This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. When the people of Israel cried out to God in hunger, God fed them, first with manna in the desert, a holy food that foreshadowed the holy food that the Lord Jesus left as an everlasting gift – his body and blood. Saint Paul reminds us that when we eat and drink of Christ’s body and blood, we become his body. Jesus reminds his followers that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. Let our hunger for Christ be satisfied as he is made present through the proclamation of the sacred word.
This coming week we celebrate three wonderful feast days:
1. Wednesday, June 29, Solemnity of Apostles Peter and Paul: An odd couple but a good team. Peter was one of the first called and Paul the last. Paul was educated and Peter was illiterate. What linked them together was their passion to tell the world the good news about Jesus. Oh, both of these pillars were flawed by bad choices, stubbornness disloyalty, hotheadedness. They were made saints my God’s grace, just as you and I will be if we commit ourselves entirely to Jesus and his mission.
2. Friday, July 1, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: This Feast has two primary aspects -- thanksgiving to God for the infinite love of Christ, represented by his heart on fire with love; and reparation for that love rejected by human beings, represented by the pierced heart, surrounded with thorns.
3. Saturday, July 2, Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Help me, dearest Mother, to acquire the virtues that God wants of me: to forget myself always, to work solely for him, without fear of sacrifice. I shall rely on your help to be what Jesus wants me to be. I am his; I am yours, my good Mother! Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing until my last evening on earth, when your Immaculate Heart will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven, there to love and bless you and your divine Son for all eternity.
If you will be traveling this week in celebration of the Fourth of July, may all your journeys be safe!
