June 22, 2025 And Mass of Thanksgiving

Solemnity of Corpus Christi (C) and Mass of Thanksgiving-Fr. Alan Bridges

Eucharistic & Priestly Amazement

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

 
What a joy it is for us to finally be able to address our celebrant as “Father” and to do so on this Solemnity of Corpus Christi…for the Priesthood and the Eucharist are inseparable. In his epistle St. Paul takes us to the Last Supper where Our Lord instituted these extraordinary gifts.
 
While a priest assumes many duties and responsibilities at his ordination, today’s feast moves us to see him as a minister of the Eucharist—to see him at the altar acting “in persona Christi,” pronouncing the words of consecration by which Jesus makes himself present upon the altar.
 
The gift of the Holy Eucharist was prefigured in the Old Testament by the rather mysterious, supernatural figure of Melchizedek, who is without father or mother or genealogy. He is an eternal priest and king who offers bread and wine. And so, the Church has seen him as a figure of Christ.
 
The Eucharist was also prefigured in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, found in today’s Gospel where we find Jesus using gestures of blessing, breaking, and distributing, just as he would at the Last Supper. The food that satisfied the crowd’s physical hunger points us to the promise of another food, the Eucharist, that will satisfy our spiritual hunger.
 
On today’s feast we take to heart the summons of St. John Paul II to rekindle our “sense of Eucharistic amazement” because the Eucharist is not something but someone—Jesus himself—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. So, we should never approach it casually or take it for granted. I always appreciated the words placed over the church doors of my home parish…Magister adest et vocat te!...the words of Martha to Mary…the Teacher is here and calling you”. He calls us to holiness of life, to ongoing conversion, to a transformation that will enable us to repeat with St. Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
 
For our parish, today’s celebration is also a summons for us to “rekindle our sense of priestly amazement”—To look upon this vocation with the eyes of faith and love. “God has not granted to the angels the power with which he has invested priests,” said St. John Chrysostom. St. Jean Vianney boldly asserted that “the priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven.” And what treasures do we receive from the ministry of a priest: the forgiveness of our sins; the comforting balm of anointing when we are sick, in our last hours, prayers to conduct us to the gate of heaven, to receive the truth in God’s word and in the Church’s Tradition, and indeed the greatest treasure—the Holy Eucharist! Could one receive any higher calling and dignity?
 
Yet, St. John Henry Newman did not hesitate to remind us that priests are “not angels, not saints, not sinless, but those who would have lived and died in their sin, except for God’s grace.” A priest is an ordinary man who like everyone else is himself in need of redemption. Every priest knows only too well the weakness of his response to God’s call. But it is precisely this awareness that allows him to minister with understanding and compassion to the Lord’s flock!
 
Father Alan, friend and brother to us all, may you always be a Man of the Eucharist possessing always a grateful awareness of the awesome gift and mystery you have received.
 
In August 1991 when I was named Administrator of Holy Trinity Parish in Long Branch, the pastor of my home parish wrote a few verses, a little poem. He often composed a few verses for special occasions. With a simple edit of the first line, they express our prayer for Father Bridges as he begins his ministry at the largest parish in the diocese:

                 To Saint Joseph’s, Toms River you’ve been assigned,
                 A task to tax both heart and mind.
                 
                 The ever Blessed Triune God
                 Will be your guide at every nod.
 
                 God’s will must be your only aim
                 And always glory to his Holy Name.
                 
                 Do serve all people who deserve,
                 And Christ-like be not served.      
                 
                 Preach Christ the Truth at any cost,
                 And let no soul be ever lost.
                 
                 Love God first, and neighbor too,
                 With kindness and understanding true.
                 
                 Let the Eucharist be your greatest care,
                 And all else you’ll support and bear.
                 
                 May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph too,
                 Keep you priestly through and through.