Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, on the feast of Corpus Christi Sunday, June 6 gave a 17-minute homily.

Father Illo began by welcoming a group of students from Thomas Aquinas College and pointed out that three of the four teachers for the classical academy at Star of the Sea opening this year are Thomas Aquinas graduates.

52 parishioners of Star of the Sea who were to be confirmed were also welcomed.

Throughout  the homily, Father quoted Thomas Aquinas, who composed the Mass for Corpus Christi, including the longest Sequence in the liturgical year.

Part of the Sequence had to do with worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist as a matter of life or death. Father Illo: “Archbishop Cordileone pointed this out in his May 1 pastoral letter about Catholics in public life and the most Holy Eucharist, and the media represented that letter as a political gesture. What it really got to the heart of was the Holy Eucharist….”

Go to 10.35 minute of the video. “ Every person is Christ, Mother Teresa would say, and especially the poorest of the poor. What you did to the least of my brothers, the poorest, the neediest. What you did to them, the Lord says, you did to me. And no one is poorer than unborn persons.”