Soul Health XII: Experience “Love, for us!”; Next online parish mass

In the Eucharist we “renew the memory of that incomparable love for us which Christ revealed in His passion” on the cross.

St. Thomas Aquinas, 12th century
who developed the liturgy for today’s
Feast of Corpus Christi – The Body and Blood of Christ

Dear sisters and brothers in the Body of Christ,

1. This morning we enjoyed our first online gathering for Confirmation catechesis. It was great to be together as the Body of Christ, even virtually, with some of the parish families! We’ll continue every other week through the summer.


2. I shared with the parents part of a beautiful reflection on today’s feast by our own Episcopal Vicar, Fr. Raymond Lafontaine, at the bottom of this page. For more, and his parish mass, and to make your spiritual communion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUjJYqoyq


3. A couple of parents have asked if First Communion catechesis might continue virtually. If your child is part of the First Communion gatherings, please email me your thoughts on this.


4. The next online liturgy should be up in 2 weeks. That will be the mass for our Patronal Feast of St. Thomas More, Martyr. It will be offered with special intention for Fr. George Oakes.


5. To produce that mass, we need volunteers to read, and to video even using a phone. Also someone who can advise on how to record the sound with our audio system would be helpful. Only a handful of you replied to the 2-minute questionnaire on whether you wanted these masses. You can still complete it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DVXKKXZ. In the meantime, all online masses will speak directly to the children in Confirmation prep.


6. We need two more volunteers for the de-confinement planning committee, which would help the parish reopen more quickly. Thanks to those who have come forward, we got off to a great start last week, meeting online. We will be part of diocesan webinars on the matter this week in English and French. More info in next week’s Soul Health.


7. For a host of excellent spirituality opportunities, see this morning’s Grapevine:

https://tinyurl.com/y97bztpt


Together in Christ,

Fr. Robert+
Pastor, St. Thomas More Parish Verdun


Dear friends, fellow members of the Body of Christ!

…Today, we commemorate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. We are a Eucharistic people. In receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we are transformed from within: we become Christ’s Body and Blood, our lives broken for others, poured out in loving service of all humanity. In this time of pandemic, when so many of us have been deprived of sacramental communion for nearly three months now, how are we called to celebrate this feast?

As I speak to parishioners and others following our online celebrations, I hear that they appreciate them very much, but they still look forward to our being all together again, so that we can celebrate Mass together, pray and sing together, receive communion together. Perhaps this time of imposed sacramental fasting has been for all of us a reminder of how easy it is to take the Eucharist for granted.

And yet, if this is literally Christ's body broken for us, Christ’s blood poured out for us, each day of our lives, we are challenged on this day to recognize both the awesome nature of the gift of the Eucharist, and the challenge which it presents in our own lives as Catholic Christians, to live as his Body in the world. This includes paying attention to those “members of the Body” who are most vulnerable at this time, the victims of racism, of all forms of injustice, those who are sick, isolated, addicted, neglected, or unwanted. All must be treated with respect and dignity…

Fr. Raymond Lafontaine, E.V.