Marvels of Mass

 

Juliana of Liège, a 13th century canoness from Liège, Belgium, had a vision of the Church under a full moon with one dark spot on it, signifying the absence of a feast dedicated to the Body and Blood of Christ. After having visions of Christ for over 20 years, she finally told her Bishop about it, upon which he instituted the celebration of Corpus Christi to be held in the diocese each year thereafter on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

 

The following excerpts are taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the Church’s teaching on the Most Holy Trinity:

 

Happy Birthday!  The Church celebrates its beginning today on Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit filled the hearts of the faithful, sending them out to spread the Gospel, and the Church was born.  In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear of how the Holy Spirit came to rest on all of the gathered disciples, and people from across the nations could hear and understand all that was being proclaimed in their native tongue – even though all the speakers were from Galilee.

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.  For some of the older members of the Church, you may remember that this Feast used to be celebrated on a Thursday and was a Holy Day of Obligation.  This Feast of the Ascension falls 40 days after Easter (when counting both the day of Easter and the Thursday of Ascension), but has in more modern times been transferred to the following Sunday as it is no longer a Holy day of Obligation.  It was possibly done so to make the solemnity of this feast celebrated more fully in churches and more fully by more people.

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus telling us that He will be sending the Holy Spirit to be with us, and the ideal to love one another comes up again.  We begin our masses singing, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” which speaks of this unending, perfect love of Christ as He is the ‘source of all compassion, love unbounded, love all pure.’  

 

At the presentation of the gifts, we sing of how through Christ’s teachings, He has brought us life everlasting.  We need to follow His commands; live as He has taught us; follow His words that will lead us to eternal life.

Just a reminder for all about the 50 days of Easter – instructions that we are given at Easter:

The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one “great Sunday”. These above all others are the days for the singing of the Alleluia. #371, Ceremonial of Bishops.

 

Even though we may be done with ‘Easter’ by now in our homes, we’re still celebrating Easter in Church!  The flowers have been renewed, the Alleluias still sound strong, the Easter Baptismal water still flows!  We still have another 4 weeks of celebrating until we return to Ordinary time, with a couple other liturgical feasts thrown in.  This long period of celebration shows to us the importance of what this entire Easter feast means to us.  Without Easter, and the upcoming Feast of Pentecost, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Today’s Gospel passage reflects on Jesus’ encounter with some of his disciples, after His death and resurrection, while at the Sea of Tiberias.  Simon Peter recognizes Him while out at sea when Jesus instructs them to cast their net one more time and it comes back so full that they cannot pull it aboard.  Jesus sits down with them once again and eats a meal.

 

Today we celebrate the Octave of Easter. That means we should celebrate this Sunday just as we celebrated Easter Sunday last weekend.  The great dismissal is sung again today with a double ‘Alleluia’.  We still rejoice in our Risen Lord!