“The Eucharist is a memorial,” were Fr Steve Duncan's words as he began Corpus Christi Mass at Our Lady of Montserrat RC Church, Tortuga . In his homily, he continued on this theme as he urged us to always remember that we are blessed and highly favoured.

“In the Eucharist there is life,” he said, in keeping with the gospel, “and we share in the body and blood of Jesus to strengthen ourselves.”

Fr Duncan suitably sang the chorus of We Remember , as he reminded us that “ the blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ and the body that we break is a communion with the body of Christ .”

Expectant planters were called to the altar to have their seeds blessed on this day traditionally used for planting. With their bags of seeds in outstretched hands, Father Duncan prayed and gave the seeds their first taste of water as he sprinkled them with holy water.

With the recently installed stained glass windows as the backdrop, the Mass continued, with Father's reminder about us being a Church in “unity” being truly taken to heart.

“Walk with Jesus, body and blood, on the road of life.” These words from Fr Duncan's homily we seemed to take literally as we walked through the streets of Tortuga in our Corpus Christi procession.

Procession through the streets of Tortuga

The altar servers, Mayo RC School, Caratal – Sacred Heart RC School, Tortuga Government School, St Vincent de Paul – Mayo, Legion of Mary – Gasparillo, lay ministers and petal throwers led the way for Fr Duncan, who held the Blessed Sacrament under a brightly coloured canopy.

Villagers watched curiously from their homes as songs of praise, hymns to Mary, powerful prayers and the words of the rosary echoed through the area.

Many had expected the usual Corpus Christi rains and had therefore walked with umbrellas, which they used instead to shade themselves from the sun -- until there was a brief downpour at our first place of blessing. Truly a shower of blessing!

The Tortuga presbytery was our second stop, and it was as if we were at Vatican City when Fr Duncan held aloft the Blessed Sacrament on the verandah for the adoring parishioners below. We then headed back to the church for a final blessing and benediction. It was a day to remember.