Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – “How can he feed so many?”

On this special celebration (used to be Corpus Christi), we are called to reflect on the incredible mystery of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and how Jesus gives us life through the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ. What an incredible gift! How does this work? The Lord, in his all-powerful divinity, transcends time and space by making really present to us the fullness of his divine person (his Body and Blood) each time we come to Mass. The reality of the Last Supper sharing bread and wine, and then the sacrifice on the Cross is with us again and again, and wherever we may go to celebrate the Eucharist. I am not sure how this mystery works, but if Jesus said it is true, that is good enough for me. Who am I to question truth of what Jesus taught us?

Take some quiet reflective prayer time to renew your belief in the real presence of Christ that we receive when we come forward in procession at Holy Communion. Let the Lord know that you are grateful that he can feed so many around the whole world with his Most Holy Body and Blood. It is a miracle! It is a Mystery!

 Father’s Day – Time to Remember!

Like many of you, this day makes me sadly nostalgic for my father, who was “Daddy” for a long time and then for a longer time “Dad.” Such a simple but loving title this wonderful man gladly received from me and his four other children. Tons of good memories and even more love and sacrifice come to mind when I think of my father, which is often. I ask him (and Mother) every day to pray with me and to pray for me from their exalted place with all the saints and our ancestors in heaven. 

For me as priest, it is truly a privilege to be called “Father” by so many in the Church – to have the same title that my father had and the same sacred title that the first person of the Trinity has. Let us all pray in gratitude for our own fathers, and to pray for the men who are currently fathers or grandfathers or godfathers – that they may live up to that exalted title of “Father.”