CORPUS CHRISTI – The Outsider’s Eyes
By Colette Lemire
Let’s begin with Corpus Christi. Wow, what an incredible feast! Instituted by Pope Urban IV from a dream by St. Juliana of Mont Cornillion, this year will mark the 751st celebration of this incredible feast - The Body of Christ. In Canada, it is on the first Thursday (based on Holy Thursday’s institution of the Holy Eucharist) after Trinity Sunday. This feast is then celebrated on the next Sunday which will be on June 7th, 2015, this year.
We get to bring Jesus in physical form into the streets while sharing our faith and evangelizing by example. As we process praying and singing all the while following our priests, deacons, and altar servers, we are sharing our faith in a world not used to seeing our Catholic community praising our most integral belief – that Jesus is the Real Presence in the Eucharist – out in the streets.
So let’s take a step back and let’s put ourselves as an observer watching this procession… But there seems to be something different; something a little unusual with this group of people. We look at this group of people and notice that everyone has smiles and love in their eyes. They seem focused on this golden sunshine statue with something white in it, and carried on a platform. This platform reminds us that in past ages, kings and queens were carried on these and carried into the streets and processed in much grandeur. Is this some type of King? There are people of all ages following in this procession. There are pretty young girls in white who look like little brides, there are children holding onto balloons and there are people in wheelchairs and little ones in strollers. Some are singing hymns and others are praying the Rosary. There is an air of piety, of festivity, of joy, of hope, and definitely of love.
People, who are not of our faith, should be able to see and sense what we as Roman Catholic’s believe. They should be able to see our joy, hope and love just by how we follow Jesus, literally. We should want to share what we believe; we should want everyone we meet to know why we are a people of hope and joy – we have Jesus in the Real Presence – Body, Soul and Divinity. We have a piece of Heaven with us. We should want everyone to have this. I often think, if I knew the cure for AIDS or cancer, wouldn’t I want to share this information and hope with everyone I knew; wouldn’t I want to love my brothers and sisters and offer them the hope of a cure and a long life free of painful suffering? Jesus is more than even a cure such as this. He is our life! Our hope! Our joy! Our future! We should walk into the streets of Lethbridge and live the Good News! We need to be aware that others not of our faith are watching us and may want a share of what we are celebrating. They may want to ask questions as we walk and we should be ready for answers and invitation. May we share in the Good News by sharing in the Body of Christ! We as Catholics, are this body as well, we need to share what we have and who we are with others.
We are bringing Jesus to the streets! Let us bring Him to the hearts of those who may not know him through our hope, joy and love. Let us love our neighbor as we walk these streets, sharing our love of Jesus!
We get to bring Jesus in physical form into the streets while sharing our faith and evangelizing by example. As we process praying and singing all the while following our priests, deacons, and altar servers, we are sharing our faith in a world not used to seeing our Catholic community praising our most integral belief – that Jesus is the Real Presence in the Eucharist – out in the streets.
So let’s take a step back and let’s put ourselves as an observer watching this procession… But there seems to be something different; something a little unusual with this group of people. We look at this group of people and notice that everyone has smiles and love in their eyes. They seem focused on this golden sunshine statue with something white in it, and carried on a platform. This platform reminds us that in past ages, kings and queens were carried on these and carried into the streets and processed in much grandeur. Is this some type of King? There are people of all ages following in this procession. There are pretty young girls in white who look like little brides, there are children holding onto balloons and there are people in wheelchairs and little ones in strollers. Some are singing hymns and others are praying the Rosary. There is an air of piety, of festivity, of joy, of hope, and definitely of love.
People, who are not of our faith, should be able to see and sense what we as Roman Catholic’s believe. They should be able to see our joy, hope and love just by how we follow Jesus, literally. We should want to share what we believe; we should want everyone we meet to know why we are a people of hope and joy – we have Jesus in the Real Presence – Body, Soul and Divinity. We have a piece of Heaven with us. We should want everyone to have this. I often think, if I knew the cure for AIDS or cancer, wouldn’t I want to share this information and hope with everyone I knew; wouldn’t I want to love my brothers and sisters and offer them the hope of a cure and a long life free of painful suffering? Jesus is more than even a cure such as this. He is our life! Our hope! Our joy! Our future! We should walk into the streets of Lethbridge and live the Good News! We need to be aware that others not of our faith are watching us and may want a share of what we are celebrating. They may want to ask questions as we walk and we should be ready for answers and invitation. May we share in the Good News by sharing in the Body of Christ! We as Catholics, are this body as well, we need to share what we have and who we are with others.
We are bringing Jesus to the streets! Let us bring Him to the hearts of those who may not know him through our hope, joy and love. Let us love our neighbor as we walk these streets, sharing our love of Jesus!