Welcome

This weekend we celebrate the feast formally titled the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ but popularly known as Corpus Christi. Every time the Church gathers to celebrate the Mass, the Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord, is at the center of our worship. We must avoid the danger of growing lax in our reverence and awe due to our familiarity with this great and wonderful sacrament, which is one reason why the Church dedicates a particular day of solemnity to focus solely on this mystery. The Eucharist is the life source of the Church, the ultimate manifestation of Christ’s presence among us, and it has been the strength of the faithful for the Church’s entire history. It is not a sign or symbol, because a sign or symbol points to another reality; the Eucharist is the reality of Jesus’s real presence among us. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand is recounted for us which happened at a site a few miles from Capernaum called Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee. The transformation of those five loaves and two fish, meager as they were, reminds us that our simple gifts of bread and wine, when changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, become something new and wonderful in the Eucharist. In the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, there is a famous mosaic on the floor of two fish but only four loaves. The absence of the fifth loaf in the mosaic invites us to raise our eyes to the Blessed Sacrament present either on the altar or the tabernacle and to see that it is Jesus who is the true bread who continually comes down from heaven in the Eucharist. Thank you! Thank you to all who took the time to wish me well this past Tuesday evening at my parish send off. Thank you also to those who could not make it but who have expressed their sentiments to me in person or through messages. My thanks especially to the Altar and Rosary Society and to the Men’s Club for helping to make the gathering happen. You will not find my final thoughts here but in next Sunday’s bulletin before Father Mark takes the helm on July 1. I do ask for your continued prayers, especially this coming week as I take my formal leave. Each passing day has been harder as the clock runs down. I am going to a great place but leaving is still quite hard when you’ve been at a great place. More to come… Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. From a purely intellectual standpoint, we cannot unlock the mystery of the one God united in three persons. However, we can come to better understand the divine mystery when we see it as a mystery of a relationship of total love. When we seek to live in relationships of selfless and unconditional love then we begin to experience the life of the Trinity and are even drawn into it. Coming off of Pentecost Sunday, we find ourselves out of the Easter Season and back in Ordinary Time. This season will stretch all the way to the First Sunday of Advent, but let’s not fall into the trap of misunderstanding the word “ordinary.” The season is named for the fact that the Sundays are marked by ordinal numbers. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This Sunday’s Gospel takes us back to the Upper Room. Jesus, on the eve of His Passion, speaks not just with urgency but with a deep awareness of the disciples’ limits. Jesus knows their hearts, their fears, and their readiness. He is patient and He promises the Holy Spirit who will guide them gradually into all truth. This passage speaks volumes about the nature of divine revelation: it is not dumped on us all at once. It is unfolded patiently, progressively, and personally. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God continues to teach the Church. What the disciples could not understand before the Cross and Resurrection, they would begin to grasp in the light of Pentecost. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. In a world where truth often feels relative, manipulated, or hidden, we are reminded that truth is not an idea, it is a person, Jesus Himself. And it is the Holy Spirit who leads us deeper into the truth of Christ: into who He is, what He taught, and how we are to live in Him. The Spirit doesn’t invent new truth but “will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit helps us understand, guard, and proclaim the unchanging truth of Christ in every age. Jesus speaks of the perfect harmony between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: “All that the Father has is mine,” and the Spirit “will take from what is mine.” This Gospel passage is one of the most Trinitarian in all of Scripture. It reveals not just three divine Persons, but a communion of love—mutual giving, shared truth, and total unity. This is the model for the Church and for Christian life. We are called to reflect that same communion in our families, our parish, and our relationships. Where there is competition, division, or pride, the Spirit of truth is stifled. But where there is humility, listening, and love, the Spirit breathes new life. May our lives reflect the unity and love of the Most Holy Trinity, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Preparing to Take My Leave As you likely have seen, my farewell reception has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 17, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM in the parish center. Come by, have something to eat, and enjoy some fellowship with your fellow CTK parishioners and friends. I will offer some farewell remarks at the end of all the Masses the weekend of the 21st/22nd, and I will leave CTK on the 24th. Father Mark plans to arrive after the following Sunday, and the parish will be in the capable hands of Father Alex in the meantime. I ask for your continued prayers for myself and Father Mark in these days of transition. Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House