This weekend we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. It is a time for us to focus on the great gift that we have in the Church, the very presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. When he told his apostles, “I will not leave you orphans,” he meant it. He has not left us. He is still here, even here with us physically. When we receive Holy Communion, we have his very presence within ourselves. We will have our annual Corpus Christi procession at the end of the 11:00 Mass this weekend. (Sorry I forgot to mention this in last week’s bulletin.)
Thank you to all who contributed last weekend to Food for the Poor and their work in areas of poverty. If you would still like to contribute, write a check to the parish and mark “Food For the Poor” in the memo line.
Fr. James was very touched by the outpouring from well-wishers before he left. He will be missed. When he returns to his monastery he will be overseeing the formation of new monks and he will also be the sub-prior. That means that he will be in charge of the monastery when the prior is away. (And Fr. James said that that is often.) He had hoped to have a quiet semi-retirement at the monastery. It doesn’t sound like that will be the case!
We are happy to have Fr. Jery now hard at work in parish ministry. Fr. Jery is a delightful man and I think that he will fit in well here at St. Charles. He speaks very good English, though I think it is fair to say that he is not yet as comfortable with American English as Fr. James. We must remember that he has not been here for 18 years. Give him some time. And do not hesitate to ask him to repeat himself if you miss something.
Our parish Vacation Bible School took place this week. We are blessed to have Keith Heimann and Cindy Stults leading the effort, with a large crew of volunteer help. The summer is quiet here. It is good to have youngsters on the property again.
We received a very generous bequest this week from the estate of Sally Miller. Please remember Sally and her family in your prayer.
