The month of June is a very busy one around here. As we come to the
final two weeks of June, we have final school Masses, graduation Masses and
graduation dinners and award ceremonies. As I said in the announcements last
Sunday, the weekday Masses for the 24th, 25th and 26th
June may be altered slightly to accommodate all of our school graduation
ceremonies. All are welcome to attend graduation liturgies if you wish.
I would like to thank all those who were able to come out for Father Noel’s celebration last weekend. Thank you to those who prepared all the food, the students from St. Paul Secondary School who put up the tables for us and those who prepared speeches and kind words for Father Noel. I would also like to thank both of our choirs at 10 AM and 12 Noon for their musical tribute to Father. Given the positive feedback, I think it was a very fitting celebration for Fr. Noel before he leaves us on July 3. He will surely be missed, both in the church and in the house. In any case, we all wish him many blessings and much peace in his new assignment at St. Anselm and St. Edith Stein.
I finally got the chance to walk around the grounds of the church this past week. I would like to thank the Knights of Columbus and one of our cantors, Catherine MOWAT, for all their hard work in making the place look wonderful.
Once again,
please remember that, if you are a volunteer in any capacity here at St.
Dominic, you need to reply by June 22nd to the invitation for the appreciation
dinner on June 27 at 6 PM
The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - (Corpus Christi Sunday)
Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and drink"? The Jews were
scandalized and the disciples were divided when Jesus said "unless
you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." What
a hard saying, unless you understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself
the bread of life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves
(John 6:3-13), when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves
through his disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigured the
superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The
Gospel of John has no account of the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing
ceremony and Jesus' farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from
Jesus' In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in a thanksgiving
sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator as the giver and
sustainer of life. Melchizedek, who was both a priest and king (Genesis 14:18;
Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. His offering prefigured
the offering made by Jesus, our high priest and king (Hebrews 7:26; 9:11;
10:12). The remembrance of the manna in the wilderness recalled to the people
of Israel that they live - not by earthly bread alone - but by the bread of the
Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus chose the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill what he
had announced at Capernaum - giving his disciples his body and his blood as the
true bread of heaven. Jesus' passing over to his Father by his death and
resurrection - the new Passover is anticipated in the Last Supper and
celebrated in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish
Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of God's
kingdom. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and drink
his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very center of our being.
That life which he offers is the very life of God himself.
Fr. Phil
