Corpus Christi Masses, processions mark eucharistic presence

With the Solemnity of Corpus Christi marking the start of the Year of Parish Revival, year two of the National Eucharistic Revival, Bishop James F. Checchio celebrated two Masses for Corpus Christi the weekend of June 10-11 – the 5:15 p.m. Vigil Mass in Our Lady of Peace Parish, Fords, and the 10:30 a.m. Mass in St. Helena Parish, Edison. 

Bishop Checchio called the feast day “the lifeblood of the Church, the instrument by which Christ is present in the world.”

Reminding congregations that no complacency, no taking for granted should enter their lives when it comes to the Eucharist, the Bishop urged they show reverence when receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. With the advent of the Year of Parish Revival, he said, every parish in the Diocese and the world “will take steps to revive, to enliven our devotion to the Eucharist.”

Many parishes across the Diocese expressed that devotion through Eucharistic processions, following Mass.

Father Timothy Christy, rector of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, served as principal celebrant and homilist of the noon Mass June 11 during which he reflected on the new initiative and asked the assembled, “Isn’t every Mass focused on the body and blood of Christ? The Church has kept a memorial of Christ with us.”

Citing a 2019 Pew study which showed just 31 percent of Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the true presence of Christ, Father Christy continued, “Bishops around the world are saying, ‘We need a revival now.’ People are still [attending Mass] on livestream, but what we do apart is not better than what we can do together. God did not see the world in virtual mode. 

“We do not need to start a new program, but we need to start a fire,” he declared. “When we take Him in procession, it is the image of the Church in motion on our way to heaven.”

The National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year process of abundant grace and transformation which strives to bring Catholic faithful to a renewed personal encounter with Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Initiated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the inaugural year began June 19, 2022, the Feast of Corpus Christi, with the goal to equip and prepare each diocese in the country to foster four pillars, or goals, including reinvigorating worship, personal encounters, robust formation and missionary sending.

Once again using the Feast of Corpus Christi as a focal point, the National Eucharistic Revival’s Year of Parish Revival began June 11, 2023. Parishes will use the Revival’s four pillars as they schedule events to promote deeper encounters with Christ. The third and final year, the Year of Mission, runs from June, 2024 to June, 2025 and culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress to be held July 17-21, 2025, in Indianapolis.

At the conclusion of Mass, faithful of all ages sank to their knees in adoration as Father Christy placed a host in the golden monstrance. Then, accompanied by priests, deacons and servers carrying a processional canopy (or baldacchino), the rector began a procession around the interior of the Cathedral through a cloud of incense. Joined by the laity, the procession burst through the front doors of the mother church of the Diocese and walked along Main Street, concluding at a makeshift altar erected in the St. Francis Cathedral Cemetery on Cathedral grounds.