Sequence - Lauda Sion
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law’s new oblation,
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne’er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow’r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That each sever’d outward token
doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.
Alleluia - Jn 6:51
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven,
says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel - Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
Jesus’ disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”‘
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.
While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Homily for Corpus Christi
We have so many different ways of remembering people. Remembering people is important for us to do. People come in and out of our lives in different ways. We go to school with people. We work with people. We live next door to people.
Then of course, there are those people who are much closer to us – much more a part of our lives – who also die, and are gone from our lives. But in all of these cases, with people coming and going, so many times we want to remember the special people.
One of the our primary means today of remembering people is taking pictures. We have photographs – at least that’s what we used to call them. Now, in this digital age, we can take a picture with our watch, and we can even carry them all around with us on our phones and laptops. We carry memories of people who were once a part of our lives.
One very specific way that I have of remembering one of my favorite aunts is her perfume. My aunt wore LOTS of Chanel perfume (She reeked of the stuff!). And of course, everybody in our family bought her even more of it for birthdays and Christmas … She had GALLONS of the stuff. And she used it by the gallon too. One whiff of that Chanel perfume, and I start looking around for my aunt who has passed on by several years now.
We remember some people with monuments. I suppose that only the more important figures get monuments in their honor. We might all afford a headstone. But we reserve monuments for presidents, and popes, governors, great artists, and movie stars.
Jesus, by contrast, chose to be remembered with a meal – with food. Jesus chose to be remembered in this meal because it was the same way that God wanted the Passover to be commemorated. To be celebrated. The Passover meal consists of lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and wine. Maybe that’s not the way we would have chosen to remember the Passover but it’s what God commanded the Hebrews to do. And in light of this obedience, it’s a natural progression for Jesus and in-turn Christianity to also recall what God has done through His Son, Jesus Christ with the bread and the wine taken from the Passover meal.
This meal – this Eucharist – becomes for us the connection to Jesus and to what He has done for each and every one of us! And on this solemnity, the feast of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi – we celebrate this EXTRAORDINARY GIFT. We celebrate this remembrance, this monument to Christ’s love and promise to be with us always.
My brothers and sisters, we need this gift! We need the Eucharist in our lives so that we never forget Jesus and what He has done for us. You know, as Catholic Christians, we can be pretty good at remembering. Every year we have First Holy Communion for our second graders. And that is a great reminder of how special this gift is. I have always thought that every Catholic should be required to come to First Communion each year, just to see the children’s faces when they make their First Communion. We cannot forget that experience of joy, encountering Jesus for the first time. It should never become routine. And yet, we know that it does. We walk down this aisle every week to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. There is also Holy Thursday evening, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. It is such a powerful reminder of how important the Eucharist really is. Yet many Catholics have never been to Mass on Holy Thursday. It’s not a Holy Day of Obligation, and they miss out – they simply forget. This feast day today – Corpus Christi – is about NOT forgetting! And it is about not losing sight of this God has given us so profoundly!
God could have chosen any number of ways for us to remember Him. He could have given us a picture. Or He could have given us a strong scent like Chanel perfume. He could have demanded an enormous monument to stand in recognition of what He has taught us. But remember that instead, Jesus chose a meal: Bread and Wine transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Himself to remain with us for all time.
Let us today – and always – take advantage of this gift of His love! May we use it to remember God and to always recall our connection to Him who longs for us to be at His banquet feast of Heaven forever!
May Jesus in the Eucharistic meal always be the very center and heart of our Church, the center and heart of our faith, the center and heart of our parish, and the center and heart of the lives of each of us.
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!
Deacon Anthony Falasca, Permanent Deacon, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica and Saint Anthony Parish.
Recently I read about scuba divers discovering a 400-year old Spanish ship buried in the water off the coast of Northern Ireland. Among the treasures found in the ship was a man’s gold wedding ring. Etched into the wide band of the ring was a hand holding a heart and these words: “I have nothing more to give you.”
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the same image and sentiment could be used to describe what today’s feast is all about. It’s Jesus saying to us, “I have given myself to you so totally that there is nothing more to give you.” Today’s feast honors the great gift of the Eucharist and how Jesus is still present in our midst.
This past Monday we celebrated Memorial Day, a day in which we remember and call to mind those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for our country. Similar celebrations are held in countries around the world as they honor those who gave their lives for their countries.
Over the years we have seen many types of memorials that commemorate the lives of great persons. In each of these memorials all that are left are the memories and, hopefully, the ideals they stood for. Often we hear, “All are gone; many are forgotten.”
But, such is not the case with The Eucharist. Jesus is not gone; He is not forgotten. He is present in the Eucharistic Species. He is our Eucharistic Lord present to us as food for our journey.
From the beginning of the Church believers profess the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus. Countless Eucharistic Miracles have given proof beyond any scientific explanation that the Sacred Host is indeed real flesh and blood.
At His Last Supper Jesus left us with a wonderful memorial of his love for us. The Eucharist is essential to our Faith in Christ Jesus. It is He who, at the Last Supper, took break and wine and transformed them into His Body and Blood as a living Memorial of His love for us. His hand holds out His heart as he says, “I have given myself to you so totally that there is nothing more to give you”. Take, and receive, for this is my Body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me”.
It is at this Altar of Sacrifice that we can take up the spiritual nourishment our souls need and desire. It is here that we can share our most intimate thoughts, prayers, anxieties, disappointments, joys, and hopes. It is here that we encounter the True Presence of Christ.
As you know, the Church is the Bride of Christ. As such, we are the spouse of Christ. He has chosen us and invites us to choose Him.
Jesus gave the ultimate Sacrifice; He gave his Body and Blood not for himself, but for us. He gave all that He is so that we may live with Him forever. And, just like the inscription inside the ring found on the sunken Spanish ship, Jesus gives us His Heart for He has given all that He has. He has held nothing back. Let us always celebrate with reverence and awe the mystery of the Memorial He has left us.
Perhaps you have heard this saying; “God loves us so much that, if He had a refrigerator your picture would be hanging on it”.
Allow me to go one step farther. If Jesus had a wedding ring, etched into it would be a picture of His hand holding out His Sacred Heart to us with the inscription, “I have nothing more to give you. I give you my all”.
And that begs the question; can we say the same to Him?
Deacon Mark Izzo, Permanent Deacon, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica and Saint Anthony Parish.
First Reading - Ex 24:3-8
When Moses came to the people
and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD,
they all answered with one voice,
“We will do everything that the LORD has told us.”
Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and,
rising early the next day,
he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar
and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites
to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls
as peace offerings to the LORD,
Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls;
the other half he splashed on the altar.
Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people,
who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.”
Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,
“This is the blood of the covenant
that the LORD has made with you
in accordance with all these words of his.”
Responsorial Psalm - PS 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second Reading - Heb 9:11-15
Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came as high priest
of the good things that have come to be,
passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle
not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,
he entered once for all into the sanctuary,
not with the blood of goats and calves
but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes
can sanctify those who are defiled
so that their flesh is cleansed,
how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from dead works
to worship the living God.
For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place for deliverance
from transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Spiritual Communion
It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.
Spiritual Communion Prayer
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,
Come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there
And unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you.
Amen.
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica 343 Via Mount Carmel, Youngstown, OH 44505 Ph. 330-743-4144 | Office of Religious Education: 330-743-3508
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