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A Second-Chance Holy Thursday
User’s Guide to Sunday
BY Tom and April Hoopes
June 7-13, 2009 Issue |
Posted 5/29/09 at 12:09 PM
Sunday, June
14, is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) in the
United States.
Papal
NCRegister.com, the Register’s
website, will feature pictures of the event.
Corpus Christi is on Thursday, June
11, throughout the Church. Pope Benedict will celebrate Corpus Christi Mass at
St. John Lateran Basilica at 7 p.m. The Mass is followed by a nighttime
Eucharistic procession from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major.
Parish
FaithandFamilyLIVE.com is the
website for Faith & Family magazine.
If you’re interested in your own
Eucharistic procession but don’t know how to start, check the “Resources” at Faith
& Family’s site for instructions.
Family
Make a visit to a church with your
children today, and pray in front of the tabernacle. Teach your children to
follow an “ACTS” format in prayer.
A- Adoration. (Say, “We love you
Jesus and adore you in your Blessed Sacrament”).
C- Contrition. (Say, “We are sorry
for ever offending you. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.”)
T- Thanksgiving. (Say, “We thank you
for all the gifts you have given us, especially for our family and for our
faith and for this church.”)
S- Supplication. (Say, “Please bless
the Pope, the bishops, priests and religious, and please bless the sick and
hungry.”)
If you took our advice and skipped a
Seder meal on Holy Thursday, you might want to do it on Corpus Christi. This
can teach about the Last Supper by approximating what it was like.
Readings
Exodus 24:3-8; Psalm 116:12-13,
15-18; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Our Take
Today’s readings spell out the
progression of the Eucharistic feast from Moses’ altar to our altar, through
Christ’s death and resurrection. St. Paul explains it in detail.
The Vatican’s Directory on Popular
Piety and the Liturgy stresses that Eucharistic devotion should always have
reference to the Pasch (the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord) and
the Mass.
That’s why the Pope’s Eucharistic
procession, and all other Eucharistic processions, begin with Mass. Our own
Eucharistic adoration should never take the place of Mass, but it is, in
reality, a “continuation of the worship offered at Mass.”
Corpus Christi is like a second Holy
Thursday. Holy Thursday is the true and original “Eucharistic day.” But since
it is so overwhelmed by the story of Good Friday and Easter, in terms of time
commitment and emotional attention, the Church instituted a separate feast on a
Thursday shortly after Easter. Americans moved it to a post-Easter Sunday.
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