Sunday, June 23 is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi). As the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian Life” we desire to mark this special celebration in a way that will foster fellowship and provide a public witness in the community.
In Consultation with the Parish Council and the Spanish-speaking portion of our community, we are making the following change to our Mass schedule for the weekend of June 23 only. The Saturday 7:00pm Vigil Mass in Spanish and the Sunday 11:00am Mass in English are being cancelled. Instead we will have a bilingual Mass at 12:00 noon on Sunday at Bridge Park. This outdoor Mass will culminate with a Eucharistic Procession from Bridge Park to St. Mary’s, where we will conclude with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament followed by a potluck meal in the Fellowship Hall.
We are asking that this year’s First Communicants be a part of our procession, dressed as they were for First Communion.
IN CASE OF RAIN the noon Mass will be celebrated at the church followed by an indoor procession.
The 9:00am Mass on Sunday morning will take place as usual.
The Eucharist is the source of summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.
The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God’s action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324-5