Pastor Notes June 9, 2024
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June 10, 2024Throughout the month of June—depending on the date for Easter—the Catholic world is graced by beautiful processions in honor of the Feast of Corpus Christi. In our diocese two parishes have traditionally held Corpus Christi Processions through the years: St. Catherine Church in Oyen's, and St. Mary Church in Wiley. Honoring the real presence of Christ Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, it is reverently carried in procession (usually under a canopy and protectively held in a Monstrance), around the church property, or even longer, through neighborhoods and city blocks. Corpus Christi processions are being re-established as an outward recognition of the real presence outside of the church, regardless of the community or location. Such processions have a long and ‘lavish’ history within European and South American parishes. The procession is a liturgical act that has deep roots in Christianity. Each Sunday we participate in a procession toward the sanctuary to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Processions at funeral liturgies have been a natural aspect of reverence and grieving, as the family and relatives process into the church, and likewise process to the waiting hearse and cars afterwards. Finally, the procession of vehicles following behind the hearse to the cemetery. I had the privilege of partaking in a particularly unique and solemn form of procession at St. Mary Church of Willey in the countryside south of Carroll. Their Catholic cemetery was adjacent to the church and we would process out to the burial plot, walking the distance regardless of the season or weather conditions. Always, such a procession was solemn and respectful, emphasizing the dignity of the individual who died, the respect toward the family, and the faith that bonded us together. Processions have traditionally been part of Candlemas and Palm Sunday, and in special times as acts of thanksgiving or penance. Christians have also turned to processions in extraordinary times as acts of thanksgiving or penitence. We can trace the tradition of ‘processions’ within the Christian faith beginning with the Old Testament, when they were formed as acts of faith in God’s supreme power. Jesus’ humble procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was an act of thanksgiving, adoration and recognition of the long awaited messiah (in least in the eyes of some who believed).
Processions not only express these pious sentiments but do so in a communal way. Outside of feast days, the occasions of processions are always matters that concern the good of the community: prayers for rain, for a good harvest, for peace, etc. In his article, “The Spiritual Significance of Processions,” Phillip Campbell describes the spiritual aspect of processions. “Mystically, the procession calls to mind our status as pilgrims. All of us are journeying towards our heavenly homeland, for “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb. 13:14). St. John says, “It does not yet appear what we will be” (1 John 3:2), and until His glorious coming, we are all in a state of travel, moving like the Israelites through the deserts of this world towards the Promised Land. The procession signifies this spiritual journey. In this sense, the prayerful movement of the procession is a microcosm of how we move through life—with reverence and faith, within our imperfections and struggles, seeking hope and direction. The communal nature reminds us that the pilgrimage towards God is meant to be the common experience of all men and women without distinction.” Many thanks to the parishioners who organized and set up the Corpus Christi processions at Sacred Heart and St. Malachy churches. Each reflected the hope of our Catholic faith, recognition of the ‘real presence’ in the world around us, and the ongoing journey toward our heavenly home. Thank you for making possible this tradition within our Catholic faith, allowing parishioners and visitors to participate and grasp our continued journey here on earth to our eventual calling home. And in case one is trying to clarify the distinction between a procession and parade, the author Rebecca Solnit clarifies the distinction: “A procession is a participants' journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”
God Bless, Fr. Tim
FYI: “Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures.” (M. F. K. Fisher)
