Latest Message from Fr. Paul Cao – June 11, 2023

CORPUS CHRISTI – This weekend, we celebrate the feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It is the feast of the very center and heart of our church, the center and heart of our faith, and the center and heart of the lives of each of us, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Today’s feast is very important.

The Eucharist is a celebration of the love of Jesus for us, his blood shed for us in love and his body scourged, crowned with thorns, and crucified for us. The wine poured and the bread broken is the love of Jesus for us, body and blood given for us. Because the Eucharist is the love of Jesus for us we always approach Jesus in the Eucharist with great respect, asking pardon for our sins. That’s why it is so necessary at the start of every Mass to ask Jesus for mercy because we are so unworthy of his love and again before receiving Jesus we express our unworthiness: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Think of how precious the moment in our Mass is when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. When we receive Jesus, He is in us and we are with Jesus. “He who eats my flesh abides in me and I in him” (John 6:57). The Eucharist is not an option for our Christian faith but it is a necessity in our own life. We need to eat the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in order to nourish us and strengthen us in our daily life. I would like to encourage each of you to go to church at least every Sunday to participate in the Lord’s banquet. Jesus is waiting for us and offering himself to us. What else do we need?

Today (Sunday), we will have a Eucharistic Procession and Benediction after the 9 AM and 11 AM Masses.

We also have Eucharistic Adoration and Holy Hour every first Friday at 3 PM at St. Celestine Church. Please set aside one hour every month to come to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Our Blessed Sacrament chapel at St. Celestine is open for prayers during the week from 8:30 AM to 5 PM.

May Jesus in the Eucharist always be the very center and heart of our church, the center and heart of our faith, the center and heart of our parish, and the center and heart of the lives of each of us.

In Prayer,
Fr. Paul Cao
Pastor of St. Mother Theodore Guerin Parish