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.