Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This phrase, “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ,” contains a double meaning.  It refers to both the Eucharist and to the Church.  Both are the Body and Blood of Christ. 
           
Even the Body and Blood of Christ can experience glitches when it comes to technology!  We had a brief problem with our online parish registration.  So if you joined St. Blase via our website, and it has been more than 6 – 8 weeks and you have not received envelopes or received electronic communications from the parish, your registration might not have gone through.  I apologize for that.  The problem has been fixed.  If you are unsure about your registration status please call the parish office and Crystal will check for you.  Thanks for your understanding.
           
This is also Memorial Day weekend.  We remember those who have defended our belief in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by paying the ultimate sacrifice, giving their life for their country.  We pray for all who have sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of and defense of freedom.  We especially remember those who remain listed as Missing in Action, and their families and loved ones. 
As I have mentioned at other times, Vatican II instituted an on-going revision of the Church’s liturgical rites.  This was done to ensure that our rituals do not become static for centuries, as they were prior to the Vatican Council.  After numerous delays, the new rite of marriage has been approved and is scheduled to go into effect this coming Advent.
        
What is changing?  Truthfully, as with the changes in the mass a few years ago, most of the changes involve tweaking a word here and there!  The New Rite of Marriage specifically omits the Penitential Act.  Many presiders have been doing that already, insofar as our current rite does not mention it either way.  So this officially clarifies the silence of the current rite.  More selections for the scripture readings have been included.  This will provide many more options from which the bride and groom can choose.  Embolisms (specific prayers pertaining to the celebration) have been composed to be prayed within the Eucharistic Prayer.  The Nuptial Blessing now contains a specific reference to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the couple.  These words, together with the ritual gesture of the presider extending his hand over the couple, are consistent with the invocation of the Holy Spirit in other sacraments of the Church.  The Consent, or vows, have been slightly re-worded.  The rite will also contain prayers for the Blessing and Giving of the Arras and the Blessing and Placing of the Lazo or Veil.  These are cultural adaptations that come from the Hispanic and Filipino traditions.  Lastly, the New Rite includes a Blessing of Engaged Couples, which is designed to be performed by a lay person(s), such as the parents of the couple.  Those are the highlights.  Our Liturgy Planning Committee will be discussing how we can best introduce the new Rite of Marriage into our parish.
           
If you have already made your pledge or contribution to the CATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL (CSA) I thank you.  If you have not, please do so this week.  We really need everyone’s support and generosity to reach our target.
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Fr. Randy Phillips

Summer Circle (Vacation Bible School) is just around the corner.  You know how big we make this - - it is an event, a happening, an experience - - much more than the ordinary, run of the mill VBS.  To keep doing that, however, we need parents, grandparents and neighbors to REGISTER YOUR CHILDREN NOW SO WE CAN ORDER THE APPROPRIATE SUPPLIES. 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  While the Trinity is a mystery and difficult to comprehend, there is one very practical way to observe this great day.  TEACH YOUR CHILD(REN) OR GRANDCHILDREN THE SIGN OF THE CROSS!  I am both amazed and saddened at the number of children who cannot make the sign of the cross.  When children too young to receive holy communion are blessed by the communion minister, they need to be taught to make the sign of the cross over themselves - - just as they do, or should do, when they dip their hand into the baptismal font as they enter or leave the worship space.  This gesture is how we begin our prayer, both formal and informal and it should be “automatic” for all, even our little ones.  So parents, I ask you to please reinforce this at home.
           
It what is now en embarrassingly belated announcement, I am nevertheless happy to say that Jim Richard and Amy Hogan are co-chairs of our Ushers.  After decades of leadership Jerry Simon stepped down from that position.  Jerry more than deserves his “retirement” after giving of himself so generously for so many years.  It is strange, in a good way, to see him sitting next to his wife, Sally, at mass.  (Sometimes I think the spouses and children of the ushers should sit together during the liturgy!)  Although I sent a personal note to Jerry when he stepped down I had always intended to publically recognize and thank him, together with recognizing and thanking Jim and Amy for agreeing to take on this position of leadership and service.
           
The Spring Projects are here!  The replacement of the shake shingle part of our roof has begun.  We have a new projector and screen in the church.  This is now a rear projector so we will no longer have to negotiate any video projections over and against the beautiful artistry of our Art and Environment Committee.  This has been a minor, but real nuisance over the years, and now it is finally behind us.  In early June the tile will be replaced in the Social Center.  We want to have this project completed before Summer Circle and McRest.
Church news you might have missed includes the Archdiocese of New York beginning a canonical inquiry into the life of Dorothy Day.  This is a “next step” on the path toward canonization.  It includes interviewing those who knew her and reviewing her unpublished writings.  In Rome a conference sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace stated that the Just War theory is outdated and no longer valid.  Too often this theory has been used to endorse rather than to limit or prevent war.  Modern warfare routinely violates the principle of proportionality, which is one if the pillars of the just war theory.  Also routinely violated in contemporary warfare is the principle of not killing civilians.  These actions render the vast majority of contemporary wars to be unjust.  Lastly, Pope Francis has called for a commission to study the possibility of ordaining women as deacons.  Before jumping to conclusions, be mindful that Pope Francis has not named anyone to this commission nor has any timeline for the commission been set.  Though a welcome sign of hope for many women and men, this will not be happening tomorrow!
Fr. Randy Phillips

HAPPY PENTECOST!  Today we celebrate receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit who first came upon us when we were baptized.  The Spirit continues to be poured upon us.  Think of this gift not as a sporadic event that happens only at specific moments, but as a continual action such as breathing.  The Gifts of the Holy Spirit include: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel (right judgment), Fortitude (courage), Knowledge, Piety (reverence) and Wonder and Awe (Fear of the Lord.)  Which of these seem to come natural to you?  Which one do you need to be more open to?  Pray about this during the week.

On Saturday, April 30th, the Jesuit priest, poet, peace activist, professor, writer, hospice chaplain, and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Fr. Daniel Berrigan, entered eternal life.  He is often remembered for civil disobedience during the Vietnam War era especially taking Selective Service records from the Catonsville, Maryland, draft office and burning them.  When criticized for his actions even by other peace activists, Berrigan wrote, “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children. How many must die before our voices are heard, how many must be tortured, dislocated, starved, maddened? When, at what point, will you say no to this war?”
           
Berrigan is credited for giving the shortest commencement address on record.  His one sentence address to the graduating class of Xavier High School in New York:  “Know where you stand and stand there.”  When a student asked if faith was primarily located in the heart or the mind, Berrigan colorfully replied, “Faith is neither primarily in one’s head nor in one’s heart.  Faith is primarily in one’s posterior.” Here is more from Fr. Berrigan.

“For my part, I believe that the vain, glorious and the violent will not inherit the earth. . . . In pursuance of that faith my friends and I take the hands of the dying in our hands. And some of us travel to the Pentagon, and others live in the Bowery and serve there, and others speak unpopularly and plainly of the fate of the unborn and of convicted criminals. It is all one.”
           
"Certainly the trouble is not that we do not want peace. We have seen enough war, we are sick of it, unto death. The war has come home like a stalking corpse, tailing its blood, its tears, its losses, its despairs — seeking like an American ghost the soul of America. We want the peace; but most of us do not want to pay the price of peace. We still dream of a peace that has no cost attached. We want peace, but we live content with poverty and injustice and racism, with the murder of prisoners and students, the despair of the poor to whom justice is endlessly denied. We long for peace, but we wish also to keep undisturbed a social fabric of privilege and power that controls the economic misery of two thirds of the world's people.  There is no peace because there are no peacemakers. There are no makers of peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war.  Because we want the peace with half a heart and will, the war continues, because the waging of war, by its nature, is total - but the waging of peace, by our own cowardice, is partial.”
           
“Smart bombs, depleted uranium, land mines, rockets and tanks, rather than protect 'widows and orphans and strangers at the gate', are designed precisely to create 'widows and orphans', to transform strangers into enemies and enemies into corpses.”
“Success is such a weasel word anyway, it's such a horribly American word, and it's such a vamp and, I think it's a death trap.”
"From a religious point of view, nonviolence is not primarily a tactic. It is a way of living and being and expressing the truth of your soul in the world. Tactics come and go. Tactics now work and now do not work. One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible.”
           
Berrigan wrote over 50 books, some in a style I can only describe as contemporary apocalyptic.  For those interested in an accessible collection of his work, I suggest, Daniel Berrigan: Essential Writings.  My favorite of his works is entitled, Uncommon Prayer: A Book of Psalms. The first entry, based on Psalm 4, is worth the price of the book! 
When asked if he would ever stop writing or protesting, Berrigan quipped, “The day after I’m embalmed. That’s when I’ll give up.” Well done, good and faithful servant.  May you rest in PEACE.
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Fr. Randy Phillips

Today we begin the last week of Easter and celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.  More than 15 years ago the Ascension was moved from Thursday to the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  This was to ensure greater participation and awareness of this feast.  I think it also helps to remind us that, as Catholics, we are not biblical literalists.  According to the writings of Luke – Acts Jesus ascends to the Father 40 days after his resurrection.  Throughout the bible the number 40 is highly symbolic and simply indicates a long period of time.  Therefore the tradition of 40 days is not intended to be literal.  In fact, from a spiritual and theological perspective it is difficult to separate the resurrection and the ascension.  They appear to be “two moments” of one action.  NEXT SUNDAY IS THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST.  REMEMBER TO WEAR RED TO HONOR THE HOLY SPIRIT (PUT A STICKY NOTE ON A PROMINENT PLACE TO REMIND YOUR SELF!)

I extend an appreciative, “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY,” to all who share in the vocation of motherhood.  May we also remember Godmothers, grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law as well as women who cannot be mothers.  All of these together with our mothers who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith are held in our prayers this day. God bless you all.

I know you join me in congratulating Fr. Ken Mazur, who has a full-time assignment effective July 1st.  Fr. Ken will become pastor of St. Theodore, St. Damian and Divine Savior parishes in Westland.  Prior to his arrival the plan is to consolidate all 3 parishes into one, at the site of St. Theodore.  While I will be sad to have him no longer assisting us on Sundays, I am happy for him that he is finally settled and will soon be a pastor.

Speaking of which, this Saturday Archbishop Vigneron will ordain 5 men to the priesthood at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.  Please keep Deacons Paul Graney, Dominic Macioce, Kevin Roelant, Timothy Wezner, and David Tomaszycki in your prayers this week prior to their ordination to the priesthood.

This Friday, here at St. Blase, the Elephants in the Living Room present Dr. Stephen Pope as he address the topic, “Can Catholic Moral Teaching Develop?” Dr. Pope teaches theology at Boston College and has written extensively on Christian ethics. Join us if you can at 1:00 P.M. in the social center for what promises to be an enlightening presentation.

If you have not already done so, PLEASE REMEMBER TO MAKE YOUR PLEDGE OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL (CSA.)  You may drop it in the Sunday collection, mail it to the office, bring it in person and there is now even an online option.  You can go to www.aod.org/csa to make your pledge and payment. IF YOU USE THIS OPTION PLEASE RETURN YOUR PLEDGE ENVELOPE TO ST BLASE AND INDICATE THAT YOU GAVE ONLINE.  THANKS!

​Fr. Randy Phillips