Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for Corpus Christi (Sunday) or the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.
Was there a procession with the Blessed Sacrament?
What hymns were sung?
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
A couple thoughts about the sign of the cross: HERE A taste…
[…]
Christ’s followers know by faith that bread is changed into His flesh and wine into His blood. Man cannot understand this, cannot perceive it; but a lively faith affirms that the change, which is outside the natural course of things, takes place. Under the different species, which are now signs only and not their own reality, there lie hid wonderful realities. His Body is our food, His Blood our drink. And yet Christ remains entire under each species. The communicant receives the complete Christ uncut, unbroken and undivided. Whether one receives or a thousand, the one receives as much as the thousand. Nor is Christ diminished by being received. The good and the wicked alike receive Him, but with the unlike destiny of life or death. To the wicked it is death, but life to the good. See how different is the result, though each receives the same.
[…]
Not sermon related, but on Friday morning I went to Confession at my local N.O. parish. I try to get there early to avoid a line ahead of me.
I arrived just before Communion for the morning Mass. The Communion hymn was the usual modern song with cocktail-lounge style piano accompaniment.
But at the Recessional, the priest turned back toward the altar and sang an old hymn in Latin or Spanish (it was indistinct), unaccompanied, in which the congregation joined. It was not beautifully sung, but what was sung was beautiful.
I heard two very good sermons, one at the Vetus Ordo Mass on Corpus Christi focused on the Greek word in the Our Father which only appears twice in Ancient Greek, and is translated supersubstantial—our supersubstantial bread rather than our daily bread. So when we say the Lord’s Prayer we should be mindful we are asking for his most holy Body and Blood.
At the Novus Ordo Mass on Sunday the priest discussed how the lack of a fourth cup at the last supper implies that the death of Jesus on the cross means that his death is a sacrifice that is replacing the Jewish Passover. (When he says “It is finished” he means the Passover is finished.) This is a very bad summary of this sermon.
Second Sunday after Pentecost. In a not-so-fully-packed church (near 200 people), Father made two key points regarding the Mass readings and his reading of the current world situation. First, we will all be hated for being followers of Our Lord (as per the reading from 1st John), and even more so if we love our neighbor as God does, not as we do ourselves and even less as the neighbor might want to: the measure of *Our Lord’s Sacred Heart* is the remedy against *pride*, the source of all sins and vices. Therefore, to which one of these two are we willing to dedicate this month? We have entered the Lord’s Supper as the second category of those in the Gospel because or first fathers did not want to partake of it. We ought not refuse it as well.
the PV who had 1030 this year recycled his homily for the same observance last year, but i only noticed the recycling because it was good enough for me to remember it from last year. he spoke about all the various aspects of preparing to receive the inestimable good of the Eucharist. he gave a brief account of the various fasting disciplines and encouraged all of us to do more than the mere minimum. he then spoke of spiritual preparation. all done with great gentleness and no hectoring.
we had the full sequence in Latin and it was lovely. choir had two pieces perfectly suited to the day: O Sacrum Convivium and O Esca Viatorum. the latter nearly moved me to tears while we sang it!
Procession was held after 1830, as it has been done throughout the term of the current Rector. I didn’t mind missing that procession since one of the big national ones will be at my usual 1030 Mass on June 9.
As a preparation for our celebration of Corpus Christi the following day (Sunday), at Saturday morning’s Mass on June 1st, Father took a line from the Office of Readings (St. Justin Martyr), a quotation from the Saint just prior to his martyrdom: “No one who is right thinking stoops from true worship to false worship.” Father applied that fact to what we would do on the following day, taking Christ in His Eucharistic Presence to the streets of our town, passing all sorts of different things (shops, bars, a psychic reading place, etc.) that seek out our devotion and worship. Yet we, following behind Our Lord, must keep our gaze on Him and Him alone, neither slipping to the right or the left.
On the Day itself, I was honored that three of my boys served both the Mass and assisted at the procession, a fourth son who had just made his First Holy Communion a few weeks before also participated with some of his confreres by dropping rose petals before the Monstrance. Our pastor carried Jesus for about 2 of the 3 mile journey, then one of our newly-ordained (transitional) deacons took up the Monstrance for the rest of the way while our parochial vicar led us through the Rosary and various hymns (Adoro Te Devote featuring prominently). A good crowd on a sunny and somewhat warm Midwestern day, and many of the onlookers that I saw were either kneeling as He passed by or at least quietly curious. No profanities were shouted that I could hear (that has happened before!), either. All in all, a good, somewhat exhausting, day to bring Our Lord to His people!
Also from your linked article:
…”The Name of God, of God the Father, of God the Son Jesus Christ, of God the Holy Spirit, is worthy of our fear and our love. Many today want to stress only the love of the Name of Jesus without the holy fear which is its due. We must not exclude reverential awe and fear of that which God’s Name implies. In Scripture forms of words for “fear” occur hundreds and hundreds of times. Scripture is imbued with loving fear of God, indeed, a fear leading to love and wisdom.
Through reverential fear of His Name and of who He is and what He has done, we move to the love that knows no fear (cf 1 John 4:16-18).”
We had the External Celebration of Corpus Christi at our 12:00 TLM. (We had also had a Low Mass on Thursday.) Father, at the specific order of the bishop to all priests, spoke on the nature of the Eucharist, explaining Transubstantiation. He went on to say that if people only truly realized Who was present in a Catholic church, they would all be thronged and recommended meditating on “Lauda Sion” and “Adoro Te Devote”. At the procession in the neighborhood after Mass (with canopy and incense), the choir (and those of us who could find the lyrics in our Missals or the Pew Missals) sang “Adoro Te”, “Panis Angelicus”, “Oh Jesus, We Adore Thee” (mostly just the chorus) & ditto for “Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All.” [Somehow, there were no booklets–a SNAFU] Finished up with Benediction back in church. Good attendance, especially considering that we had our usual two earlier Masses (a Low TLM at 8:00 and a reverent N.O. at 10:00)
Alas, nobody was out in our quiet, old residential neighborhood.
Dear Fr. Z.
Reference your request for information on Corpus Christi Masses, Processions, and Adoration, etc, please find, herewith, the Weekly Newsletter from Sacred Heart Church, Limerick, Ireland.
Their Web-Site can be found at https://institute-christ-king.ie/
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church.
Thanksgiving for the Corpus Christi Procession.
We give thanks to God for the beautiful Corpus Christi Procession held last Thursday evening on the streets of Limerick.
With over 150 attendees, it was heartening to witness such profound respect and public adoration for The Holy Eucharist throughout our town.
The sight of people publicly adoring Jesus, making The Sign of The Cross, and kneeling in reverence ,was truly edifying.
A heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers, altar boys, flower girls, choir members, and our dedicated organists Abbe Baxter, Niall and Alexis.
All your contributions bring great glory to God, and we are deeply grateful for your help.