Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi. This celebration, which commemorates the Body of Christ given to us in Holy Eucharist, is celebrated following Trinity Sunday and was formally established in the 13th Century.
St. Juliana of Mont Conillon, also known as St. Juliana of Liege, was the champion of the feast. From her early youth, she had a great love of the Blessed Sacrament and longed to have a feast day set aside to honor Our Lord's presence in the Eucharist.
The saint's desire grew after a vision she reportedly had of the Church represented by the full moon. In this vision, the moon had one dark spot, supposedly representing the absence of such a feast day.
Juliana expressed her desires to the Bishop of Liege, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became the Cardinal Legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Pantaleon, at that time Archbishop of Liege who was to become Pope Urban IV.
Favorably impressed, Bishop Robert Thorete instituted the feast day in his own diocese in 1247 as bishops were permitted to do at that time, and Pope Urban IV ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday in 1264. Though the celebration remains on this day in Rome, here in the United States it is now celebrated the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.
The feast offers all of us an opportunity to appreciate more deeply the rich treasure of grace offered to us through the Holy Eucharist. It is a day that begs us to enter into the Sacred Mystery of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divintiy of Our Lord Jesus Christ given to us and for us in every Eucharistic celebration. It reminds us of the divine sacrifice made on our behalf while beckoning us to be infused ever more completely by the Author of Life Himself.
Following are five ways we can enhance our appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament and mine the rich treasure that is ours. It is taken from my book, Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life.
David Letterman's recent outrageous display of poor taste and insensitivity regarding Sarah Palin's daughter, Willow, and the liberal press' defense of it, points to a larger cultural issue -- our nation has grown hard of heart.
Civility has been bartered for crudeness, courtesy for contempt, and politeness for self-aggrandisement. In the end, hardness of heart leads to a complete disregard for the human person and reduces him to nothing more than a joke's punchline -- or much worse.
Consider the incident involving the teens who attacked another teen this week, beat her up, and cut and torched her hair. Or the unconscionable murder of the Holocaust museum security guard, Stephen Johns, by James von Brunn.
Some years ago I overheard a father talking to his child. It seems the little tyke had done something he shouldn't have done and the father was reprimanding him for his disobedient choice. What struck me about the conversation was the dad's choice of words, his gentle tone of voice and his loving disposition. It was clear that in the midst of the admonition this father was communicating to his son love, encouragement, faith, and hope.
