A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
We celebrate Corpus Christi today. Like the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, Corpus Christi was celebrated for centuries on a Thursday - the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, 60 days after Easter. But here it is, today, on a Sunday.
Our Archdiocese, one of a minority of American dioceses that left the Ascension alone to be celebrated on Thursday, has, for its own reasons, acquiesced to the "Novus Ordo" practice of Corpus Christi on a Sunday. It's yet another example of the inexplicable variation and resulting confusion that issued from the application of the "spirit" of Vatican II. But, as they say, it is what it is.
The feast once saw the typical American parish organize a great procession where the Blessed Sacrament would be reverently carried outside to be worshiped by the Faithful. Occasionally you'll see such processions these days, but they're relatively rare. Too bad. They helped emphasize the importance of the feast, even more so the centrality of Christ's Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in our lives. Catholic sensibility, once bolstered by such pious practices, suffers from the lack of them.
But rather than dwell of the negative here, we decided to reprint a piece that gives serious consideration to this great Feast. We warn you before reading it, that you'll find none of the superficial "theology lite" tone that infects too much Catholic communication these days. Then again, it was written at a time when Catholics actually studied and, as a result, understood their Faith.
Why do we "warn" here? Because without such a "heads up," the language might put you off. It's serious and, compared to the typical style of writing we encounter these days, a bit dense. Of course, it's not really dense, nor will it be beyond your grasp. You may simply be inured to being spoken to in a, frankly, childish manner, as well as accustomed to writing that comes at us in little bites and bits - Twitter being the ultimate example of this. But, hey, we're all adults here, right? So take a deep breath, push aside any distractions that might be filling your eyes and ears and give this your full attention. You won't be disappointed. It will remind you why Our Lord condescends to "spend time" in the Blessed Sacrament, making Himself available to even the lowliest of His creatures.
“The Blessed Sacrament is the ‘soul’ of the Church, the life of the priesthood, the center of all our love and all our affections. The Blessed Sacrament is Jesus, and Jesus is our all. Jesus is our first beginning and last end. He created us; He regenerated us anew in the waters of Baptism; He is our strength in youth, our support in old age. He is our life in living, and our hope in dying; in death He will be our Judge, and in Heaven we hope our reward. Though love began in the creation, the greatest manifestation of the love of God to man is contained in the sacred mysteries of the Incarnation and Blessed Sacrament. God’s love for man could go no further. All God’s love, power, and wisdom are centered in the Divine Babe and Host. Were the Divine Babe and Divine Host better known, they would be better loved. Did we but meditate on the infinite love and mercy of Jesus in the Incarnation and Blessed Eucharist, our cold hearts would warm into love for Jesus, and we would shudder at even the thought of offending Jesus. How awfully solemn are the inspired words that express these two sublime mysteries: “THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH”; “THIS IS MY BODY”, “THIS IS MY BLOOD.” “The Word was made Flesh!” What more sacred words on the tongues of men or angels! All they convey! The food of holy thought and meditation they bring to the mind…Adorable mysteries of the Incarnation and Eucharist! How like! In the Incarnation, Jesus took flesh in Mary’s womb; in the Eucharist, He takes flesh in the priest’s hands. ‘Oh!’ cries out St. Augustine, ‘the dignity of priests is to be venerated, in whose hands, as in the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.’… O Christians envy not the just in Heaven: except that you cannot love God as they love Him, you have in your humble chapel all they possess in paradise; they see Jesus face to Face, you see Jesus not less really with the eyes of faith; on the altar you have Jesus, the lamp, the life, the glory of the blessed in Heaven. How beautiful and full of faith was the reply of St. Louis, King of France, when invited to behold Jesus Christ, who appeared in the consecrated Host under the form of an infant: ‘Let those,’ said the holy king, ‘who do not believe by faith, go and see; I believe more firmly than if I saw Jesus Christ with my eyes.’ Such, too, is our firm faith. We kneel before the Blessed Sacrament with the same absolute certainty of the presence of Jesus Christ, as the saints have who see him face to Face in Heaven.”(The Catholic Miscellany, 1895)
Notice this was written in 1895. Its intended audience included not only clergy and religious but lay parishioners in the Diocese of Charleston, SC. The assumption was that they would understand both the truths of their Catholic Faith, as well as the style with which these were communicated. Remember this the next time you're tempted to buy into the ridiculous view that we 21st century humans somehow possess greater knowledge and understanding than our ancestors. Just because we can access millions more "bytes" of information in an instant than they could hope to find in 20 lifetimes doesn't make us smarter. Indeed, it often seems to have had the opposite effect.
But no matter. Let's just enjoy this glorious Feast with the same appreciation and understanding as did our forbears. And to help us here, we can listen to the wonderful chant whose words were written over 700 years ago in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas for this Feast of Corpus Christi.
Our Archdiocese, one of a minority of American dioceses that left the Ascension alone to be celebrated on Thursday, has, for its own reasons, acquiesced to the "Novus Ordo" practice of Corpus Christi on a Sunday. It's yet another example of the inexplicable variation and resulting confusion that issued from the application of the "spirit" of Vatican II. But, as they say, it is what it is.
The feast once saw the typical American parish organize a great procession where the Blessed Sacrament would be reverently carried outside to be worshiped by the Faithful. Occasionally you'll see such processions these days, but they're relatively rare. Too bad. They helped emphasize the importance of the feast, even more so the centrality of Christ's Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in our lives. Catholic sensibility, once bolstered by such pious practices, suffers from the lack of them.
But rather than dwell of the negative here, we decided to reprint a piece that gives serious consideration to this great Feast. We warn you before reading it, that you'll find none of the superficial "theology lite" tone that infects too much Catholic communication these days. Then again, it was written at a time when Catholics actually studied and, as a result, understood their Faith.
Why do we "warn" here? Because without such a "heads up," the language might put you off. It's serious and, compared to the typical style of writing we encounter these days, a bit dense. Of course, it's not really dense, nor will it be beyond your grasp. You may simply be inured to being spoken to in a, frankly, childish manner, as well as accustomed to writing that comes at us in little bites and bits - Twitter being the ultimate example of this. But, hey, we're all adults here, right? So take a deep breath, push aside any distractions that might be filling your eyes and ears and give this your full attention. You won't be disappointed. It will remind you why Our Lord condescends to "spend time" in the Blessed Sacrament, making Himself available to even the lowliest of His creatures.
“The Blessed Sacrament is the ‘soul’ of the Church, the life of the priesthood, the center of all our love and all our affections. The Blessed Sacrament is Jesus, and Jesus is our all. Jesus is our first beginning and last end. He created us; He regenerated us anew in the waters of Baptism; He is our strength in youth, our support in old age. He is our life in living, and our hope in dying; in death He will be our Judge, and in Heaven we hope our reward. Though love began in the creation, the greatest manifestation of the love of God to man is contained in the sacred mysteries of the Incarnation and Blessed Sacrament. God’s love for man could go no further. All God’s love, power, and wisdom are centered in the Divine Babe and Host. Were the Divine Babe and Divine Host better known, they would be better loved. Did we but meditate on the infinite love and mercy of Jesus in the Incarnation and Blessed Eucharist, our cold hearts would warm into love for Jesus, and we would shudder at even the thought of offending Jesus. How awfully solemn are the inspired words that express these two sublime mysteries: “THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH”; “THIS IS MY BODY”, “THIS IS MY BLOOD.” “The Word was made Flesh!” What more sacred words on the tongues of men or angels! All they convey! The food of holy thought and meditation they bring to the mind…Adorable mysteries of the Incarnation and Eucharist! How like! In the Incarnation, Jesus took flesh in Mary’s womb; in the Eucharist, He takes flesh in the priest’s hands. ‘Oh!’ cries out St. Augustine, ‘the dignity of priests is to be venerated, in whose hands, as in the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.’… O Christians envy not the just in Heaven: except that you cannot love God as they love Him, you have in your humble chapel all they possess in paradise; they see Jesus face to Face, you see Jesus not less really with the eyes of faith; on the altar you have Jesus, the lamp, the life, the glory of the blessed in Heaven. How beautiful and full of faith was the reply of St. Louis, King of France, when invited to behold Jesus Christ, who appeared in the consecrated Host under the form of an infant: ‘Let those,’ said the holy king, ‘who do not believe by faith, go and see; I believe more firmly than if I saw Jesus Christ with my eyes.’ Such, too, is our firm faith. We kneel before the Blessed Sacrament with the same absolute certainty of the presence of Jesus Christ, as the saints have who see him face to Face in Heaven.”(The Catholic Miscellany, 1895)
Notice this was written in 1895. Its intended audience included not only clergy and religious but lay parishioners in the Diocese of Charleston, SC. The assumption was that they would understand both the truths of their Catholic Faith, as well as the style with which these were communicated. Remember this the next time you're tempted to buy into the ridiculous view that we 21st century humans somehow possess greater knowledge and understanding than our ancestors. Just because we can access millions more "bytes" of information in an instant than they could hope to find in 20 lifetimes doesn't make us smarter. Indeed, it often seems to have had the opposite effect.
But no matter. Let's just enjoy this glorious Feast with the same appreciation and understanding as did our forbears. And to help us here, we can listen to the wonderful chant whose words were written over 700 years ago in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas for this Feast of Corpus Christi.
Comments