Happy Corpus Christi Sunday! The Eucharist is the source & the summit of our faith. No matter which individual parish we are a member of, St. Patrick or St. Vincent de Paul or any other parish, we are united as one in our celebration of the Eucharist.

This Monday we observe the Memorial Day holiday. The history of our country is marked by countless numbers of men & women who have paid the ultimate price, laying down their lives under the banner of freedom. Men and women who have been willing to pay the ultimate price for a higher ideal & for the good of all.

As we continue our journey through the Mass we’ve spent the last few columns looking at what we do, but for this column I wanted to take a moment to look at what we use. Not only do the words & actions of Mass hold meaning, so do many of the items that we use as a part of the celebration.

   Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers, grandmothers & mother figures! And certainly we extend our payers to all those mothers who have lost children, all those who have wanted to be mothers & who never got the chance, & all those who have lost their mothers.

Picking up where we left off last week in our walk through of the Mass, we move into the preparation of the Altar & the gifts. As the Altar is prepared & as the bread & wine that will be transformed into the Body & Blood of our Lord there are a number of different prayers & actions that happen & over the next few weeks we’ll look at a few of them.