Corpus Christi

On Corpus Christi, we celebrate that the Body and Blood of Our Lord is truly in the Eucharist.
It is Jesus himself who died and has risen and who has given us the joy of the institution of the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, we receive the body of Jesus, and then it is our turn to be
his body to the world around us. To be Christ-like, we must conform to him. Receiving the Eucharist makes this a possibility and gives us the strength to go out and share him with others in our lives.

One way we do this each year is to go in a Eucharistic procession throughout Oakley on Corpus Christi Sunday. Carrying Jesus out among our neighbors and witnessing our love and faith in him is one way to conform to Our Lord and to show others the value we place in the true Body and Blood of Christ. As we walk in procession, we have time to meditate on how we can be present to those who are watching — how to look them in the eyes and see their needs, their joys, their suffering and then reach out to them by being witnesses of our faith, giving them hope that they too can find peace and love as a child of God.

Amen? Amen!
Fr. Jamie

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Pastor's Ramblings

FR. BERNIE: When I was a senior at Elder High School, I sat next to a student in my homeroom named Bernie. One day in May of his senior year, Bernie told us he was going to enter the seminary. I remember we were all very supportive and happy for him. Bernie became Fr. Bernie Weldishofer 25 years ago. I was able to celebrate his jubilee year to the priesthood. A fun fact was that when they celebrated his anniversary on June 2, the mayor of the city of Lebanon declared it Fr. Bernie Day in Lebanon, Ohio.

PENTECOST: I am so happy to have heard so many compliments about the Pentecost Mass last weekend. People thought the choir was amazing, the liturgy lifted them up with a wonderful homily, and the reception afterward was very welcoming. Thank you to our Worship Commission for making the environment so beautiful to celebrate the birthday of our Church. And a big thank-you to our hospitality chair and helpers for getting a nice reception together.

CROSS THE BRIDGE FOR LIFE: Members of our Respect Life Group joined a large crowd of people who Crossed the Bridge for Life on June 4. This annual walk across the Purple People Bridge is a demonstration of support for the protection of all human life.

50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: On May 20, Patricia and Michael McGraw began their 50th wedding anniversary celebration by attending the 4:00 Mass with many of their family and friends. Fr. Jason offered a beautiful blessing for them at the end of Mass. Congratulations, Mike and Pat!

CONGRATULATIONS! Amanda Testerman and Jerry Chau (photo, above left) celebrated the Sacrament of Marriage on May 27, and Billy Wersel and Kelly Weisenborn celebrated the sacrament on June 3. Congratulations to both of these newly wed couples.

WELCOME, CHILD OF GOD: Welcome to Ariana Melissa Hernandez, daughter of Benjamin and Guadalupe Hernandez. Ariana was baptized June 4.
 

Our bodies would soon die without food and drink. Jesus knew that the same is true
for our souls, and so he gives himself to us as spiritual food and drink in the sacrament of
the Eucharist. The same Jesus who healed the sick, brought the dead back to life, and drove
out demons offers the greatest of his miracles to each one of us. Through the selflessness of
his divine love, he changes ordinary bread and wine into his true flesh and blood. He offers all of himself to us in the most intimate exchange of persons, that we might have life and life in abundance.

The Eucharist is a gift of love: God, in Jesus, gives us his very life, his flesh and blood, his soul and divinity. There is nothing more precious in all the world than the very God who created and redeemed us. Now he sanctifies us with his own life. In the Eucharist God makes himself completely vulnerable to us; he gives everything of himself and accepts the risk of
being rejected and mistreated – just as he did in becoming man in the first place.

There is no greater proof of God’s love for us than the Eucharist. It is total, perfect, and selfless – for God gains nothing through it; we, however, gain everything. That’s why Vatican II taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the entire Christian life. Let us strive to respond to so great a gift of love by loving God in return. Jesus teaches us what it means
to love: “If you love me, follow my commandments.”