Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis has instructed his priests to follow guidelines intended “to foster an ever-greater spirit of reverence” at Mass. Among the guidelines:
- Quiet should precede and follow the Mass. “Visiting and casual conversations . . . should precede entrance into the body of the church” and should not take place within the nave.
- The choir or musicians should not practice in the church immediately prior to Mass. Either they should practice in another location, or they should practice in the church well in advance of the arrival of a large number of parishioners.
- The priest and other ministers should genuflect toward the altar whenever the Blessed Sacrament is present in the tabernacle, even if the tabernacle is located away from the center of the sanctuary. “Our reverently doing so can be a powerful means toward affirming and strengthening our people’s faith in the Real Presence.”
- Following the rule adopted by the American bishops, the congregation is to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer, from the Sanctus through the “Amen” of the final doxology. “Especially in churches where the practice of standing has been observed, this return to the norm of kneeling will require careful catechesis.”
- The consecrated elements are not to be referred to as “bread” or “wine,” but as the “Body” and “Blood” of Christ.
- Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist have one function, to distribute Communion. “It is the deacon or a priest, not an extraordinary minister, who during Mass goes to the tabernacle (when necessary) for ciboria, who distributes the Hosts from the one large vessel to the other smaller vessels, and who pours the Precious Blood.”
- The celebrating priest first gives Communion to himself, then to the deacon, then to the extraordinary ministers. “Only priests give themselves Communion. Deacons and all other ministers are given Communion. This includes receiving the cup and not taking it from the altar.”
- “If any of the Precious Blood remains” after Communion (in those instances in which distribution is under both species), “it is immediately consumed. The Precious Blood is never poured into the sacrarium.”
Thomas Albracht sent a clipping from his parish bulletin in Hereford, Texas. The unsigned article, called “The Presence of Jesus,” correctly names the four ways Christ is present in the Mass: in the Blessed Sacrament, in the priest, in the Scripture readings, in the people.
But the anonymous writer then says, “He is not present to be adored or worshiped. He is there to join us to himself as he offers himself to his father [ sic] in a consummate act of love. This offering is what makes the Eucharist a sacrifice and it is worth thinking about.”
It certainly is. Setting up a false dilemma like this is one of the common tactics of those who work to undermine Church authority and teaching. Why should we not adore and worship a Lord who sacrificed himself for us on Calvary? The writer may have some trouble with the concept that the Mass is a re-presentation of Jesus’ self-offering on the Cross: “The sacrifice of the cross is not repeated or duplicated, it is remembered, but it is a unique sort of remembrance.”
Why does Jesus ask us to offer Mass? “So that we may know the power his surrender has to free us from the prison of our own egos and place us in harmony with our neighbor, our world, and our God. . . .”
Yikes. Not a word about Jesus being the actor in the sacrifice—or indeed about his becoming truly present on the altar. And did Jesus really say we were to be “in harmony” with the world?
Catholic Answers receives many complaints about such items in Sunday bulletins. A few are openly defiant of Church doctrines, but others, like this one, skate along the edges of outright dissent. Often, much is presented in unexceptionable terms—with only a slight omission or distortion here and there. In this case, such an omission occurs in the opening paragraphs, which name the four modes of Christ’s presence at Mass. In the Vatican II document that spells this out, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Jesus is said to be “especially” present in the Eucharist. And the 1967 instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium (quoting Trent), we are reminded: “There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind ‘that all the faithful ought to show to this most holy Sacrament the worship which is due to the true God, as has always been the custom of the Catholic Church. Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by Christ to be eaten.’ For even in the reserved Sacrament he is to be adored because he is substantially present there through that conversion of bread and wine which, as the Council of Trent tells us, is most aptly named transubstantiation.”
Another common omission occurs when dissenters try to justify liturgical innovations (such as gathering around the altar or refusing to kneel) by insisting that the Mass is a “family meal,” which ought to be intimate and casual. In fact, Eucharisticum Mysterium, the source for the Mass-as-meal image, offers a constellation of realities taking place within the liturgy: “Hence the Mass, the Lord’s Supper, is at the same time and inseparably: a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated; a memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, who said, ‘Do this in memory of me’ (Luke 22:19); a sacred banquet in which, through the communion, of the Body and Blood of the Lord the People of God share the benefits of the Paschal Sacrifice, renew the New Covenant which God has made with man once for all through the Blood of Christ, and in faith and hope foreshadow and anticipate the eschatological banquet in the kingdom of the Father, proclaiming the Lord’s death ‘till his coming.’”
It’s clear, then, that the Mass is meant to mirror not a “family meal”—a suburban family chowing down on pizza while sprawled before the television—but the awesome, angel-attended wedding feast of God in heaven. Would you wear shorts and tank tops there?
Phoenix will host a Call to Holiness Conference on November 1 and 2, 1997. Modeled after Mother Angelica’s Detroit conference of the same, the Arizona conference features Fr Joseph Fessio, Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand, Fr. Anthony J. Mastroeni, Fr. Brian Mullady, Fr. Pablo Straub, Fr. Hugh Barbour, Fr. Peter John Cameron, Dr. E. Michael Jones, and Fr. Steven Scheir, all of whom appear on EWTN. Organizer Bernice English can be reached at (602) 841-7276.
A reader passed along the URL of yet another foully anti-Catholic Web page called “The Pope Is a Dope Page.” It’s one of those with no home page link or other identifying information, so the malice remains anonymous—and when we tried to access it recently, nothing came up. Perhaps it has died a deserved death. Here is a sample of its spewings:
“Wake up, Roman Catholics of the world! (and those who have joined with the world wide Whore). “You’ve been fed a LIE by the False Prophet, the Pope himself. What LIE is that, you ask? The LIE that you can do something to earn your way to heaven and that it will all ‘work out’ if you’re a ‘faithful’ Roman Catholic! Don’t you believe it for a second! The fact is that if you trust in the hogwash of Romanism, you’ll split hell wide open!
“The Pope is a sinner, just like you and I. He’s not infallible when he speaks on doctrinal issues. There is only One who is infallible and that One is the faithful and true One, the Lord Jesus Christ!
“Do we hate the Pope? YES WE DO! Do we hate Roman Catholicism? YES WE DO!”
Do we hate it when yahoos misrepresent Catholic teaching, then refute their own straw men? Do we hate it when semi-literate hatemongers attack the Church with demonic frenzy? Well, yes and no. At least when the demons go ballistic, you know you’re doing something right.
Is it all right for a Christian to peddle pornography? If you are Garland Harris, your answer is yes. Harris’s Web site holds the exclusive listing for 175 “adult” sites worth some $110 million.
Harris received a biblical research degree from The Way College of Emporia, Kansas, which is affiliated with The Way, International, an organization founded in 1967 by Victor Paul Wierwille. The Way describes itself as a teaching organization and doesn’t consider itself a denomination or religious sect. Mainstream Christian groups criticize The Way for denying the dogma of the Trinity.
Harris began designing Web sites three years ago. When a client defaulted on payment, he found himself the owner of a porn site with a hit count of 600,000 hits a day. “It seemed like a waste to just shut it down, ” he said.
Harris says he searched through the Bible to see if what he was doing was wrong. His answer: No.
“I didn’t go into this business primarily to broker adult sites,” he explains. “Can a believer be a bartender? Can a believer be a real estate broker that sells night clubs or strip clubs? I’m facilitating a transaction, not condoning the sites.”
However, Harris and his wife also currently operate their own adult site, which includes pictures of sexual acts, along with images of men and women, separately, in various stages of undress. But Harris has some standards: He has a staff person maintain the site’s graphics, “so we don’t have to look at them ourselves.” And he refuses to list any gay or lesbian sites—although he does permit one for cross-dressers.
We’d like to get a look at that Bible he consulted. Did it have an imprimatur from Larry Flynt?
From an anguished college student, a passage from a “Catholic” textbook he is required to read in a “Catholic” college: “Even the Roman Catholic Church has changed and is changing, to the surprise of many. For the Church, above all, was thought to be the bastion of stability and timeless truth. This impression was largely the result of the illusion which makes us think that the way things are is the way they have always been. Historical research shows very clearly that Church doctrine . . . [is the] product of historical evolution. Once this truth is grasped, it becomes obvious how these same realities must continue to be updated and adapted to meet the challenges of ever changing times and cultures” (emphasis added). The book, which the student insists he will burn at semester’s end, is Alternative Futures for Worship.
How many times have you searched for a Catholic church while traveling—or for a parish with a later Mass when you overslept? Now you can call an 800 number and get the time of Masses at area churches, wherever you are in the United States. The number is 1-800-MASSTIM or (800) 627-7846. After keying in the zip code of the location, you’ll hear Mass times of several churches near you.
This public service is offered by Robert Hummel of Florida, who developed the computerized search service for traveling Catholics. The costs of the service since its inception three years ago (including initial development) have run $60,000. And the 800 line costs him $2,000 a month. Hummel, a retired computer executive, says that, although a few donations have been sent in, they have not begun to cover the cost of developing and running the service. A daily Mass attendee, he is committed to providing Mass times for travelers and others.
Stephen Patrick Wilson found this bit of anti-Catholic doggerel in a book called “Persecution of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich,” published in 1940.
“Go bury the delusive hope
About His Holiness the Pope.
For all he knows concerning Race
Would get a schoolboy in disgrace.
Old, muddled-headed, doddering, ill,
His knowledge is precisely nil.
And, gone in years, he can but keep
His motley flock of piebald sheep;
Since he regards both Blacks and Whites
As children all with equal rights,
As Christians all (whate’er their hues),
They’re “spiritually” nought but Jews.
The Vatican (e’en blockheads know)
With verdigris is covered so,
And wants, no doubt, the faithful band
Of Christians who around it stand—
As far as “ghostly welfare” goes—
To lead ’em by the (hooked) nose.
A pretty picture all men know—
The firm of “Juda-Rome and Co.”
An “Old Man” e’er can tell the tale
And, sure, his pity will not fail.
The banner is at last unfurled:
“Chief Rabbi of the Christian World.”
Catholic Answers is one of about thirty organizations supporting the Catholic League’s boycott of sponsors of ABC’s new series Nothing Sacred. The show, which features a confused, unorthodox priest as the “hero,” premiered September 18. The coalition boycotting the sponsoring products includes groups from Catholic, non-Catholic Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths.
Here is a list of the sponsors of the first episode: Glaxo Wellcome (Zantac 75), Helene Curtis (Suave Shampoo), Isuzu, Unilever U.S. (Wisk and Surf), Red Lobster, Sears, Dupont (Corian), AT&;T (Telecom USA), Procter and Gamble (Downy), Bayer (Aleve), Burlington Coat Factory, Scott’s (Liquid Gold), Visa, Benckiser (Electrasol Tabs), Weight Watchers, Kmart, DreamWorks (The Peacemaker), Cadillac (Catera), Chesebrough Ponds (Mentadent), Twentieth Century Fox (The Edge), Reynolds Wrap, Alberto Culver (FDS Feminine Deodorant).
The Catholic League defends the Church and individual Catholics from defamation and discrimination. The League presented Disney chairman Michael Eisner with millions of signatures protesting the new series. The Catholic League Web site (www.catholicleague.org) offers current information on the boycott. Or call (212) 371-3191.
It is always satisfying to be in synch with the Holy Father, if only by accident. In our September issue we ran David J. Palm’s article on usury—and on September 10 Pope John Paul II denounced the practice during his regular weekly audience. He decried “unscrupulous usurers” who engage in “pitiless exploitation” of families who are in need after suffering dramatic economic reversals.