By Aloysius Lai
KUCHING — St Joseph’s Cathedral parish Kuching celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi this year with a procession on the streets of Kuching after the 5 pm Mass on Sunday 22 June. The main celebrant of the Mass was His Grace Archbishop Simon Poh and priests concelebrating were Rev Fathers Nicholas Ng, Mark Bonchol, Davie Entalai, John Chong, Galvin Gumbang and Eugenio Maglasang.
Archbishop Simon during his homily, explained the meaning of Corpus Christ being the Body and Blood of Christ and linked that with Christ’s presence in the Word of God and the Eucharist at Mass. We, being baptised in Christ and Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit. United with the Holy Spirit and Christ we, the Church, form the One Body of Christ.
As such, the celebration of Corpus Christi is also the celebration of the Church united with Christ as the Head. Archbishop Simon went on to say that the Corpus Christi procession is a witness of of our faith in Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that we are bringing Jesus to the streets to bless the city and the people of Kuching.
At the conclusion of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed in a monstrance on the Altar which was then brought out in procession by Archbishop Simon.
The candlelight procession along Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg was led by the Cross bearer, youth flag bearers and members of the liturgical ministries. Flower girls and page boys sprinkled flowers along the route of the procession in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. Priests, religious sisters and seminarians also joined in the procession together with some 1,000 or more parishioners.
During the procession hymns were sung by the congregation. At the conclusion of the procession, a short prayer service was conducted at the bell tower of the Cathedral. The congregation gathered at the car park in front of the Cathedral. The service concluded with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
