SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Six years ago on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, popularly known as Corpus Christi, I celebrated my first Mass as an ordained priest. And guess where it happened? Here at our parish of St. Cecilia’s! As some of you might remember, I spent my weekends here as a deacon during my final seminary year at Mt. Angel. I would have never guessed that five years later I would come back here as the Pastor of this incredibly wonderful faith family of St. Cecilia’s. When I was a deacon here, I thought at one point that it would be wonderful to be assigned here after spending 25 years in the priestly ministry, thinking and hoping that by that time I would already be prepared to handle the challenges of a big parish. What I did not realize was that God wanted it 20 years earlier than I had hoped. As what they say, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. But God can never be outdone in his generosity and his love. I have been very blessed to have been assigned to parishes that have shaped and prepared me to be the priest that I am today. Every time I look back to those places (Medford, Woodburn, Forest Grove), I can only be grateful and feel graced to have had the chance to minister to so many people who have truly enriched my faith journey and my relationship with God. Those places have prepared me to be here at St. Cecilia’s.
Last Friday (June 5
th), seven deacons were ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Portland. Deacon Tim Furlow, whom many of you know, was one of them. They are fine young guys fired up for the Lord who might one day in the future be assigned to our parish as parochial vicars or pastor. One of them has asked me to preach at his first Mass at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Oswego on June 6
th. I ask that we continue to pray for them so that they will persevere in their vocations, be encouraged in the midst of the daunting challenges ahead of them, and also be filled with joy that comes from serving the Lord and his Church.
Last week (June 1 – 5) was the Annual Priests’ Retreat at Mount Angel. There were several priests including myself, mostly pastors, who did not join the group retreat this year so that there would still be a priest available in the parish for sacramental emergencies and to ensure the continuation of weekday Masses. I am not really comfortable not having a priest around in our parish for a week, especially since we regularly receive emergency calls. It’s interesting that as I am writing this article (it’s Tuesday right now of the retreat week), I just got a call for anointing a dying person from
King City! Fr. Mark and I have decided that every time one of us is away, the other priest should be around to cover emergency schedules, except during the Annual Clergy Convocation in Newport which we really have to attend since it can not be duplicated somewhere else, unlike a retreat. According to the Archdiocesan Clergy Manual, which is based from Canon Law, priests need to take a retreat at least once a year for our spiritual development and to ensure a healthy ministry. A healthy ministry translates to efficient and healthy parish leadership and service as well. I will take my retreat in two weeks after our school graduation.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi this weekend, we are once again reminded of God’s immense love for all of us to the point that God is willing to reduce himself to simple bread and wine so that He can be accessible to us. The bread and wine, which also signifies everything that contains the cosmos (since for bread to be bread – it needs to be wheat first, which in turn necessitates all the earthly elements of air, water and soil; same process for the wine), are not just bread and wine after consecration. They are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ; they are not just symbols for Christ or of Christ, but Christ himself! The introduction of the encyclical letter of St. John Paul II entitled Ecclesia Eucharistia captures this so beautifully— “The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’. For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men. Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.”
- Fr. Cary