Week of Four Solemnities
by Fr. Joseph Evinger
This week includes four different Solemnities: Corpus Christi, the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Sts. Peter and Paul. Two at the beginning of the week and two at the end. Because of the movable feast of Easter, of which these feasts follow, four different Solemnities are in the same week. I cannot call to mind another week like it.
Corpus Christi, the feast of the Body and Blood of our Lord is an extension of Holy Thursday, the evening Jesus gave himself to the Church in the Holy Eucharist. In fact in some dioceses of the world this feast was celebrated this past Thursday. This feast points to the fact that Jesus is with us always in the church’s tabernacle till the close of this age a promise he made to the Church before his ascension.
The celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist on June 24th reminds us that he was born six months before Jesus’. John is the last of the Old Covenant prophets and paves the way for the Lamb of God who takes away our sins and those of the world. Besides Jesus’ birthday and our Blessed Mother’s, his is the only birthday of a saint the Church celebrates.
The feast of the Jesus’ Sacred Heart on Friday calls to mind the heart that thirsts for you and me. It is the heart of God who beats in the tabernacle quietly tugging at your heart to draw close to him, to receive him, to console him in reparation for all the cold hearts which pass him by or receive him in Holy Communion without any preparation or lovable thought.
The week concludes with the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the two founding apostles of the Roman Catholic Church. Both saints gave their lives for Jesus Christ, Peter thru crucifixion and Paul thru beheading. Of course this is a very special day for St. Paul’s in Halliday, the parish’s feast day.
May we all hold to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith in life’s trials and blessings. What a great week to be Christian!