Corpus Christi Blog

Keeping His Word by Him Dwelling in Us

05-26-2019HomiliesFr. Chad King

Two weeks ago, in the Gospel John chapter 10, we heard Jesus use the analogy of sheep and Shepherd, saying that His sheep hear his voice. And last week Deacon preached about what it means to love one another as God loves us, which Christ commands us to do. Today, the two ideas are tied together for us. I remind you of that as our 1st verse in today’s Gospel summarized the two points: “Jesus said to his disciples, whoever loves me will keep my word”. Those who really love Jesus will ‘keep his word’. What does it mean to keep his word? To keep his word means to listen and obey all that He has said. Of course, to listen and obey what Jesus says, we first have to hear his voice. Our Gospel goes on to say that the Holy Spirit “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you”. Wow, I know that we all desire to know and love Jesus, so let’s take a moment and evaluate ourselves and let the Holy Spirit remind us all that Jesus said. Do you know all that Jesus said? Do you read the Scriptures regularly? Or do you only hear what is proclaimed if you come to Mass on Sundays? Are you keeping his teaching close to your heart, by remembering what was said minutes, hours, days later? Again, if we really love Jesus not only will we know what He said but also strive constantly do what He commanded.

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The Star of the Immaculate

05-26-2019Weekly Reflection

Last week, in our 33 Days to Morning Glory journey, we walked with St. Maximilian Kolbe as we learned about Mary as the “Immaculata” — the Immaculate Conception. Here are pictures from the Adoration Chapel at the Center of Prayer for Peace in Niepokalanów, Poland where the monastery that St. Maximilian founded is located.

The central part of the altar is a true size sculpture of the Virgin Mary with her hands open in invitation. Christ present in the Eucharist is located under Mary's heart, in a large, brightly lit Host, shown under her parting coat. The silver figure of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by true size silver lilies, symbolizing chastity. Lit from beneath, together with golden rays also surrounding the figure, they present the aureola of light, in which the Virgin was seen during her apparitions in Lourdes, Guadalupe, and Fatima. This figure also resembles the Miraculous Medal of Mary Immaculate, which was venerated by St. Maximilian. At the crystal layer, 12 cut gemstones are placed, symbolizing 12 stars from the Apocalypse of St. John, which are also pictured at the Niepokalanów Miraculous Medal of Mary Immaculate.

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Jesus, the Divine Physician

05-19-2019What's Your Story?Parishioner Carolyn Bonar

It was a couple of days before Christmas in 2013 that I fell and broke my right shoulder in two places. As a result of the fall, I also tore my ulnar nerve in my right arm. The ulnar nerve services feeling in approximately half the hand. My two last fingers and the side of my hand had no feeling. What I did experience was severe nerve pain and burning. After six weeks in a sling and then six weeks of rehab for my shoulder, I finally was able to have surgery to reattach my nerve. After surgery, the doctor told me that some people see immediate relief and some may take a year or some may never get any relief. Several weeks went by and I had no relief from the burning nerve pain and still no feeling in my fingers and side of my hand. The pain was unrelenting. Being right-handed, I couldn’t write any more as well.

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Good shepherd Sunday

05-12-2019HomiliesFr. Chad King

Our Gospel begins: “My sheep hear my voice”. Let’s pause right there. We hear many voices- the voice of Alexa, the voice of the annoying GPS lady which tells she has to ‘recalculate’ when we miss a turn or go the wrong way. When I get ready in the morning, a voice reads to me the Office of Readings. But we know that the voice is not real- the GPS lady really doesn’t know where we are, it’s the satellite that is telling her. And the voice that reads to me the morning prayers, really doesn’t know what it’s reading as there are many mispronounced words- especially in Latin.

The question is do we treat God as that kind of voice? Treat like God is distant, not really knowing where we are or who we are? And so we so often don’t really try to hear God’s voice.

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Renovation Update #1

05-10-2019Renovation

On Thursday, March 14 and Sunday, March 17, parishioner input meetings were held to introduce our architect, provide an update on the project, share initial renovation ideas, and - most importantly - receive input from parishioners. The three meetings had a total of about 60 parishioners and we were able to form Parish Center Design Committee with six members in addition to a few staff.

On Friday, May 10, several members of the Parish Center Design Committee traveled to a couple of other parishes in the Valley to see their parish center/hall to see their set up and gain more inspiration for what might work in our Parish Center.

Consecration invite #2

05-05-2019HomiliesFr. Chad King

Last week on the Feast of Divine Mercy, I invited you to join me and your fellow parishioners to Consecrate yourselves, and our Parish to Jesus through Mary using the 33 days to Morning Glory Consecration. I shared with you the true story of Mary imploring people to conversion and her being so influential in the world in order to lessen and prevent evils, like Communism. I talked about how Our Lady is credited with preventing the bullet from killing her servant, John Paul II, and how she inspired and used John Paul II to spread Jesus’ message of God’s unbounded mercy. We will see in week 4 of the Morning Glory Consecration how John Paul II consecrated himself to Mary, in fact his Papal Motto was Totus Tuus- meaning ‘totally yours’. Did you know it was Mary who was the catalyst behind the holiness and legacy of now St. John Paul II? Did you know Mary was and wants to be so active in the world in preventing evils and bringing about God’s will? Have you ever wondered how much closer to God you could be if you and I would intentionally let her guide us? That’s what the Consecration is all about- letting her lead us even closer to her son Jesus and God’s will for our lives than we ever could on our own.

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Consecration to Jesus through Mary

05-05-2019Weekly Reflection

May is the month of Mary and as Fr. Chad mentioned in his homily last Sunday, Bishop Olmsted has asked at least 100,000 Catholics and all parishes in our diocese to be consecrated to Jesus through Mary in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese of Phoenix. Our parish will be using materials from Fr. Michael Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory. Do not worry if you missed the introduction session this past Thursday, as you can still participate. The 33 days will begin this Thursday, May 9 and all are invited to the Parish Center at 7 pm on each Thursday through June 6 for a video and discussion session corresponding to the weekly material. The consecration will take place on Monday, June 10, which is the day after Pentecost and the new feast of The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church.

At the Jubilee of Bishops on Sunday, October 8, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II led the bishops of the world in the following prayer which beautifully explains the meaning of consecration.

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