Honoring Our Fathers

This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day, a day to honor our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and others who play a fatherly role in our lives. We look up to these men for guidance, we depend on them for help, and we see in them an earthly reflection of our Heavenly Father. I invite you to join me in praying for them all, whether they are still in this life or already in the next, that God may strengthen and reward them. Let’s make our own the words of the Church’s Book of Blessings:

God our Father,

in your wisdom and love you made all things.

Bless these men,

that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers.

Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.

Grant that we, their sons and daughters,

may honor them always

with a spirit of profound respect.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Lord bless all our fathers and father figures on their special day and always!

Gratefully Yours,

Our Greatest Treasure

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, often referred to as “Corpus Christi.” The Eucharist is our greatest Treasure, and is at the center of our life as Catholics. Jesus tells us clearly, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (Jn. 6:53-54) We believe that when Jesus said “This is my body….This is my blood” during the Last Supper, he meant what he said. And he gave his Apostles and their successors the power to “do this,” that is, to continue to transform bread and wine into his living Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

We call the transformation of bread and wine into the living presence of Christ transubstantiation. The bread and wine keep their outward appearance in every respect, but the reality—the substance—is changed. After the Consecration of the Mass, they are no longer bread and wine. They are the living presence of Jesus Christ. To be sure, this is beyond our power to understand completely, although we know that with God all things are possible.

As we celebrate this great solemnity, let’s remember also that the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving” in Greek. Let’s give thanks for the great Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, and lead lives characterized by gratitude and love.

Gratefully Yours,

Synodality

Sunday, June 4, is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We worship the Three Persons in One God, a perfect, divine Community of Love.

At St. Edward the Confessor and San Felipe de Jesús, we are also calling June 4 “Synodality Sunday.” Leading up to this day there have been articles in the Bulletin describing how we plan on becoming a synodal parish. On “Synodality Sunday” we will have a special announcement at all Masses, and following all Masses tables will be set up near “Welcoming Jesus” where you can get more information and, if you like, sign up for a listening session.

Created in the image and likeness of God, who is a Community of Love, we are called to live as a community of love. This requires communication on our part; and one of the essential elements of communication is listening. For this reason, the listening sessions we are having in our parish are very important. They will help us grow as a community. I do hope that you will participate in one of these listening sessions.

Many thanks to the members of our Synodality Committee for all they are doing to make synodality a reality in our parish. May we live our faith in the Blessed Trinity by growing as a community of love!

Gratefully Yours,