Letter from the Pastor
-
June 6, 2021It was on this date, June 6th in 1944 - “D-Day” occurred. The Normandy Invasion took place on a Tuesday when the Allied Forces landed on the shores of Normandy. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. It was the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. We continue to pray for all those who died that day, and that we will never forget the sacrifices that generation offered that day for us.
In popular piety, each day of the week and each month of the year is dedicated to a title or article of faith. June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Why June?
It is because of today’s Feast of Corpus Christi, that the feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated each year during the month of June. It doesn’t have a set date; it is determined by the date of Easter. The Feast of the Sacred Heart was the concluding day of the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is always celebrated on the Thursday (the day dedicated to the Holy Eucharist) after Trinity Sunday.
The most important solemnities of the Church’s year use to have an 8-day (=octave) celebration as one long continuous feast day; at one time there were 15 different octave celebrations. One of the great mysteries after Vatican II, was when Pentecost, the second most important feast in the Church had its octave taken away. Now, only Christmas and Easter have octave celebrations.
It took until 1856 for the feast of the Sacred Heart to be officially celebrated by the universal Church, and ever since then the month of June has been focused on devotion to the Heart of Christ and His love for humanity.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus started when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received private revelations from the Lord. Jesus spoke to her on June 16, 1675, and asked her specifically to promote a feast that honored His Sacred Heart.
I ask thee that the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi
be set apart as a special feast to honor My Heart.
It is recorded that she had this vision during Eucharistic adoration, with the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar.
In our country, the Feast of Corpus Christi is not a holyday of obligation; therefore, it was transferred from Thursday to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday, thus having the Feast of the Sacred Heart on June 11th this year.
These two feast days are intimately connected. The Sacred Heart of Jesus explains the mystery of the love of the Lord for us, in His humanity and divinity. So much so, that He humbles Himself to come to us as food, in the form of bread in order to nourish us with His Divine substance.
In the Eucharist we have the Real Presence of the Sacred Heart, living, beating in our midst. It is wonderful to contemplate the Heart of Christ as the symbol of His infinite love, but it is even more wonderful to find Him always near us in the Sacrament of the Altar.
The Feast of Corpus Christi began during the 13th century, when a Belgian nun named Juliana of Liege urged the bishops to institute a feast in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. The Feast of Corpus Christi was eventually established as a universal feast by 1264. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the prayers and hymns associated with the Mass and the Divine Office.
It is a good idea for us to reflect on the meaning of the Eucharist, when sadly, (but not for the first time in the Church’s history) many Catholics don’t believe or really understand what the Eucharist is, the real Body and Blood of Jesus.
In the following columns, as we prepare to welcome back all to Mass on Sundays, I would like to write about the proper understanding of the Eucharist.