Being the Body of Christ… together

Why Isabel Jones Volunteers To Help With The Corpus Christi Procession

BY RICHARD LUNA

Isabel Jones had some big expectations. She had always loved the feast of Corpus Christi, and when she moved to the town bearing its name in 2000, she figured the feast would be even bigger and more elaborate than ever. The reality was quite different.

“I was shocked to find out that there was no big celebration,” she said. No public procession, no flowers or blessings. In Mexico, where she grew up, every town or village would have a procession in honor of the feast. But she didn’t give in. She asked her priest and friends who were working for the Church why there wasn’t a big public celebration - because it was paused for some years and substituted by parish celebrations. Her gentle nudging, together with others, finally had success – the revamp of the Corpus Christi celebration came together. When asked if she wanted to be part of the preparatory committee, her answer was affirmative: “I said, ‘Sure, yes, of course.’ We are blessed to have that name in our city. I think God does so much for us. Of course, he doesn’t need us to do anything for him. But I do love Him, and I want to show my gratitude. We should do something to celebrate him.”

This was in 2019. Isabel participated in a few meetings and volunteered to prepare one altar on the way. Dreaming about the most beautiful paper flowers, as she remembered them from her childhood in Mexico, together with two friends she spent an entire day crafting colorful flowers. In the end, they prepared the altar in front of the county jail, remembering St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who volunteered to die in place of a family father in a concentration camp.

They tried to find the right place where both the inmates and the participants of the procession could see the altar. Yet, while they had found their favorite spot, the police were asking for the permit – they had to move the altar several times until everyone was satisfied. Isabel stayed focused on the reason for the procession and its meaning for people’s lives: “It doesn’t matter who we are or the mistakes we make, His grace is stronger and bigger than that. Just knowing that we are extremely loved gives meaning to our lives.”

They finally put the giant flowers that they had prepared. Isabel remembers, “As we were getting all these things ready, many inmates started knocking on their windows, asking us, ‘What are you doing out there?’ And when they realized that we were decorating an altar, they would raise their rosaries on the windows and show us they were praying with us.”

While waiting for the procession, Isabel realized: “That’s part of being the body of Christ. They are also part of the body of Christ. We’re all in this together.” And when the procession with the Holy Eucharist approached the area, she remembered that there was total silence in the presence of God. “It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past; it doesn’t matter who you are. At the end of the day, we are all looking for God for the same reason; we all want to feel loved.”

Isabel walked with her daughter Zoey in the second year: “She was excited to see people coming together from different languages and cultures.” It was a deep sense of peace for Isabel herself, and she felt gratitude “that God is so close to us and available for us.”

In the end, that’s what the feast of Corpus Christi means to her – a tangible sign of God’s love: “I feel like every single time that we get a chance to either go on a procession or to go to receive the Eucharist is an invitation that’s coming from God.”

Why should someone join the procession?

“It’s another way that God is trying to get to us so that He can bless us and let us know that He is present,” says Isabel, “we are never alone.” It’s experiencing community. “Sometimes we’re going through life thinking we are going through a tough moment by ourselves, and maybe nobody cares. But you know you are important when you’re in a group or a community. The talents and gifts that God has given us are for the service of others, and what they receive can be of service to us. We come together as the body of Christ to support and encourage each other.”

This year, Isabel was not able to prepare an altar because she was out of town before the feast. However, she volunteered that day. “And in this way, other people can make this experience to prepare an altar for the Eucharist.”

Lea la versión en español de este artículo aquí: https://diocesecc.org/news/ser-el-cuerpo-de-cristo-juntos