As we encouraged people today to take part in our upcoming 40 Hours Devotions (June 29-July 1), we especially promoted the procession by sharing a story from our past...
On June 13, 1869, when the cornerstone of Notre Dame Church was blessed, a procession was held moving in the opposite direction of the one we have planned--from St. Joseph's Church to the construction site for Notre Dame (3/4 mile). The procession was so long that when the front of it reached Notre Dame, the end of it hadn't yet left St. Joseph's.
Such was the spirit of faith--and unity--among our ancestors here. We are called to the same again!
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ A
As goes
the story passed down within the Bessette family,
when
our soon-to-be patron, St. André,
would
come to visit his relatives here in Malone,
his
first question was always the same:
What time is the earliest
Mass in town tomorrow morning?
And
the answer to his question
was
also always the same: 6:00am at Notre
Dame.
I’m
so moved every time I recall that a Saint
came
to Mass in this very church…
…and
so relieved that we don’t still have Mass at 6:00am!
(You
can be quite sure that, at some point,
he
visited the old St. Joseph’s, too,
dedicated
at it was his favorite saint…
…but,
sadly, that venerable building was lost years ago.)
Br.
André placed great faith in the power of the Mass
and
in receiving Holy Communion.
He
was known to ask,
“If
you ate only one meal a week, would you survive?
It
is the same for your soul.
Nourish
it with the Blessed Sacrament.”
What’s
ironic, of course,
is
that Br. André himself ate so very, very little
due
to a chronic stomach ailment.
Yet
he never lacked for energy,
and
I suspect that’s due to the Living Bread
which
he consumed first thing every morning.
As we see in St. André Bessette,
the
Eucharist has the power to get us up and get us going.
Like
the miraculous manna which sustained the Israelites
while
wandering forty long years in the desert,
so
the Body and Blood of Christ are given to us
as
food for our life’s journey.
I
was so encouraged this past week
when
a smiling parishioner said to me,
“Father,
I’m getting so excited about the new parish!
Before,
it seemed like things were getting a bit stale.
Now,
it seems like people are waking up.
I
have such hope!”
That’s
not, in my opinion,
the
result of any special program or consolidation process;
that’s
the transforming power of the Son of God,
really
and truly present in the Eucharist.
When
we made our recent pilgrimage to St. Joseph’s Oratory,
I
had one disappointment with the day:
that
I didn’t have time to visit the small chapel,
tucked
away among the trees near the top of Mount Royal,
which
was the original oratory.
Not
only is that miniature church
rather
charming and beautiful in its own right,
but
I love climbing the steep stairs to Br. André’s tiny apartment
and
seeing again the small window
he
had cut into the wall between his bedroom and the chapel,
so
that at any hour, day or night,
he
could open it up and see the tabernacle.
“O holy angels,” Br. André would pray,
“make
me see God on the altar as you see him in heaven.”
As
we see in St. André,
the
Eucharist has the power to open windows
for us.
The
Eucharist is a uniquely Catholic sacrament,
in
the original sense of that word:
as
a reality that is universal, that crosses boundaries,
that
takes in the big picture.
I
must say, I was a bit discouraged this week
when a few parishioners stopped in the office
to grumble about our new parish—
to grumble about our new parish—
particularly
saddened that,
just
days before it is established
and
after many months of preparations,
it’s
the first time they decided to speak up.
My
friends, I know that change is difficult.
But
we must move beyond the tunnel vision
that
has held us back for too long!
In
another time, under different circumstances,
our
pastors worked hard
to
develop a distinct sense of parish identity—
whether
it was French versus Irish,
village
versus country, rich versus poor.
I
think their motives were probably alright,
but
the result has been quite regrettable:
we’ve
become terribly parochial—
very
closed in on ourselves and narrow-minded—
instead
of truly Catholic.
At
the Last Supper, Jesus told us
that
he was shedding his Blood “for the many”—
not
so that we would stay many,
but
that all who partake of the one loaf
might
be united as one Body in him.
The
Eucharist broadens our vision,
not
only because it cuts across divisions within our community,
not
only because it spans the entire globe,
but
because it goes so far as to bind earth to heaven.
Because
of Br. André’s deep devotion
to
the Most Blessed Sacrament,
and
because of what the power of the Eucharist
can
accomplish within and among us,
Forty
Hours seemed like the ideal way
to
mark the transition from our four former parishes
to
our single new one.
Please
take note of the schedule of Masses, adoration, and prayers
next
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday,
and
make plans to come to as much as you’re able.
It’s
not only an historic moment in the life of our parish,
but
one that promises to be full of grace!
Crowd gathered (with Br. André at the altar) for the blessing (which included Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament) of the original chapel at St. Joseph's Oratory, October 19, 1904 |
We
are blessed to have had a saint walk among us,
and—as
a parish—so very soon to take his name as our own.
But
St. André recognized an even greater blessing:
that
the Only Begotten Son of God
had
not only walked the face of the earth once upon a time,
but
dwells among us still—
on every
altar and in every tabernacle
of
all the Catholic churches of the world.
Let
us come in faith to receive him!
Let
us come with devotion to adore him!
Let
us see on earth, as do the angels in heaven,
our
God with us here!
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