DETAILS
Following the 11:00 am Mass on Sunday, June 3rd we will Process with the Holy Eucharist around the St. Joseph campus. The Procession will be for the intentions of the Holy Father. Please follow the choir out of the Church and be sure to pick-up a booklet as you exit the Church, which contains the words to songs we will be singing.
EXCERPT FROM THE BULLETIN
Written by Terri Huff
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to "Body of Christ." This feast originated in France in the mid-thirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. This feast is celebrated on the Thursday following the Trinity Sunday or, as in the USA, on the Sunday following that feast.
This feast call us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist and the Church. The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist. The opening prayer at Mass calls attention to Jesus' suffering and death and our worship of Him, especially in the Eucharist.
At every Mass our attention is called to the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it. The secondary focus of this feast is upon the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with His disciples. He expresses this in the gospels by using the metaphor of a body in which He is the head. This image helps keep in focus both the unity and diversity of the Church.
The Feast of Corpus Christi is commonly used as an opportunity for public Eucharistic processions, which serves as a sign of common faith and adoration. Our worship of Jesus in His Body and Blood calls us to offer to God our Father a pledge of undivided love and an offering of ourselves to the service of others.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Interested in learning more about the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Check out the informative talk "The Body and Blood of Christ" by Dr. Scott Hahn on Formed.org.