Corpus Christi Sunday C 02.06.2013. Introduction .You are most welcome to our Eucharist this morning, especially if you are visitors. On Corpus Christi as we think the Lord’s gift to us of his Body & Blood, which we remember at mass. We receive him for our strength. Penitential Rite I am the Living Bread come down from heaven Lord have mercy Do this in remembrance of me Christ have mercy Until he comes again, you proclaim his death Lord have mercy Gen 14 He brought bread and wine Psalm 109 You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedech of old Rom 5.1 You are proclaiming the death of the Lord Acclamation I am the Living Bread come down from heaven, says the Lord. Anyone who eats this b read will live for ever. Omelia I was in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday and we had a look at Pope Francis. I was part of a group of 35 former students from the English College in Rome, ranging in age from over eighty to thirty. We arrived early and had booked very good seats just by the side of the Pope. The weather was a bit mixed like ours and we got wet. The Pope said to crowd, “aren’t you brave, coming out in the rain, well done!” There were huge crowds there, filling the piazza. There was a short reading from St John’s Gospel and then the Pope spoke of the church as God’s family. Small pieces of his discourse were translated into French. Spanish, German Portuguese, Polish and Arabic. He said play a full part. Don’t say “I love God, but I can’t manage the church” Come and be fed each week. This chimes in very well with the feast of the Body of the Lord, Corpus Christi. We come to encourage one another: to hear the Good News and to share in Holy Communion. We receive Christ through our ears and into our hearts, just as much as through mouths as Eucharistic food. Jesus said in Paul’s letter. “Do this as a memorial of me” Remember me and what I taught and suffered when you do this. The church, the gathered people, has done this from the very beginning, when they met in private houses for the “breaking of bread” The mass is a vital element of my week. Some martyrs in North Africa, at Abitina, during the Roman persecutions, were asked why they assembled together and risked death. They said, “sine Dominica, non possumus” “Without our gathering on the Lord’s day, we simply can’t go on” Why would that be? We gather as a family to remember what the Lord did and he is present with us in the scriptures and in the Eucharist. The Great Prayer makes the Lord’s suffering , death and resurrection present to us this morning. Our sins are forgiven by this action and we face the future with his help. He gives his grace. Our Sunday observance is life-giving. On this feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Francis has asked us all to gather this afternoon between 4 and 5 for a Holy Hour of Adoration, before the Blessed Sacrament. This means taking the trouble to answer the Pope’s call and come together with groups all over the world, .to adore Christ Jesus under this wonderful sign. Will you come and join us? At the audience on Saturday we sang the Our Father together and then the visiting bishops greeted the Pope. Behind him were about twenty newly married couples in their wedding clothes and he met them all and encouraged them in their life together. Near us were the people in wheel-chairs. He got down from his white jeep and talked to them all. He was in the square from 10.00am until 1.00pm. He sounds very warm friendly and I found what he said easy to understand and accessible to people. I think the Eucharist builds up the Church. Will you come to our Holy Hour at 4.00pm this afternoon and worship the Blessed Sacrament with people all over the world? We need one another. Among the 30-40 priests who gathered for the re-union, were men of all shapes and sizes, ages and points of view. I find their conversation full of love and gratitude, as we swapped stories of our work. Good humour and thankfulness go a long way to encourage each other. We showed the present students at the college that we love the work. Their youth and enthusiasm is a joy to us older ones. It was a very worthwhile five days, even it the weather was a bit cool.