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SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Genesis |
14:18-20 |
| Psalm |
109 |
| I
Corinthians |
11:23-26 |
| Luke |
9:11-17
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CORPUS
CHRISTI
– PERFECT LOVE
Have
you ever noticed how, when we speak of love, we
often use ingestive imagery? Lovers ‘across the
pond' call each other “Honey” or “Sugar”; over here
we have “Sweetheart.” All pertain to taste. More
coarsely, ‘wolf-whistlers' may describe an attractive
woman as a “dish”. More politely, we may something
or someone is not “my cup of tea.”
I
remember as a young boy my mother returning from
hospital with my baby sister. While she glowed at
the sleeping bundle, I was horrified by the words
she uttered to my newborn sister: “I could eat you!”
Not only that, she added “with salt and pepper!”
I soon learned with relief that my mother was not
a cannibal; she was simply expressing her love in
terms of eating. Not surprising, since eating is
the closest form of union we can achieve with anything.
When a young man invites his girl-friend to a meal
it is not to keep her body and soul together, but
it is an occasion, or pretext, to share her company.
When we invite people to dinner we do so because
we want to have them with us. If their only contribution
to the meal is to rattle the knife and fork, we
may be tempted to remove their name from our invitation
lists.
The
Eucharist, therefore, is not surprisingly something
that is framed in this context – with an obvious
difference. When we eat an apple, there is us and
no apple; when we receive Christ in the Eucharist
there is us and Christ; in fact, more
of Christ and, ultimately, more of the real ‘us'.
This
concerns the Eucharist as a sacrament; it is, of
course, also a sacrifice. And this is where love
can hurt, and where we realise that love is impossible
without blood – of some kind or another. All love
demands sacrifice. It is not ‘lovey-dovey'. A glance
at the spread-eagled figure on the cross gives us
a glimpse of this.
Abba
Agathon, one of the Desert Fathers, was once asked
“What is perfect love?” He replied: “If I could
meet a leper, give him my body and take his….that
is perfect love.” Over the centuries, many have
worked with lepers and offered unselfish service
- some even contracting the disease themselves as
a result. But in Abba Agathon's eyes, it is not
perfect love as they were unable to give their healthy
bodies in return. What we celebrate in the Eucharist
is perfect love. For not only did Jesus
Christ take on our flesh at the incarnation, but
what makes his love perfect, is that in the Eucharist
he offers us his flesh in return.
What
is unique about the Eucharist is that whereas in
the other six sacraments we receive the grace of
God, in the Eucharist we receive the God of grace.
As we celebrate today the Feast of the Body and
Blood of Our Lord, may we make our own the prayer
of St. Francis of Assisi on the Eucharist: “Love
Him totally, who gave himself totally for your love!”
Brian
Purfield, Mount
Street
Jesuit Centre
REFLECTION
ON HOLY COMMUNION
Holy
Communion deepens our union with Christ: ‘As the
living Father sent me, and I live because of the
Father, so whoever eats me will live because of
me.' (John 6:57)
Holy
Communion separates us from sin: ‘For as often as
we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim
the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the death
of the Lord we proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
As often as his Blood is poured out, it is poured
for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive
it so that it may always forgive my sins. Because
I always sin, I should always have a remedy.'
(St
Ambrose, De Sacramentis, 4,6,28)
FIRST
HOLY COMMUNIONS
Today
at the Family Mass (9.30) we have the great joy
of welcoming into the full fellowship of the Eucharistic
table fourteen of our young people. We congratulate
them and we thank their parents, godparents, relatives
and friends, as well as our hard-working catechists,
for preparing them for this wonderful day in their
lives. Making their first Holy Communion are: Kit
Akinluyi, Allegra Bernstorff, Wilder Fulford, Liam
Healy, Thomas Howard, Alisha Ishaq, Natasha Long,
Oliver and Clarissa Nicholls, Eleanor Phillips,
George Phillips, Kourosh Shirazi, Charlotte Bruce,
and Jack Snell. Please keep them all in your prayers!
READERS
DAY
SATURDAY
12th JUNE at 114 Mount Street from 10am till 2pm
: a day of reflection, prayer, and practical business
with Fr William and Bénédicte Paviot.
All readers at Masses on Sundays and weekdays are
invited to take part. A chance to learn and share!
If you can only come for part of the morning, please
try to make it. A light lunch will be on offer.
If you are interested in being a reader, see Fr
William.
MEET
YOUR NEIGHBORS
Churches
Together in Westminster invites you to its next
visit to a London church: St Michael's (Church of
England), Chester Square , Belgravia , TUESDAY 15th
JUNE at 6.30pm . Talk, tour and refreshments. This
church is at the centre of a dynamic missionary
apostolate. Come and see! The event is free. See
Fr William
for more information.
MARTYRS
WALK
A
Walk in honour of the Martyrs of England who died
to uphold the Catholic Faith will take place on
SUNDAY 20th JUNE. Meet at 1:30pm
for
a 2pm
start
at St Sepulchre's Churchyard (opposite the Old Bailey,
tube station: St Pauls). Walk along the Tyburn
Way
by way of St Anselm and St Cecilia's, St Giles-in-the-Fields
finishing at Tyburn Convent, near Marble Arch (approx
2½ hours). Confessions, Benediction. A Reception
will be held by the Tyburn Nuns. See flyers for
details.
LITURGICAL
DATES
FRIDAY
11th JUNE: FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART
MONDAY
21st JUNE: ST ALOYSIUS GONZAGA SJ
TUESDAY
22nd JUNE: SS JOHN FISHER AND THOMAS MORE
TUESDAY
29th JUNE: SS PETER AND PAUL (Holy Day of Obligation.
There will be music at the 6pm
Mass.)
YOUNG
ADULTS RETREAT
Join
Bishop Alan and other Young Adults on a Retreat
Day to St Jude's shrine, Faversham on JULY 24th.
Meet, Pray and Relax with other Young Adults from
the Diocese. All Young Adults (17-35) are welcome
to attend. Cost: £15 includes coach travel.
For more information and to book your place, contact
David Burke on 0207 798 9357 or davidburke@rcdow.org.uk
.
PROVIDENCE
ROW RUN
Join
the team to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Providence
Row, a charity which helps homeless people in London
. Walk
or run 10k in Hyde
Park
on Sunday 11 th July - kick-off time at 9:35am
at
Hyde Park Corner. For more information, call 0207
422 6763 or visit www.providencerow.org.uk
.
DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
SUMMER
GARDEN PARTY SUNDAY JULY 4th
This
is our annual social get-together with lots of food
and drink and good fellowship. We call this our
Open Day and we make a special effort to introduce
new friends to our church. The event takes place
in Mount Street Garden and begins at noon , finishing
with a tour of the church at 3pm and ending with
Benediction at 4pm .
ST
IGNATIUS MASS AND CELEBRATION FRIDAY JULY 30th
The
Feast of St Ignatius, Founder of the Jesuits, is
celebrated on the 31st, but in order to ensure that
as many as possible can be with us for the Mass
and reception, we are having a Vigil Mass on Friday
at 6pm
. The
choir will be performing, there will be a guest
preacher and we will be gathering Jesuit alumni
and alumnae from all over the world. A very special
event!
MOUNT
STREET JESUIT
CENTRE
114
Mount Street , London W1
Bookings
and information:
Lynne
Galloway 020 7495 1673 lynne@mountstreet.info
FINDING
GOD THROUGH ART
ONE-DAY
WORKSHOP
THURSDAY
10th JUNE, 10 am - 2 pm
Facilitated
by MICHAEL BARROW SJ and ANNIE BROMHAM IBVM
Many
people without any expertise find the use of paint
or clay or even dance, a wonderful way to deepen
their prayer. This day offers a chance to look at
paintings as well
as to use colour to find God in your own particular
way.
TWO
TALKS IN PREPARATION FOR THE VISIT OF POPE BENEDICT
XVI
Presented
by BRIAN PURFIELD
7
- 8:30pm
Cardinal
Newman: The “Father” of Vatican II
Monday
14th June
One
hundred years before Vatican II, Newman, often called
the “Father” of the Second Vatican Council, was
teaching the ideas that would come to fruition at
the Council. This talk examines how the whole Church
is challenged to live out the roles of priest, prophet
and king in our own day .
Pope
Benedict XVI: “Charity in Truth”
Monday
21st June
Love
or charity is at the heart of the Christian vision
and is the key to the fulfilment and development
of the human person. This talk offers an overview
of the main points of this profound and powerful
vision of the Christian faith applied to the complex
problems involved in human development.
EXPLORING
PRAYER THROUGH DANCE
SATURDAY
WORKSHOP – 3 rd JuLY
11
am - 4 pm
Led
by Sr LORRAINE
PRATT
Using
modern choreography, this workshop involves participants
in exploring the spiritual dimension of dance: ‘a
meditation in movement, where every step becomes
a prayer.' For details see leaflet.
DEEPENING
OUR AWARENESS OF GOD WITH US
from
SEPTEMBER 2010 to JULY 2011
Once
again Fr TONY HORAN SJ is offering his popular course
on the Spirituality of St Ignatius. You can either
apply for the course on Tuesday evenings, 7pm to
9pm , or on Thursday mornings, 11am to 1pm. Nearly
100 people have done this course since 2006, as
one of them said, “ The course is a very special
time to reflect, pray, explore, and share with others.
We come together as a group, sensitively and gently
guided -- all of us seeking to deepen our lives
with God. It is a time for going further into the
heart of things, and for lesser things to fall away.”
Application Forms can be obtained from the MSJC
(see contact details above) or at tony.horan@btinternet.com
. Limited number for each course . It is important
to fill in the application form carefully and submit
it by 15th JUNE 2010 to the above
address.
Details
of these programmes can be found in the leaflets
at
the doors of the church.
If
you would like us to put on a course or a one day
workshop on a particular topic of interest to you
now is your opportunity to make your requests.
Please
use Gift-Aid envelopes for your donations if you
are a UK
Tax-payer .
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