Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2022
The body of Christ, Corpus Christi
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.
Turns out the Chapel of the Dunes is a famous artifact, but not a working church. Docents do tours on alternate Saturdays, mostly of the artwork on the ceiling. So we won’t be going to church there today.
Port Aransas has plenty of churches, but we are leaving here for Corpus Christi in the morning. Corpus Christi is Latin, and it means “The Body of Christ.” It’s famous for its high winds, but the water is protected by Padre and Mustang Island (home of Port Aransas), and this geography plus good planning has made Corpus Christi the fifth largest US seaport.
Alonso Pineda, who mapped and named Port Aransas, did the same for Corpus Christi, naming it for the holiday when Pineda first arrived at this peaceful, balmy spot. Pineda, good Spanish Catholic that he was, no doubt took the Eucharist (the Body of Christ, the Corpus Christi) with his shipmates on that solemn day five hundred years ago.
As they took the Eucharist they themselves became the Body of Christ, the Corpus Christi. And as we drive into Corpus Christi today, on this sixth Sunday of Easter, we too remember Jesus, the Body of Christ, the Corpus Christi.
This threefold understanding of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ, increases my moment by moment reverence as we drive up North Shoreline Boulevard to the Texas State Aquarium. We didn’t see dolphins, and we didn’t see sharks, but we will at the Aquarium, and pet them besides.
We rented a golf cart yesterday and drove it up and down the beach for an hour or so. Plus we drove around the UT Marine Science Institute. Later at our home away from home on Beach Street we looked at a National Geographic map of endangered forests of the world, and Margaret said what all of us thought, that God has made an amazing place for us to live.
We found a few surfboards in a closet beside the pool. Aki took his board as far out as we could see him. The waves were full of fish. He said he felt them run across his skin a few times. A local surfer talked about the thrill of surfing a wave and seeing a dolphin surfing the same wave just a few yards away.
We parked our cart and walked around the South Jetty for awhile. A giant black ship, probably full of oil, had just passed through on its eastward way to the Atlantic Ocean. Dolphins often surf the waves in front of the bow of a ship like that. Why? Because they are intelligent, well-fed and have time to have fun.
Back on the beach Margaret shared some of our beach buckets and shovels with a family who had forgotten theirs at home. They didn’t speak English and Margaret wished that she knew some Spanish. But the language barrier wasn’t a barrier at all, two grandmas exchanging smiles, and two young girls making a castle with their mom and dad alongside.
Peace I leave with you, Jesus told his disciples, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
(Acts 15, Psalm 67, Revelation 21, John 14)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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