Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we welcome back our summer seminarian, Deacon Weldon, after his ordination to the diaconate last weekend. Congratulations, Deacon Weldon! We are all very proud of you! The ordination Mass was very beautiful. You can catch Deacon Weldon in action this week as he begins our summer series on the Gospel of St. John Monday night at 7:00 PM. This important adult education series will continue on Monday evenings for the next few weeks. I hope that you can join us.

Today we are celebrating the beautiful Feast of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus, The Eucharist. Today we remember just what an awesome gift God gave us when Jesus gave us the Eucharist. It is our food for the soul. The Eucharist is our strength, our source of energy, and our continual source of Grace. It is such an awesome honor to be able to even be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. It is an even greater privilege to be able to receive the Eucharist.

Perhaps then, this Feast Day gives us a good opportunity to remind all of us of just how important it is to receive the Eucharist worthily. Remember in the Gospel, when Jesus told His followers that if they came to the Altar to worship God and there remembered anything that stood between them and God, or between them and others, that they should leave their gift, their sacrifice, at the Altar and go and make peace, or, in other words, go and be reconciled with God and with one another. From the very beginning, it has been clear that there are times when all of us should not approach the Altar for Communion, but that we should be reconciled first, and then come back to the Eucharist. My fear is that we are forgetting this very important point. We can get so used to getting into the Communion procession, that we don’t even think about whether or not we should be going up to Communion. Joe Kernan and John Kerry aren’t the only ones who ought to be thinking about their lives and their positions before they go to Communion. We all should be. When we receive the Eucharist in serious sin, or when we are separated from God or others and still go to Communion, it can be a serious sacrilege. We don’t think enough about how offensive our receiving Communion unworthily is to God. This is why Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We don’t have to persist in our sinful state, but we have the opportunity to make things right with God and be in Communion with Him once again. Maybe today’s Feast Day gives us all the opportunity to think about this. Sometimes to love and appreciate Jesus more, means taking a good hard look at our lives and refraining from taking Holy Communion. It’s not about us and what we want. It’s all about God and conforming our lives to His. That’s a hard realization to take in.

Another concrete way that we have of showing our love and respect for the Eucharist is the one-hour fast before Communion. The Church asks all of us to prepare to receive Jesus by fasting from everything except water for one hour prior to Communion. This fast does not apply to the sick or expectant mothers; but for most of us, it’s what we are supposed to be doing. Did you know that gum also falls under this fast? We ought not be chewing gum in the one-hour fast either. We most especially ought not to be chewing gum when we come up to Communion. If you approach the priest or Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion while you are chewing gum, they are not supposed to give you Communion. Again, this is a matter of respect for what we are doing and Who we are receiving. PLEASE DON’T COME TO COMMUNION WITH GUM IN YOUR MOUTH. This is the rule everywhere. It’s not just here. And I’m not picking on anybody in particular.

Again, I just think that there are a lot of people who don’t know the expectations and rules. On this Feast of Corpus Christi, it’s good for us to remind ourselves.

I want to thank Chris O'Hara and the entire outgoing St. Philip Neri Oratorio leadership. The Oratorio has been a great success here at St. Maria Goretti. You should be proud of the work that you have done. We welcome Tim Perry on board as the new administrative director of the Oratorio. I pray that the entire new leadership of the Oratorio will continue the good work that has been begun. If you haven’t been to an Oratorio gathering, you’ve got to try this fun ministry for adults!

I’m going to be leaving this week for Italy. I’m taking the high school folks on their bi-annual trip to Rome. Please pray for a safe journey for all. I’ll see you in two weeks. God bless!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Lose your temper and lose a friend. Lie and you lose yourself.