Pastor Notes June 4
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June 5, 2023As we have been informed, the Bishop is allowing the Precious Blood to be offered on weekend Masses beginning next week, Corpus Christi Sunday. At each Mass there will be two ministers of the Precious Blood offering the Cup for those who wish to partake. Three or four years have passed since we last were able to offer the Precious Blood. Bishop Nickless re-iterates a few considerations with the renewal of the Precious Blood offered.
*The Body and Blood of Christ are both present under each species of the Eucharist.
*Due reverence at all times when receiving the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ.
A slight bow before receiving the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ is a gesture of reverence, acknowledging the Sacrament is not taken for granted.
*Ministers of the Eucharist should be dressed in a manner upholding the respect of this Sacrament,
*As the Body of Christ is offered, “Amen” is the response indicating belief in the real presence; likewise receiving the Blood of Christ.
*Bishops, priests, deacons are “ordinary” ministers of the Eucharist by virtue of their ordination. Lay volunteers who help with Communion are “Extraordinary” ministers of the Eucharist.
*The administering of the Chalice belongs properly to the deacon, unless lack of proper ministers requires him to distribute the Host.
*Those called to be Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist should be eighteen or older, and participating in the Sacramental life of the church. To serve as an Eucharistic Minister, the pastor will send in the name to the Bishop for approval and then be ‘commissioned.’
*When an adult or child comes forward with arms crossed in the Communion line, the Eucharistic Minister offers an expression of faith such as “Receive the Lord in your heart,” without making the sign of the cross over the person.
*After Communion the Eucharistic Ministers bring the Hosts back to the Altar, and the Cup of the Precious Blood to the credence table.
*If the Precious Blood is consumed entirely during Communion the minister returns the Cup to the sanctuary and places it on the credence table.
*Whether receiving the Body of Christ on the tongue, kneeling, or on the hands (right hand placed under the left) while standing, you are receiving the Real Presence, whole and entire.
We greatly appreciate the return of the Precious Blood offered at weekend Masses and, most importantly, the faith to believe in the Real Presence within the Eucharist we receive by invitation.
Though we are in Ordinary Time, we celebrate the presence and teaching of the Holy Trinity this Sunday, and Corpus Christi, the most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, next weekend. No explanation, however scholastic, can adequately define and explain the essence of the Trinity. St. Augustine, one of the early “Church Fathers” provides us with a thoughtful explanation of what is beyond our comprehension. “It is not easy to find a name that will suitably express so great an excellence, unless it is better to speak in this way: the Trinity, one God, of whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things. Thus the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by Himself, is God, and at the same time they are all one God; and each of them by Himself is a complete substance, and yet they are all one substance. The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son: but the Father is only Father, the Son is only Son, and the Holy Spirit is only Holy Spirit. To all Three belong the same eternity, the same unchangeableness, the same majesty, the same power. In the Father is unity, in the Son equality, in the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality. And these three attributes are all one because of the Father, all equal because of the Son, and all harmonious because of the Holy Spirit.” So common to our expression of faith, and in its simplicity lies the power of belief, the Sign of the Cross is our “yes” to the existence and presence of the Trinity. As Catholic author Brian Doyle explains
“But simple as the Sign of the Cross is, it carries a brave weight: it names the Trinity, celebrates the Creator, and brings home all the power of faith to the brush of fingers on skin and bone and belly. . . .the Sign of the Cross helps us to remember that we have a Companion on the road.”
Next Thursday, the 8th, we will have a Mass celebrating The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, 5:00pm at Sacred Heart Church, with a traditional procession following. Music and refreshments follow on the church grounds in the spirit of community and graciousness for The Presence that brings us together. On Sunday the 11th, at St. Malachy Church, Corpus Christi Sunday, the traditional procession will begin at the conclusion of the 8:30am Mass. With the canopy carried by KC members, the Real Presence reverently held in the Monstrance, the procession is an outward sign of the Real Presence before and within our world. All are welcome to participate within these activities of faith.
God Bless, Fr. Tim