Celebrating Corpus Christi at Corpus Christi parish, Woodside, Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez spoke of soda.
During his homily, the bishop spoke of how culture has shifted towards an awareness of the types of food and drinks people consume. People read labels and think of the about 40 grams of sugar that is found in a can of soda.
Corpus Christi is an opportunity to think about the spiritual food that can nourish the body, he explained.
The bishop invited the congregation to contemplate “Christ who ripped His body for us, who also invites us to give one another for others.”
Bishop Sanchez also encouraged the congregation not to become discouraged by the world’s seemingly unsolvable problems.
He told them to take a lesson from the day’s Gospel reading: The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. He told the people to be like the Apostles, who, although they did not understand, they trusted God and gave everything they had, even if it was just five loaves of bread and two fishes, to the people.
“If we give of what we have for one another and we do with God’s grace,” he said, “that is more than enough for everybody.”
As if in answer to the bishop’s request, the people of the parish partook in a potluck of refreshments in the school parking lot. The school gymnasium was unavailable because that is where the celebration of the Eucharist took place to accommodate a parish-wide trilingual celebration.
During the repast, parishioners enjoyed sweets, snacks and water, which was a welcome reprieve from the hot midday sun under which they walked during the traditional Corpus Christi procession.
Parishioners set up three altars around the parish at which the procession stopped to publically worship the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. At the first altar, prayers were said in English, then Spanish at the second and in Tagalog (Filipino) at the third.
“It’s a beautiful way to publicly profess our faith,” said Father Patrick West, pastor.
“The Eucharist is what unites us as a people of God. Languages separate us. It’s the Eucharist that unites us.”
Parishioners Ricky and Cecille Matela, members of the Filipino diocesan music ministry, were happy to make the sacrifice of being in the uncomfortable heat in thanksgiving to God and for public worship of God.
“It’s for the greater glory of the Kingdom of God,” Ricky said. “It shows your faith that all of this is nothing without God’s love.”
“It’s an opportunity to give back to Him who gave you everything,” Cecille said.
