Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Word of God is effective, and will fulfill its purpose. But note that while the word is effective, the ground of the human heart may not allow the seed of the Word enter in and grow there. There are times when our hearts are packed down, unable to receive the seed. At times, we may have let other things fill up our lives that there is no depth to the let the seed sink in. Other times, we let the seed get choked out by the anxieties of the world. But when we have allowed Christ to prepare us, to remove our shallowness and anxiety, we can receive the word and let it grow in us, responding to the Lord's loving call for our lives.

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Come to me, and I will give you rest... Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon his shoulders and learn from Him. Two oxen, properly yoked, could do harder work longer because of the yoke, and its physics. Christ, in using this image, reminds us that He is working with us, instead of our 'going it alone'. He invites us to learn from Him, to listen to His Sacred Heart, and to know the Father. Those who discover that it is first Christ's work we do in responding to a vocation, and that Christ is working through us and with us, know that the execution of our duties is not a burden, but a source of joy.

A Great News Source - NEWS.VA

The Vatican has release a great resource for news at NEWS.VA.
From Cathlic Culture's Review of the site: "News.va is a service provided by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in cooperation with the media offices of the Holy See, including, Fides News Agency, L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican Information Service, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center (CTV) and the Internet Office of the Holy See. The purpose of News.va is to feature on one website the latest news selected and aggregated from the Vatican media, which continue to operate their own unique websites. News.va is an instrument of evangelization at the service of the papal ministry and is intended as a service for all."

Sequence for Corpus Christi

I love the sequence the Church gives for this feast. Written by St. Thomas Aquinas, it is theologically packed with Scriptural allusions, theological understandings, and (even in translation) beautiful poetry.

From the Sequence:

Sion, lift thy voice and sing; Praise thy Savior and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:
Dare thy most to praise Him well;
For He doth all praise excel;
None can ever reach His due.
Special theme of praise is thine,
That true living Bread divine,
That life-giving flesh adored,
Which the brethren twelve received,
As most faithfully believed,
At the Supper of the Lord.
Let the chant be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt to-day in every breast;
On this festival divine
Which recounts the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.
At this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite;
Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.

His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
In His memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.

Hear what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending,
Leaps to things not understood.

Here in outward signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things, are all we see:-
Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine;
Yet is Christ, in either sign,
All entire confessed to be.

They too who of Him partake
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave.

Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial Food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here 'tis life; and there 'tis death;
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.

Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains
What was in the whole before;
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The Signified remaining One
And the Same forevermore

Lo! upon the Altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Angels' Bread from Paradise
Made the food of mortal man:
Children's meat to dogs denied;
In old types foresignified;
In the manna from the skies,
In Isaac, and the Paschal Lamb.

Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thy true flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! Thy life supply;
Strengthen us, or else we die;
Fill us with celestial grace:
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the Feast of Love,
We may see Thee face to face. Amen

Corpus Christi, 2011

How holy is these feast in which Christ is our bread. When we receive the Eucharist, we recall Christ's death and resurrection, being present in mystery at these sacred events, letting them have a profound influence in our lives, grace flooding the interior depths of our lives. We receive a glimpse of the eternity to which Christ calls us, if we are faithful and respond to the loving Father's will for our lives. May we know what we receive, and live what we know.

Trinity Sunday, 2011

As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity, we remember that the union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is so much so that they are one being and existence, while still being Three divine persons. Our minds cannot grasp the reality of their union, nor will we ever understand. Even in Heaven, when those blessed with the vision of the Trinity will see God, the mystery of who the Trinity is will remain. All the same, we know that we can serve the Trinity, and ask for their grace that we may enjoy the beatific vision.

Pentecost, 2011

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill us with your gifts. Bring to their fullness your fruits. Inspire us to follow the Son, and help us discern the Father's will for our lives.