Collect for Solemnity of Body and Blood of Christ

COLLECT SERIES

 

THE MASS:COLLECT SERIES ICON.

COLLECT

The Collect for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi- Body and Blood of Christ reads as follows:

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament 

has left us a memorial of Your Passion,

grant us, we pray,

so to revere the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood

that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of Your redemption.

Who lives and reigns with God the Father

 in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

 One God for ever and ever. Amen.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for during the week the following reflection questions emerged:

1.What is my attitude towards receiving Jesus in the Eucharist?

2. Why is the Mass a memorial of the Passion of Jesus?

3. How do I revere the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of Jesus in my life?

4.What are the fruits of His redemption that I have experienced and want to experience in my life?

5.What change/s in my life will I start today to revere the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of Jesus each day?

6. Am I am able to commit to visiting Jesus in the tabernacle and/or attend in a parish where they have exposition to spend time with Jesus?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

In today’s Gospel from Luke (9:11-17), we see and hear the strong contrast between  the disciples thinking and Jesus.

The disciples want to turn the people away and when Jesus challenges them to feed them yourselves, they only see the number of people and their lack of resource to feed them.

This is in direct contrast to Jesus who not only fed the huge crowd with the five loaves and two fish but gave abundantly with 12 baskets of food left over. He not only gave enough but gave more than enough so much so, there was more left over.

He gave with a generous spirit.

Many people are like the disciples in that they only see the problem- not enough food, too many people, not enough money, cant help another person, send others away. Sadly many of us who are disciples of Jesus can have the same attitude.  The problem with this attitude is that it is limiting and it does not reply on the providence of God.  It has the attitude that we have to fix the problem in our own way and God/faith has no place in it.

Instead not only should we tell God the problem but we should also back it up with our faith knowing that nothing is impossible with God.  Many people tell God their problem but do not remind Him of His promises. God never goes back on His promises. God does not forget what He has said but if we share with God not only the shortcoming/the problem/the difficulty and then remind Him of the promise from scripture in relation to it, For example  I do not have enough money for groceries this week but you promised ‘’I will provide them with food of finest wheat’’. 

If you do not have scriptures in mind, google your difficulty/problem because there are scriptures for our problems/difficulties.

The beautiful aspect I think about this Gospel is to remember that God is an abundant God- He wants to give- not only what we need but abundantly. Imagine the disciples in the situation- 5 loaves and 2 fish and yet Jesus fed over 5000 people with 12 baskets left over.
Obviously we are human not Jesus but nevertheless we need to have the attitude of Jesus of abundance and rely on Jesus to provide it. God is not a grudging picky God or even just willing to give what we need. He gives when we ask with not only what we ask for but with more than enough- with a generous heart and spirit and with abundance.

Of course, we may also ask for something specific because we think we need that. We may even feel disappointed that ‘’God did not answer our prayer’’. Yet God always answers our prayers and gives us what is best for us, as sometimes we ask for what is not in our best interest. It might even seem to us to be in our best interest and yet God in His great love for us provides something that IS in our best interest.  Stop and think about it in your life. Recall something you asked for and God seemingly gave you something else- something that worked out for the better.  That was not coincidence. That is God giving with an abundant, loving attitude for you.

PRIESTHOOD

FR DAVID:  

BEAUTIFUL PRIESTHOOD IN ACTION.

The other aspect to remember on great day is to think and pray in a special way for our priests. Priests have and are still going through a tough time because of the few who have brought the priesthood  into disrepute. I ask you to 

• pray for your parish priest/priests that you know daily. They rely on our prayers and support. There are far greater great priests who, like Jesus give as abundantly to us as they can. 
• Appreciate them, give them support when they want to implement something good in the parish, 
• Help them in whatever way we can with our gifts, 
• Let them know that you appreciated their homily, 
• Tell them when something in the homily touched you spiritually,
• Provide them with some cash when they are going on holidays for a meal/cinema or whatever they like to do.
  
  There are a million and one ways you can help your priest. Be abundant in your attitude and help him. Remember your priest is God's representative on earth- he is the disciple giving out from the basket. Help him in whatever way you can and walk alongside Him to help him live out his vocation.

On this feast of Body and Blood of Christ, let us consider our attitude towards Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

1.    How grateful are we to be able to receive Jesus every day/every Sunday? 

2.    When do we spend time with Him in the Eucharist through our thanksgiving prayers?

3.    Are we ready to get out of Mass as soon as it ends?

4.    Do we spend time before Him ( pay Jesus a visit in the tabernacle) or attend exposition in our parish/another parish?

Let us adore and love with all our hearts our God who loves us abundantly.