The Catholic Church in the US is in the middle of a three-year Eucharistic Revival. The purpose is to strengthen Catholics’ faith in the sacrament of the Eucharist. We are now in the second year of the revival, which is focused on parish efforts.
On Sunday, June 2, the parish will celebrate the 11 AM Mass outdoors in front of the library, an area known as Library Point because it is formed by the forking of Tanner Street from Haddon Avenue. This year, June 2 is the Feast of Corpus Christi, formally known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. You may be aware that the 50-day Easter season ends on Pentecost Sunday, celebrating Christ’s empowerment of the disciples by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to continue his mission after his Ascension.
There’s a sort of two-week extension to the Easter season with the solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi on the following two Sundays. The Trinity is central to our Christian understanding of God and deserves celebration on a dedicated Sunday. Likewise, the Eucharist is central to our Catholic worship of God and also deserves special focus.
The purpose of an outdoor Mass on Corpus Christi is to publicly manifest our faith in the Eucharist specifically and the general importance of dedicating an hour on Sunday to divine worship. Library Point is a busy spot, the entrance to downtown Haddonfield from the direction of Westmont and Collingswood, so plenty of people will see us worship. Please mark your calendars, because we won’t have the 11 AM Mass in church that day. We’ll meet at Library Point instead!
We’ll setup at an altar and speakers near the flag. Please bring lawn chairs. The parish will only bring a handful of chairs for ministers and the elderly. If you’d like to help with the setup, please reach out to Bob Tulini.
The parish, of course, needed permission from the borough to host an outdoor event on borough property. I thank Commissioner Frank Troy; former Mayor Jeff Kasko; Sal Siciliano, borough solicitor; and Deanna Bennett, borough clerk, for their help with the application.