Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, took bread, and after He had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, also the cup after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (Corinthians 11:23-26)
It’s indeed significant and providential to celebrate Father’s Day on the “Solemnity of the Corpus Christi.”
Corpus Christi means “Body of Christ.”
It speaks how the church (the “Body of Christ”) is nourished and strengthened in the Holy Eucharist which Jesus instituted.
In the institution, Jesus commanded the Holy Eucharist to be made present at all times because it will serve as the highest prayer and best source of spiritual nourishment as the “Body of Christ,” the people of God. In the celebration, the Eucharist is not repeated but powerfully “made present again.”
The Sagada Catholic Mission celebrates two occasions: blessing of all fathers, and giving of certificate of commendation and simple tokens to five couples to celebrate their 50 years of loving faithfulness.
The couples arranged the celebration of the Holy Mass as their way of thanking the Lord and their way of testifying to the world that faithfulness as Christian husband and wife will never become irrelevant until today.
Couples Alberto and Luisa Lipawen, Joseph and Maria Lingbanan, Antero and Luisa Palsiw, Alberto and Natividad Pat-og, and Basilio and Agnes Owatan are testaments of the truth that the Holy Eucharist is the source of spiritual strength and spiritual nourishment to be faithful as Christian husband and wife.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads around the world especially to the responsible dads, Alberto, Joseph, Antero, Alberto, Basilio, and my brothers Alex, Charlie, Danny, Frank, Gilbert, Hermie, Ferdie, Jess, and Vince.
Happy Solemnity of Corpus Christi!
When police, pastors, and priests come together, there is peace and joy.
They enjoyed and were inspired in these three activities for two days: fellowship in prayer, fellowship in sports, and fellowship around the table.
The officers and personnel of the Mountain Province Police Provincial Office, the priests and pastors of the different churches of Mountain Province, gathered in Teng-ab, Bontoc to celebrate as people of God.
The priests and pastors prayed with and for the police especially highlighting the promotion and achievement of peace in the province. I dubbed it as “fellowship in prayer.”
After the solemn prayers, the police command led a short program to start the “fellowship in sports.” Basketball, volleyball, and table tennis were played. These sports were meant to have a holistic healthy living among the police and church leaders at the same time builds friendship to achieve peace among leaders before reaching out to the people.
Healthy living will never fail to address the need of the body. Ample food for snacks and lunch were prepared and cooked. We ate while the Broken Guitar Project Music Ministry serenaded the teams with their lovely songs, “Fellowship around the Table.”
Our visitors from Siena College, Quezon City remarked, “How lovely to see police, pastors, and priests celebrating together. It’s our first time to see such event and we are inspired. We will surely tell this to the sisters and to the school when we get back. It’s a lovely story to share.”
PNP won the basketball and Col. Ruben Andiso was awarded the overall champion in table tennis.
“Of course, we strive to win but what counts more is the fellowship in the game and the learnings”, Andiso said in his message.
Let the “Body of Christ” to mean his people on Earth constantly recognize that the unity, cooperation, collaboration of peoples is a manifestation of God’s love.
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