Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi also known as the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. This is truly a very important feast in the Church because it celebrates, that is, calls to mind the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper the night before He died on the cross for us and the words that the priest repeats at every Mass clearly teaches us that the bread and wine BECOME the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This is no sign or symbol. It is the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus, His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This is the same Jesus who was conceived by Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, the same Jesus who was baptized by John in the Jordan, the same Jesus who cured the sick, forgave sinners, raised the dead to life, suffered and died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. This is the same Jesus who remains with us until the end of the ages and the same Jesus who will come again in glory!
The Holy Eucharist or the Blessed Sacrament is the center jewel of our wonderful Catholic Faith. In our parish we are extremely blessed to have the opportunity to pray before the Blessed Sacrament any time we desire since our Chapel of Divine Mercy is open 24 hours a day/seven days a week. This blessing is made possible through the commitment of many good people who have committed themselves to a Holy Hour each week. If you ask anyone who makes a Holy Hour each week, you will find out what a blessing that hour is for them in their daily lives. Our Lord is waiting for us to come to Him and spend some time with Him in the Chapel of Divine Mercy. Are we too busy to spend some time with Him? Indeed, if we are that busy, then maybe it is time to take another look at our lives so that we can make more time for Him who has given us all that we have.
Today, after the 10:30 Mass we will have a Corpus Christi Procession. Weather permitting, we will process the Blessed Sacrament from the church through the streets of Wadsworth and return to the church for the closing prayers. This is a great opportunity for us to publicly witness our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. As we process with Jesus through the streets of Wadsworth, we are reminded that Jesus is walking with us in so many ways and in every aspect of our life. Please make plans to join in this procession as we express our belief in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
We have had a new pope for over a month. Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8, the first pope from the United States, although he spent most of his priest as a missionary priest in Peru. He was ordained as an Augustinian priest and has served in the missions until a few years ago when he went to Rome to head up the Papal Office that recommends to the Pope those who will be ordained as bishops and where they will serve. Obviously, the Pope has the final say.
There is a lot of information out there on who our new pope is and what he has said about various things concerning the Church. I have discovered that there is a lot of information on the internet regarding Pope Leo XIV much of it on social media and things like YouTube. It seems to me that a lot of this is produced with Artificial Intelligence so don’t be too quick to believe what you might see. I guess we really cannot rely on the old adage, “Seeing is believing.”
As I have said many times before, please rely on Catholic web sites for accurate information on the Church and what she is teaching us today. You can check on the web site of the Vatican itself, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (usccb.org), the Diocese of Cleveland web site (dioceseofcleveland.org), and our own parish web site (shofjesus.com). These web sites will also be linked to a variety of reliable Catholic web sites that can help us to better understand what is going on in the Church today. I, for one, am very amazed at how convincing and real AI productions can be. They can put words into people’s mouths, and it all looks very legitimate, and you go away thinking that a certain person really said and did what you just saw and heard. The internet can very easily be a big gossip mill. Please be careful and do not be too quick to pass things along or repost items that you may see.
We might use as our guide the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians, “Say only the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them.” (Eph. 4:29) We can apply this to everything we hear and are tempted to repeat to others. Pray that the Holy Spirit may guide our minds and our lips to always make sure that whatever we say or do may give Glory to God.
