Our readings for Sunday are here.
These are the poems, my notes, and interpretations of Fr Dennis’ homilies from the Masses of
- June 22, 2014 8:30AM Mass
- June 23, 2011 (no poems this time)
_______
The poems Fr Dennis references these years are:
- 2014 homily — After Work by Jane Hirshfield
- 2014 homily — Fitzgerald’s Prayer by John Shea
In 2014 —
We reflected with D2 that The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is its own kind of mystery, following on the mystery of the Trinity:
- We are called to eat the meal — manna and water in the first reading, now bread and wine, and Precious Body and Blood in the Mass.
- This eating is not a passive act. We are called to bring our deepest selves and actively engage with the Mass and our lives. Among the changes created in the liturgy by the Vatican II Council are:
- Greater communication, because the priest and congregation now engaged with each other in the Eucharist in a shared local language, as a native language conveys more of the heart, more intimacy. (Cf: The Latin Rite, which emphasized observation and distance, and separation between shepherd and flock in worship style.)
- Music in the Latin Rite was beautiful, complex, and mainly for professional participation, while current liturgy music is for everybody to sing together and listen to each other, again, in a shared language.
- We are called to prayer and action in community, with each, in Christ.
- In Jane Hirshfield’s poem, After Work, experienced the seeing of the sacred in the everyday events, which is part of the wonder of the Body and Blood — seeing and experiencing the Body and Blood of Christ, in bread and wine.
- John Shea’s poem, Fitzgerald’s Prayer, describes the healing and gift in receiving the bread and wine and sharing our stories with each other and to God, i.e., Meal as Eucharist …
- … and as we share in the here and now, we bring in and can look forward to the eternal Banquet.
In 2011, we reflected from D2’s homily that —
- Corpus Christi used to be celebrated with a parade / march (officially, “a procession”) through the streets with the Precious Body and as the body of Christ.
- The diversity of the Communion line at St Mary’s reminds him of a “procession of the Body of Christ” — international, multi-generational, all different kinds of receiving of the Host, each piece of home-baked Host unique..
- The commonness of the gifts — bread and wine — are available in virtually every culture.
Well … I am still looking for our featured image! I am trying to find one I can use from the Calgary (Alberta Province of Canada) Stampede. Over the years, the chuckwagons, who would later race, formed caravans (processions) … and then the cooks with the chuckwagons began making flapjacks (pancakes) for the stampede / race attendees. Eventually, the Stampede and Race merged; other community pancake breakfasts emerged as fundraisers and community builders, including the 2022 StampEid, intentionally combining an African traditional chickpea stew with the offering of flapjacks. This article offers a history of the event, a good example of how the Gospel grows itself — through community processions, meals, and sharing. I love the image of the first flapjack cook, Horace Inkster. His driver/racer/boss, Jack Morton, also shared his chuckwagon with his two pet badgers. 🙂
The Surest Sign 