At the heart of today's solemnity is a eucharistic procession, held in many parishes, that calls to mind the procession of Holy Thursday, yet has a purpose different from the somber adoration in the night watch. In the late Middle Ages, a procession through the city with the Blessed Sacrament was an occasion of heartfelt joy and great emotion. In a time when people seldom approached the altar to receive Holy Communion, the procession through the streets, past homes and workplaces, was a vibrant reminder that Christ was with them as a dear companion and guide.
Every year on this day, a joyful procession winds through the streets of Rome from the Lateran cathedral. A few years ago, Pope John Paul II, deeply moved at the sight of the throng accompanying the sacred host, said that we ought to feel profoundly united with the faithful everywhere in the world at such a moment. 'Before our mind's eye all the Churches of the world, from East to West, from North to South, are present.â? Originally this feast was on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, but after the calendar reform of 1970, its title was expanded from 'Corpus Christiâ? to 'The Body and Blood of Christâ? and in the United States it was moved to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. Even though Easter season ended two weeks ago, this beautiful feast is aglow with Easter light.
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2008
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
Enjoy a full-bodied feast
The addition of today's feast to the church calendar was primarily the result of the work of 13th-century Augustinian nun Juliana of Liège. She worked in her convent's hospital nursing the sick. During this time she reported having visions of Christ reminding her that there was no feast for the Holy Sacrament. She persuaded Saint Thomas Aquinas to compose a special prayer to honor the Blessed Sacrament, and in 1264 Pope Urban IV made Corpus Christi a feast day. Today is a fitting day to ponder what it might mean for us to give ourselves 'body and soulâ? to the Good News, as Jesus did.
TODAY'S READINGS: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?"
EN ESPAÃ?OL
DOMINGO, 25 DE MAYO DE 2008
SOLEMNIDAD DE EL CUERPO Y LA SANGRE MÃS SAGRADOS DE CRISTO
Disfruta de una fiesta con mucho cuerpo
La suma de la fiesta de hoy al calendario de la iglesia fue ante todo el resultado del trabajo de la monja Agustiniana del siglo XIII Juliana de Liège. Ella trabajó en su hospital de convento cuidando a los enfermos. Durante este tiempo informó tener visiones de Cristo recordándole que no había festividad para el Sagrado Sacramento. Ella persuadió a Santo Tomás de Aquino de redactar una oración especial para honrar el Sagrado Sacramento, y en 1264 al Papa Urbano IV de que hiciera Corpus Christi un día festivo. Hoy es un día adecuado para considerar lo que podría significar para nosotros el entregarnos en “cuerpo y alma” a las Buenas Nuevas, como hizo Jesús.
LECTURAS DE HOY: Deuteronomio 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Corintios 10:16-17; Juan 6:51-58
“La copa de bendición que bendecimos, ¿no es la participación en la sangre de Cristo?”
MONDAY, MAY 26
FEAST OF PHILIP NERI, PRIEST
Conversion by any means
Though God is only and ever one and unchangeable, curiously there are a wide variety of ways by which people may come to God. Few understood this better than Saint Phillip Neri (1515-1595). Known for his unpredictability, Phillip took vastly different approaches to bringing people to a conversion. Once when a man came to his Oratory prayer meeting for the sole purpose of mocking it, Phillip refused to let him be thrown out or reproached. Eventually this man, seeing such patience, became a Dominican. In quite another example, when Phillip encountered a sinner who refused to listen to him or to repent, Phillip seized the man at the neck and threw him to the ground. The startled man pretty quickly consented to repentance! Consider how your small attempts at evangelization might be tailored to each individual.
TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Peter 1:3-9; Mark 10:17-27
"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
TUESDAY, MAY 27
FEAST OF AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP
A mission of love
In the sixth century Pope Gregory I sent Saint Augustine and 40 other Benedictine monks on a daunting journey to bring the gospel to England. At that time the only missionaries in the West had been monks in Ireland, and Rome had lost touch with the Celtic church. As a missionary, Augustine was sensitive to cultural differences and sought not to coerce the English with the Good News but show them it was for their good, telling the king, Ethelbert, 'Do not see us as coming to force upon an unknown people benefits against their will. Be assured that only a great love constrains us to do this.â? In witnessing to what we believe, we should start with where people are at, not where we want them to be, and try to show them the way of faith will enrich their lives.
TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Peter 1:10-16; Mark 10:28-31
"For it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' "
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
First serve
All throughout history there have been truths that, once discovered and accepted, have changed everything. That the earth is round is one such truth; that the sun is the center of our solar system is another. The revolution in thought that followed these discoveries is hard to overstate. The same applies to spiritual truths: Once they are known and accepted, the unwieldy, disconnected pieces of our lives tend to fall into place and everything changes for the better.
Jesus' statement, 'I came not to be served, but to serve,â? is one such radical, spiritual truth. If we lived our lives from this perspective, conflicts would be transcended and wisdom and compassion would prevail. Just for today, can I approach every task and every person with this attitude in mind?
TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Peter 1:18-25; Mark 10:32-45
"For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve."
THURSDAY, MAY 29
Call forwarding
Mother Teresa'now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta'had a way of packing a lot of insight into statements that on the surface seemed pretty elementary. Take for example the way she described the Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded to care for the destitute dying and other 'unwantedâ? persons: 'Many people mistake our work for our vocation,â? she said. 'Our vocation is the love of Jesus.â? Her words can apply to everyone. Whatever you do, put love for Jesus, and others, at the heart, and you will be truly living a vocation and a calling.
TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Peter 2:2-5, 9-12; Mark 10:46-52
"And they called to the blind man, 'Take heart; get up, he is calling you.' "
FRIDAY, MAY 30
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Listen to the beating of Love
The 13th-century mystic Saint Gertrude received a vision of John the Evangelist. Her first question to him concerned the night of the Last Supper when the disciple rested his head on Jesus' chest. She wondered, had he heard Christ's heart beating, and if so, why he had not revealed that to us. But John replied he had withheld this intimate revelation until a time when the world had grown cold.
Meditate on this intimacy, laying your head on the chest of Jesus and feeling his sacred heart beat for you, as sure and constant as the rising and setting sun. As long as it beats, it remains, as the Litany of the Sacred Heart tells us, patient and rich and mercy, the desire of the everlasting hills.
TODAY'S READINGS: Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 1 John 4:7-16; Matthew 11:25-30
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
SATURDAY, MAY 31
VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Let it begin with me
So many events in the Bible would never have occurred if humans had not believed enough to act in spite of their doubts and fears. In story after story we read that people are essential to carrying out God's plan for humanity. From Abraham and Sarah to Mary and Elizabeth, and continuing right down through the centuries to the present day, God inspires us to speak that courageous word, to offer that consoling message, to say 'yesâ? to what we are asked to do.
You are God's hands and ears and mouth. The next time you feel the prompting of the spirit of God, ask yourself, 'If not me, then who? If not now, when?â?
TODAY'S READINGS: Zephaniah 3:14-18a or Romans 12:9-16; Luke 1:39-56
"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, Ann O'Connor, Sean Reynolds, Joel Schorn, and Patrice J. Tuohy
©2008 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. PHONE: 800-942-2811; E-MAIL: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; WEBSITE: www.takefiveforfaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
