Liturgy

Community Mass

By happy coincidence, the Church feast of Christ’s Eucharistic presence (Corpus Christi) coincides with the beginning of Refugee Week and the College’s collection of pantry items for Centre for Asylum-seekers, Refugees and Detainees (CARAD). This was reflected in our Community Mass this morning. Thank you to our Magis students who prepared the liturgy; special thanks also to choir members who were present, despite getting ready to rush off to Music Camp. We also appreciate Father Tim CSsR for presiding – and the Redemptorist community for partnering with us in celebrating the sacraments.

Next week, Community Mass will be prepared by students in St Louis House, and we look forward to welcoming students St Louis house and their families. After Mass, families are very welcome to stay for coffee in the Circle of Friends café.

Community Mass details:

College Chapel
Fridays in term time
Starts: 8:00am and concludes 8:30am

SACRAMENT PROGRAM

‘Family-focused, parish-based, Catholic school supported’

Congratulations to Year 4 students…

…who will be making their First Holy Communion in their parishes this weekend, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). We look forward to sharing names and photos of Year 4 students next week!

Parents of students in Years 3, 4 and 6

A reminder that students need to be enrolled in the parish sacrament program for the respective sacrament. Parishes need to plan for these events, so enrolment is essential.

In preparing for the celebration of sacraments, there is likely to be some variations from parish to parish. In general, parents need to complete the enrolment form in advance, and will need to show the child’s Baptism certificate. There is likely to be a parish commitment Mass, possibly a session for parents and, in some cases, a mini-retreat for students. Parishes will usually organise a rehearsal ahead of the celebration of the sacrament.

To make arrangements for your child to celebrate the sacraments this year, contact the Parish Priest or Sacrament Coordinator in your own home parish at the earliest.

Enrolment details for parishes of City Beach, Doubleview, Subiaco and Cottesloe/Mosman Park, may be found here. Cottesloe/Mosman Park parish advises that enrolments for the Sacrament of Confirmation will close on 1 August.

If you would like further information contact:

If your nearest parish is not listed, search the Archdiocesan website;
Contact Mary-Anne Lumley mary-anne.lumley@cewa.edu.au 08 9383 0513.

GOOD NEWS for the Feast of Corpus Christi

The Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates Christ’s gift of the Eucharist. It focuses on his presence under the form of bread and wine. This focus was shaped by disputes within the Church in the Medieval period when the Feast began. In Europe at the time the religious beliefs of some groups called for deliverance from material things into the world of spirit. They dismissed Catholic sacraments in which God was seen to work through material things like water, bread, wine and oil…

The Feast itself was first celebrated in the thirteenth century; [it] began locally, and the Pope of the time made it available for the whole Church. It encouraged reverence in church where the consecrated host was preserved in a prominent place for worship and for ceremonies like Benediction where it was the focus of attention. It also became a proud statement of Catholic identity. Processions of the Blessed Sacraments took place in towns where Catholics were a majority, and more recently huge public celebrations during the Eucharistic Festivals have showcased the universality of the Church.

For many Catholics such devotions deeply nourish their faith and they continue to have an important place in the Church. As in other aspects of Catholic life, however, different periods call for different emphases. Over the last century, and particularly in the Second Vatican Council, the Church has emphasised more strongly the presence of Christ within the community, which Paul called the Body of Christ. In this vision all Catholics are active as well as receptive in the celebration of the Eucharist. It has also given strong weight to Christ’s action in the Eucharist. Christ is present, not simply in the consecrated bread and wine, but as the one who forgives, speaks, feeds, gathers together and makes present his offering on the Cross. In this fuller understanding of the Eucharist Christ is present in the bread and wine because he is active in the Church. In the Eucharist he calls us to prayer and reverence. He also calls us to follow his way in feeding the poor and giving spirit to the excluded and in taking up our own cross.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is a feast that encourages us to pray, to wonder at Christ’s continuing gift to us through his presence and his continuing activity, and to follow him in giving ourselves to those in need.

This week’s reflection, for this Sunday’s feast of Corpus Christi is from a longer homily by Father Andrew Hamilton SJ. Father Andy is a Jesuit, a theologian, a writer and, among his many other roles, the Media Officer for Jesuit Social Services.