Pastor’s Corner — June 6th, 2021
Health Update
After some tests and procedures this week, I am happy to report that my health continues to improve. If I continue to improve like this, I may be back in the confessional and at Masses/preaching as early as this weekend, even though full recovery is still weeks away. (I’m writing this on Tuesday.) Thank you so much for your continued prayers.
Please join me in praising his merciful name, who alone gives and sustains life. Every second of life is a gift and I am so grateful for the time I have here. No matter what, please live in gratitude; it’ll keep you happy and keep you close to our loving God who is the source of all gifts.
The Feast of Corpus Christi
The feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ which we celebrate this weekend is a powerful reminder of the humility and the abundant love of our God. He gives to his Church the ability to participate more fully in the mystery of his sacrifice on the cross, and then the ability to partake of his supernatural gift of himself in the Eucharist. Before I entered the hospital, I had planned a preaching series on the Worship of God at Mass. Well, we’ll have to do that a different time. The saints speak so much about the dignity of the Mass, here are just a few quotes: (By the way, keep these quotes in mind when you think about the renovation of our sanctuary, which is to come. . .)
“If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
-St. John Vianney
“When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar.”
– St. John Chrysostom
“Know, O Christian, that the Mass is the holiest act of religion. You cannot do anything to glorify God more, nor profit your soul more, than by devoutly assisting at it, and assisting as often as possible.”
– St. Peter Julian Eymard
“No human tongue can enumerate the favors that trace back to the Sacrifice of the Mass. The sinner is reconciled with God; the just man becomes more upright; sins are wiped away; vices are uprooted; virtue and merit increases; and the devil’s schemes are frustrated.”
-St. Lawrence Justinian
“Man should tremble, the world should quake, all Heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the priest.”
-St. Francis of Assisi
“One merits more by devoutly assisting at a Holy Mass than by distributing all of his goods to the poor and traveling all over the world on pilgrimage.”
-St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Deacon Ben Rivard
This weekend one of my spiritual directees, Deacon Ben Rivard, was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Marquette. It is such a gift to walk with guys discerning and being formed for the priesthood of Jesus Christ. I simply ask that you say a little prayer for him this weekend as we honor Jesus in the Eucharist.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias