasts. We will have special Masses throughout the month, and this also serves as a good way to enter into the festivities of these days. The beautiful thing about our Catholic Faith is that we have these tangible and real reminders of God’s closeness to us. May we be filled with joy at these reminders so that we can carry this joy and this presence into the world.
Have a blessed week ahead!
