Even the darkest moments of the liturgy are filled with joy, and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian Feast. Ash Wednesday is full of joy... The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust - Father Thomas Merton.
My dear brothers and sisters, today’s Solemnity is a wake up call for us to acknowledge the kingship of Christ, show our loyalty to Him, establish His kingdom in our world, actively participate in it, proclaim it, promote it and expand it through our lives and our apostolate. So let us renew our relationship with Him by loving Him, the King of Kings, through our love for our neighbors in our practice of the corporal works of mercy.
So what are we called to do as Catholic Christians by this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ we are celebrating today? We are called to: (a) acknowledge and honor the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist; (b) to thank God for remaining with us through the gift of His Son in the Eucharist; and, (c) to be grateful to God for feeding and strengthening us with the Body and Blood of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us go out into the world and truly share Christ with others by proclaiming and teaching His gospel fearlessly and solely with His power and authority. Let us also avoid all distractions with prayer, so that we can focus and concentrate on our mission of evangelizing the world.
