"Come together in common, one and all without exception in charity, in one faith and in one Jesus Christ, who is of the race of David according to the flesh, the son of man, and the Son of God, so that with undivided mind you may obey the bishop and the priests, and break one Bread which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote against death, enabling us to live forever in Jesus Christ."

- Letter to the Ephesians, paragraph 20, written c. A.D. 80-110

“Take note of those who hold heterodox [heretical] opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes”

- Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2-7:1, written c. A.D. 110

St. Ignatius became the third bishop of Antioch, succeeding St. Evodius, who was the immediate successor of St. Peter. He was a first hand witness of Christ as a child, heard St. John preach when he was a boy, and later became a disciple to him, he was a close friend of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who also was a direct student of Saint John the Evangelist. Seven of his letters written to various Christian communities have been preserved. Eventually, he received the martyr's crown as he was thrown to wild beasts in the arena. As I've been reading of his life and from his writings, I thought that a direct hearer of Christ and student of the original Apostles, a student of an author of the Gospels and Epistles, was a worthy speaker on what the Early Church taught and believed about the Eucharist.

Corpus Christi is another western, and relatively modern, feast, but again, one we adore. It is the celebration of the Real Presence of the Body of Christ in the world. It is a feast of His glorious body, both literal in the Eucharist, and figurative in the Church. We are not able to be in the procession today, but that is one of my favorite things we do on this day. You have the people, who are symbolically the Body of Christ on earth, displaying, proclaiming and celebrating the Eucharist, which is actually the Body of Christ on earth. We pray and sing hymns and proclaim in word and action that Christ is alive and here with us. He offers Himself in the Eucharist as a gift to us, a medicine for sin and for our salvation.

As we are on the last day of the airshow, and are worn out, we are so grateful for our church community, who are preparing dinner for us tonight, both for our normal post liturgical meal, but also as a Father's Day gift to Rich. They are so generous and kind with us. The ladies from my Tuesday Bible study have been contributing much to our meals, to take the burden of my cooking for all of us, which is also a gift to our family.

Thank you for your prayers for our son and his wife. His shoulder injury was relatively mild and he was able to return to work. Jerome gets to start peas this week, and we are all hoping that goes well, because we eat those a lot, too. Aside from a little rest this week, to recover from last week, we also have a baby shower to look forward to for our sweet grandbaby. I am so excited to celebrate and give them gifts for that new little one! I'll share pictures of the finished items after we have given them. Saturday is Croatia's Independence Day, so I am making Croatian food for dinner.

• Sunday - Corpus Christi
  Breakfast: Leftover Pastries, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Chicken, Black Eyed Peas, Salad, Banana Cream Pie
• Monday
  Breakfast: Ful with Chopped Veggies, Hot Sauce, Kalamata Olives, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Grapes, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers, Salad, Grapes
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Turkish Eggs (Çilbir), Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Graoefruit Halves, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Stuffed Dover Sole with Wine and Cream Sauce, Herbed Rice Pilaf, Cabbage Salad, Fruit Plate
• Wednesday - Feast of Saint Alban
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Almond Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Black Bean, Tomato, Corn, Avocado Salad, Corn Chips, Frozen Fruit Salad (no pineapple)
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Arabic Cheeses and Chopped Vegetables Drizzled with Olive Oil and Sprinkled with Za'atar and Aleppo Pepper, Kalamata Olives, Khoubz Araby, Grapes, Mint Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Ropa Vieja, Cuban Yellow Rice, Salad, Oranges
• Friday - Feast of Saint John the Forerunner
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas with Roasted Red Peppers, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Grapefruit Halves, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Chocolate Cheesecake with Hazelnut Crust and Raspberry Sauce
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Waffles with Buttermilk Syrup, Bacon, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Croatian Braised Lamb with Chard and Rice Dumplings, Croatian Style Marinated Cucumbers, Kroštule/Hrštule

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Church Year, Corpus Christi, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen