A Message from Fr. Brent Bowen, OP
Dear friends,
St. Thomas Aquinas is well known for his volumes of theological writing. But perhaps my favorite genre of his writings is his poetry about the Holy Eucharist. St. Thomas composed all the prayers for the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi), and our Church still uses these prayers in our Mass to this day. One that is particularly important for us as Dominican Friars is a prayer called the O Sacrum Convivium. The friars recite this prayer whenever we pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:
O Sacred Banquet!
in which Christ becomes our food,
the memory of His passion is celebrated,
the soul is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
In the Eucharist, Jesus fulfills His promise to be with us until the end of the age (c.f. Matthew 28:20). The fulfillment of this promise, however, comes about in a way that no one would expect. Rather than manifesting His presence to us in power and glory, Jesus instead makes Himself present in the most humble of ways under the appearances of bread and wine, food for our bodies and our souls.
Whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist together around the altar of the Lord, we are drawn into the mystery of Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection. The grace won for us by Jesus' passion is represented (literally: re-presented, or made present again) on the altar. We are given the privilege of entering into the heart of God's saving victory over sin and death. We then come forward to consume Him (c.f. John 6:54; Luke 22:19), filling our souls with grace.
Whenever we receive the Eucharist, we receive the resurrected Jesus in His body, blood, soul, and divinity. He gives us a pledge of what He promised to us: that we who have died with Christ in Baptism will also rise with him in glory (c.f. Romans 6).
This short prayer captures so much of the reality of the Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas, our patron, was a man whose love for sacred truth overflowed into his devotion to our Lord in the Eucharist. I recommend taking some time to pray with this beautiful prayer, asking his intercession that we may know and love Jesus' Eucharistic presence as he did.
In Christ,
Fr. Brent A. Bowen, O.P.
Parochial Vicar, Director of Evangelization
Fr. Brent A. Bowen, O.P.
Parochial Vicar, Director of Evangelization
Fr. Brent Bowen, OP
Mass Resources:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
"Pivotal Players" starts Monday
Bishop Robert Barron's “Pivotal Players: St. Ignatius of Loyola and Bartolome de las Casas” program will be offered this month on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in the Siena Rooms. Learn about these two influential Catholic figures who helped form souls and fight against injustice. Sessions start this Monday evening. To register for this free program, email
john@boilercatholics.org.
ACE Food Pantry Collection
This weekend is the monthly collection of items for the ACE campus food pantry. A white pickup truck will be parked in the back parking lot to drop off your items. Items of greatest need right now are spices, dry and canned beans, white rice, pasta sauce, and cookies.
Vacation Bible School - June 14 to 18
Vacation Bible School for children ages 4 to 10 starts next Monday, June 14. Sessions take place Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon that week.To register or volunteer, email Carolyn@boilercatholics.org.
Guest Dominican Friar this Week
This week our priests will attend the diocesan convocation for priests. In their absence, Dominican Father Tom Jackson, OP, from St. Pius V Priory in Chicago, will hear confessions and celebrate Mass from Monday to Thursday.
Support Youth Ministry with Crew Car Wash Tickets
Youth Ministry is selling Crew Car Wash tickets after all Masses this weekend to raise funds for programming. The cost is the same as purchasing them at Crew, but Youth Ministry will receive 50 percent of the purchase price for each car wash ticket sold. The tickets must be purchased at St. Tom's; they never expire, and they can be used at any Crew Car Wash in Indiana. Question? Contact Carolyn@boilercatholics.org
For more information on St. Tom’s many other activities and events, including log-in details for virtual events, consult the Announcements section and calendar on www.boilercatholics.org and today’s bulletin.
To provide a one-time or recurring gift to St. Tom's, visit our FaithDirect giving page. We are grateful for your generosity to our mission and ministries.
