Corpus Christi
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This Sunday, June 14th, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Normally, on this great day, we have a Procession with the Blessed Sacrament after the 10:30 am Mass, whereby we honor our Lord in a very public way. This procession demonstrates to the world our faith in Jesus Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament, and our unity as a parish, and as Catholics, in Christ. Sadly, this year because of the many restrictions that have been placed on us due to the coronavirus, we will not be doing this.
It is my hope that next year, we will have more fervor and love in our hearts than ever before as we gather behind the Lord and profess our faith and love for all to see! It is often only when something of great value is taken away from us, that we realize its true worth. This being the case, I want to say once again how great it was to have so many of you gather, once again, at the Cathedral for Holy Mass. There were many “smiling eyes” behind those masks! Thank you for observing all the rules so patiently. Things went very smoothly because of your cooperation.
We are witnessing unprecedented rioting and violence in our American cities due to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. All of us can agree that what happened to him was a horrible thing. It does and should unsettle our consciences when an unjust, brutal act such as this occurs and results in the death of a fellow human being. What puzzles me, however, is how the larger picture is completely overlooked: Abortion is the leading cause of death among blacks.
Where is the outrage over the fact that even though blacks constitute just under 13% of the U.S. population, one third of all abortions in this country are of black babies? Where is the outrage over the disproportionate numbers of abortion mills that always seem to be located in minority neighborhoods? Pro-life activists often lament that they cannot find more than 5 or 10 volunteers at a time who will pray and hold vigil outside of these places of death. Where are the outraged crowds holding up signs for these innocent victims?
Before he inexplicably did a complete reversal on his pro-life position, Jesse Jackson “railed against abortion, calling it “black genocide” and comparing abortion to slavery. According to Jackson, the idea that a baby was the personal property of the mother and she could do whatever she pleased with the child “was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.” And at the 1977 March for Life, Jackson asked, “What happens … to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience?” We have been told by media pundits that we should never say, “All Lives Matter,” but until all lives do matter, I for one, will focus my outrage on fighting for the unborn, all unborn, regardless of race.
—Fr. Epperson
Volunteers Needed
As many of you know, we are currently not offering the 5:30 pm Sunday Mass because we are in need of at least 6 volunteers to perform the following tasks: sanitize the pews when Mass is over; help with ushering people in and out of the church; dispensing hand sanitizer before Holy Communion. We also need a Lector and an Extraordinary Minster of Holy Communion. If you would like to volunteer, please call Maria at: 542-6984, ext. 0, and give her your name and contact information. As soon as we have enough volunteers, we will schedule a short orientation and then we will re-start the 5:30 pm Mass. Thank you for your generosity in helping us during this trying time.
FACE MASK DISPENSATION: We have several parishioners with existing health issues that are exacerbated by wearing a face mask. With this in mind, we all need to be aware that if we notice someone entering the church or sitting in a pew without a mask, there is a good reason.
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