The Sacrament of Charity

 

“Lex orandi, lex credendi”

Why Pope Benedict XVI
Wants to Restore Reverence to the Mass—
and How YOU Can Help Him!

Plus, how you can receive 5 free copies of Catholic Answers’ new answer guide, The Sacrament of Charity.

Dear Friend of Catholic Answers,

When was the last time you went to a Mass that was celebrated with reverence, devotion, and a true sense of the sacred?

If you say, “Last Sunday!”, you’re lucky. Many Catholics can’t say that because Masses at their parishes aren’t celebrated correctly.

What they get is noise, distractions, insipid preaching, and maybe even “entertainment.” But they don’t get the Mass as the Church wants them to get it.

·        They get popular music rather than sacred music—syrupy folk songs or even drums and electric guitars instead of chant and hymns that normal people can actually sing.

·        They get sanctuaries draped with felt banners (talk about shades of the ’70s!) but with no visible tabernacle.

·        They get cotton-candy homilies that “affirm” listeners but don’t challenge them to become better Christians by referring to such “outmoded” things as sin.

·        They get an atmosphere so lacking in reverence that private prayer before or after Mass is difficult because of all the chattering (by people who enter movie theaters in perfect silence).

·        They get extraordinary ministers who are so numerous that one begins to wonder if the word extraordinary has had its meaning reversed by some governmental commission.

Sadly, the list of liturgical and sacramental abuses goes on and on.

The “sense of sacred” and the mystery of the Mass have been tragically lost in many Catholic parishes these days—precisely because the liturgy isn’t being celebrated correctly.

As a result, millions of Catholics—and especially our Catholic children—are growing up without a proper understanding of the holy sacrifice and what it could and should mean in their daily lives.

There’s an old Latin saying—“Lex orandi, lex credendi”—which, loosely translated, means “the way you pray affects the way you believe.” So if the Mass is celebrated in a casual, lackadaisical, worldly, “people-pleasing” way, it stands to reason that there will be a weaker understanding of what the Mass really is—and thus a weakening of people’s faith, particularly their belief in the Real Presence. (Again, this is especially true for our children.)

But thankfully…

The Pope Wants to FIX All That!

Yes, Pope Benedict XVI is on a mission to restore the sacred to the sacred liturgy—and thus restore the faith of the people.

In his brand-new apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (“The Sacrament of Love”), the Pope lays out his plan to revive the proper celebration of the Eucharist, which, as he points out, is “at the root of every form of holiness” and “the source and summit of the Church’s life.”

In paragraphs 94 and 95, Pope Benedict says:

“How many saints have advanced along the way of perfection thanks to their eucharistic devotion! We too cannot live without partaking of the sacrament of our salvation.”

Along those lines, the Pope lists everything he wants to see fixed, changed, and improved upon in how the Mass is celebrated in parishes around the world.

Specifically, he deals with:

·        Why Catholics should more frequently go to confession in order to receive Holy Communion worthily.

·        How the sacrament of holy orders is indispensably linked to the Eucharist.

·        Why priestly celibacy is so important as a pure imitation of Christ.

·        Why divorced and remarried Catholics are not allowed to partake of the Eucharist, but how they can participate in other ways at Mass.

·        The proper way to bring the faithful to participate in the liturgy.

·        Why vestments, furnishings, art, and liturgical texts—even church architecture—are so important to a proper celebration of the Eucharist.

·        Why the music at Mass should never undermine the meaning of the liturgy—and why Gregorian chant should be preferred.

·        Why homilies need to be improved and made more catechetical—avoiding the generic and abstract homilies that seem to be so popular today.

·        Why the presentation of the gifts and the sign of peace need to be done reverently.

·        Why we need to do away with “contrived and inappropriate additions” that have snuck into the celebration of the Mass these days.

·        Why non-Catholics cannot receive the Eucharist.

·        Why large-scale celebrations of the Mass need to maintain their proper focus.

·        Why Latin should be used more frequently in the Mass—especially in the music.

·        Why outward signs of reverence for the Eucharist are so important—particularly the gestures of genuflecting and kneeling.

·        Why eucharistic adoration should be promoted vigorously.

·        Why the location of the tabernacle is so important—and where it really should be.

·        Why the Sunday obligation must be reaffirmed.

·        How the Eucharist can combat today’s secularization and the marginalization of the Christian faith.

·        Why priests should celebrate Mass regularly—even if the faithful aren’t present.

·        Why Catholic politicians and leaders must publicly express their faith—especially those beliefs that are not negotiable, including defense of life from conception to natural death, family built around one man and one woman, freedom to educate one’s children, and the promotion of the common good. Moreover, why bishops must strongly reaffirm these values!

All this—and much more—is contained in Pope Benedict’s impressive new apostolic exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis.

Unfortunately, it’s lengthy: over 26,000 words—not including the footnotes.

Therefore, we at Catholic Answers have prepared a short answer guide called The Sacrament of Charity that summarizes and explains this exhortation so priests and laity alike can readily grasp the deep theological teachings contained in it.

And, as we do with so many of our answer guides, we want to send a copy to every parish in America—so that everyone can benefit from the wisdom contained in the Pope’s words.

But, as always, that costs a lot of money.

This is where we need your help.

The only way we’ll be able to send out copies of The Sacrament of Charity to every parish is if we receive a generous, timely donation from you and the rest of our Catholic Answers supporters.

As you know, we depend solely on your sacrifices to do our work. And this is a case where, if we can help improve the way the Eucharist is being celebrated, your sacrifice will pay off for generations to come.

You will be helping millions of your fellow Catholics experience the sublime beauty and mystery of the Eucharist when it is celebrated with reverence, respect, holiness, and the sense of the sacred.

The Pope’s apostolic exhortation—if heeded—could undo the damage of years of liturgical abuse.

But only if it gets to the people who need it most—our parishes. Your parish.

Won’t you please send a gift of $35, $50, perhaps even $100 today so we can raise the funds needed for this important project?

For your gift, we’ll in turn send you five copies of our answer guide for your own edification—and so you can give copies to your favorite priests and to your parish’s liturgy director.

I firmly believe that Sacramentum Caritatis—combined with our guide that summarizes and explains this great document—can be a turning point in the restoration of authentic Catholic liturgy and, therefore, of authentic Catholic belief.

Won’t you be a part of this?

Sincerely in Christ,

Karl Keating

P.S. Remember: Most parish priests won’t take the time to read all 26,000 words of Sacramentum Caritatis. But they will take the time to read our guide—if you help us send it to them.

            May I hear from you today?