Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

June 29th is celebrated as the Feast Day for Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles… a feast that this year happens to fall on a Sunday where we would normally be celebrating the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  While these two Saints have been celebrated since the earliest days of the Church, with their own feast days (St. Peter on June 29th, and St. Paul on June 30th), the 1962 revision of the General Roman Calendar combined the celebrations.  It is also the day set aside for when newly consecrated Metropolitan Bishops (or Archbishops) receive their pallium from the Pope… the white woolen band with three “fingers” worn over their shoulders as a sign of their office.  The Pope also wears a pallium as the sign of his office as the Archbishop of Rome.  Because we are celebrating the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, our readings naturally turn our attention to these two pillars of the Church. The Word for the Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, Apostles Acts 12:1-11 Psalm 34:2...

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, but for those who remember their Latin, you might better recognize it as the feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ).  The Feast was originally established in 1246 by Bishop Robert de Torete, of the Diocese of Liège, Belgium, but not without the 40 year effort of St. Julia of Liège, a Norbertine sister who had a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, who spent most of her life petitioning for this special feast day. The Word for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 John 6:51-58 When Jesus established the Eucharist at the Last Supper, his use of bread and wine was deliberate and purposeful.  They were the most ordinary of foods, yet represented what was necessary to sustain us.  In Jewish ritual, bread and wine are an important part of the Passover meal, and have long been associa...

With Pentecost behind us, the Easter Season comes to a close as the Church welcomes a long stretch of Ordinary time.  But as is typical for the Church, she’s not yet ready to leave the party behind, so for these next two weeks we continue the celebration by looking at the Church’s most sacred mysteries:  The doctrine of the Trinity with this Sunday’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday), and next week with doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist with the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (also remembered as Corpus Christi). It is most fitting to celebrate these solemnities at this time of year because the theologies they represent are what we as a Church have come to realize through the Easter Season, and gives us the spiritual food we need to sustain us through the remainder of the Liturgical Year. Both solemnities, though firmly grounded in the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church Fathers (the two pillars of the Church),...

This Sunday we bring the Easter Season to a close with the celebration of Pentecost… that moment when the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, whose gifts allowed them to leave the upper room and spread the Gospel to Jerusalem and the world.  It’s the birthday of the Church. The Word for Pentecost Sunday Acts 2-1-11 Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23 Our Sunday readings open fittingly with the Pentecost story from Acts of the Apostles.  It is after the Ascension and we are back with the Apostles in the upper room.  Most of us are familiar with the story… The Holy Spirit come upon the like “tongues of fire” giving them the power to go down into the streets and preach the Gospel so that this international multitude can hear them speaking in their own tongues.  While this later part of the story is the part we tend to focus on, the very beginning of the story also has great meaning… a meaning that our modern ears tend to miss… The fis...