Why Does the Catholic Church have so many Rules!?

Question: Why does the Catholic Church have so many rules!?

This is a common question/complaint from both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  Many people perceive the Church as overly strict and rule-laden.  Why does the Church place these seemingly burdening laws upon its members?  A few responses might be in order.

First, for some people this critique of the Church may be a simple parroting of a common objection they’ve repeatedly heard over the years, perhaps without really reflecting on it.  A few times I have (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) asked the person to list which rules they mean.  Let’s sit down with pen and paper and list which rules it is we object to.  There are, after all, only ten Commandments and six Precepts of the Church.  Which shall we do away with?  The one about murder?  Adultery?  Stealing?  This is a bit of a sarcastic response, but it gets to the heart of the question: rather than just resent some abstract idea of “so many rules,” what specifically is the objection?

Well, in truth there are more rules than just the Ten Commandments and the Precepts of the Church.  Universal Church law, the Code of Canon Law, has 1752 canons!  What could possibly necessitate so many laws?  Consider for a moment that the current NFL rule book runs 88 pages.  88 pages of rules just to play a game with an oblong ball!  If it takes 88 pages to lay out the rules of a game, isn’t it reasonable that a certain complexity would grow around the life of an organization with 1.1 billion members worldwide?  That’s worth considering: what kind of system of rules should one expect to unite 1.1 billion people?  Given the scale of the Church as an organization made of human beings, one should not be surprised that a body of law has grown up around it for the sake of unity and good order.

It may not be rules in general that a person has a problem with, but the idea that certain rules are arbitrary or unreasonable.  That’s a different story.  We can all agree we should have rules in the world, from traffic laws to rules of Scrabble.  But we object to rules and laws that are contrary to reason or which place pointless restrictions on our freedom.  So the question should be, is this particular rule reasonable or unreasonable?  This takes some exploration, openness, and study.  For instance, the Church gives a handful of requirements for a person to be a baptismal sponsor (godmother or godfather).   The Church requires, for example, that the sponsor be at least 16 years of age and a fully initiated Catholic (baptized, confirmed, and practicing their faith).  This often causes new parents consternation, especially if they’ve already asked their 13-year-old Lutheran niece to be the godmother.  But are these rules really arbitrary or unreasonable?  The Church is simply ensuring that a baptismal sponsor be sufficiently mature, and that the person sponsoring someone for initiation into the Church be themselves fully initiated members.  At face value both of those requirements are quite reasonable.  In my experience this is the case with nearly all the rules some find objectionable. 

Finally, it may be beneficial to question why one objects to a given rule.  We only resent the speed limit or a stop light when we have left ourselves less than enough time and want to speed.  We only tend to resent rules we want to break.  We dislike rules when our hearts are not in conformity with the rule.  If our heart is in conformity with the rule, we don’t feel oppressed by it, and in a sense are free from that rule.  Most us don’t “need” the fifth commandment to tell us not to murder our spouse.  We don’t find that rule oppressive because our heart is already in conformity to the rule.  So our dislike of rules may signal material for our examination of conscience.  

St. Irenaeus of Lyons - A Witness for Truth in the Early Church

Today, June 28th, the Church celebrates St. Irenaeus of Lyons.  Irenaeus, who lived in the late second century, was a bishop, a defender of the faith, and an early martyr.  A large portion of St. Irenaeus' writings have come down to us, including a large tome, Against Heresies, in which St. Irenaeus defended the true Catholic faith against attacks from groups known as Gnostics. 

One thing St. Irenaeus emphasizes is authority in the Church.  When there are people in the Church teaching contradictory things, to whom do we turn?  How do we know the truth which Christ handed on to the Apostles?  Who teaches with Christ's authority today?

In answering these questions, St. Irenaeus points his readers in the early Church to consider the tradition handed on in the Churches through the bishops, who are successors of the Apostles:

"It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known to us throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about" (Against Heresies 3:3:1).

St. Irenaeus doesn't stop there.  When it comes to knowing the truth, the Christian is instructed to turn to the Church of Rome, the Church that all the other Churches must agree with:

"But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the succession of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. With that church, because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world, and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (Against Heresies 3:3:2).

Here, around the year 190 AD, St. Irenaeus of Lyons essentially gives us a description of Roman Catholicism!

More about Grace: Sanctifying and Actual

God’s grace, the gratuitous favor he shows us and His very own life He shares with us, comes in a few different forms.  We can distinguish first of all sanctifying grace and actual grace.

“Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love” (CCC 2000).  Sanctifying grace is infused in our souls at baptism, and makes us pleasing to God.  Sanctifying grace elevates us to become sharers in God’s own life.  This state  of sanctifying grace can be lost through a mortal sin, but regained through repentance and the sacrament of confession.

Sanctifying grace, which is a permanent disposition, can be “distinguished from actual graces which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification” (CCC 2000).  So the movement of God’s grace before our conversion and baptism, which cannot be attributed to sanctifying grace, is termed an actual grace.  Also, all the little (and larger) helps God gives us on a daily basis to live the twofold law of love of God and love of neighbor are actual graces.  When your natural inclination is to go off on someone with road rage, and you feel an intervening calm allowing you to practice patience, consider that an actual grace.

The point here, perhaps, is that God’s grace pervades our whole lives.  God’s very life dwells in us in a habitual, permanent way through the gift of sanctifying grace, and God offers us the aids to live a life worthy of His calling continually through actual graces.

What is so Amazing about Grace?

You've probably heard the hymn Amazing Grace many times.  Perhaps you can rattle off the lyrics without even thinking of them.  But have you stopped to consider how amazing grace really is?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that grace is  "favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life."  The Catechism also tells us that grace "is a participation in the life of God."  (CCC 1996-1997)

The theology of grace has many divisions and nuances, but two aspects of grace stand out:  grace is healing, and grace is elevating.

Because of the fall and original sin, our human natures are wounded.  Our intellect is darkened, our will is weakened, and we have a tendency or proclivity to sin known as concupiscence.  We stand in need of grace to heal our wounded nature.  Grace is medicinal in this sense, and restores what was damaged due to sin.

But grace doesn't end there.  Grace actually lifts us up beyond where our nature would be even without sin.  Grace is elevating.  Human nature, even freed from sin, cannot reach its goal of communion with God.  Grace elevates our nature, making us "partakers of the divine nature."  We become by grace and adoption what Christ is by nature: sons of God.  This supernatural gift goes far beyond restoring what was lost through sin; grace far exceeds any expectations humanity could have had by making us like God.  We call this deification - being made sharers of God's own trinitarian life.  That is amazing grace!

What is Marriage?

Pope Francis recently promulgated his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love, discussing marriage and family.  Amoris Laetitia stands as one element within a great tradition of Catholic thought on marriage and family, and must be read in light of that tradition.  The tradition of the Church has a very definite notion of what marriage is, an idea of marriage that is often not shared by secular culture.

In fact, many discussions in our culture today about marriage don’t even ask the question “What is marriage?”  When people advocate new norms for marriage that don’t accord with the collective wisdom of the past, the last question that is ever asked is, what is the fundamental nature of marriage?  What is marriage all about?  What is its purpose or goal?  So let’s ask that question: What is marriage?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines marriage in this way:  "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Perhaps this is not the most romantic description of marriage you’ve ever read, but it does bring out certain essential elements worth noting:

·        Marriage is a covenant.  That is, marriage is a sacred oath that establishes a familial relationship between two people.  This is not a mere contract, or exchange of goods.  A covenant forms two people into one.

·        Marriage is a partnership of the whole of life.  In other words, unlike other bonds or forms of friendship, marriage has a kind of comprehensiveness to it.  All of life is shared.  Marriage is a comprehensive bond in that it includes the whole of the human person: it is a partnership of body, mind, soul, and all the realities that go along with human life.  Marriage is also a partnership of the whole of life in the temporal sense, that is, marriage is comprehensive in time.  Marriage is “until death do we part.”  This reflects the radically comprehensive gift of self that defines marriage.

·        Marriage is ordered to the good of the spouses.  The primary good we can will our spouse is their salvation!  But the good of the spouses includes all the dimensions of human life.

·        Marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of children.  Here our contemporary culture is more and more departing from this vision of marriage.  In a variety of ways, a wedge has been driven between marriage and children.  But the tradition of the Church clearly sees that (all things considered), marriage is for children, and (all things considered) the best place for a child to be raised is within the covenant of marriage.

·        Finally, for two baptized Christians, marriage takes on another reality: marriage is a sacrament.  A sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace.  Hence, marriage is an outward sign, willed by Jesus Himself, to give us grace.  If marriage is an outward sign, what is it a sign of?  As we shall see, marriage is an outward sign of Christ’s love for the Church.

Various attacks on the institution of marriage, or realities that weaken marriage all deform on or another of these aspects of the notion of marriage.  They imply different answers to the question, what is marriage?  Marriage is viewed as less than totally comprehensive; or not permanent; or divorced from procreation.  We shall see, however, that this vision of marriage upheld by the Catholic Church finds its grounding in creation itself, in the design of God, and in the redeeming work of Christ.  We will also see that this vision of marriage truly responds to the deepest longings of the human heart.

Pope Francis, Amoirs Laetitia, and the Tradition of the Church

On April 8^th, Pope Francis promulgated his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love.  The document is a kind of summary of two synods (or gatherings) of bishops over the last two years discussing marriage and family.  Amoris Laetitia is like the Pope’s encouragement to the Church regarding marriage and family in light of the discussions at the synods.

Amoris Laetitia runs to over 250 pages, and commentators from all quarters of the Church and secular world have been quick to pull out texts to form sound bites appropriate for the nightly news or social media.  Some are quick to claim that the Pope is changing doctrine or Church discipline.  Others point out that this is simply not the case, nor is it even possible.  Like any papal text of such density, however, it will take the Church some time to read, study, and appropriate the Holy Father’s words.

It’s of the greatest importance to realize that Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia did not arise in a vacuum.  The Pope’s new exhortation stands as one element within a great tradition of Catholic thought on marriage and family, and must be read in light of that tradition.  Teachings on marriage and family go all the way back to Jesus Himself as recorded in the Gospels, and to St. Paul and the other biblical writers.  The biblical witness to marriage and family must remain normative for us since it reflects either the very words of Christ Himself, or otherwise the inspired word of God in the scriptures.  There is also a great wealth of teaching regarding marriage and family in the early Church Fathers, as well as saints and doctors of the Church throughout the centuries.  Even in the last century, the Popes have frequently offered teaching on marriage and family, most notably Pope Pius XI’s Casti Connubii (1930), Blessed Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (1968), and Pope St. John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio (1981), as well as his group of teachings known collectively as The Theology of the Body.  It is this tradition of Catholic thought that can act as an effective key for reading and understanding Pope Francis’ latest link in the great chain of church teaching on marriage and the family.

But how can we distill such a wealth of wisdom from so many authors over so long a period of time?  Thanks be to God, the Church has given us the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an authentic summary of this great tradition that pulls from and incorporates all these sources.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church deals with marriage and family under the heading of the seven sacraments, as well as in the context of living the moral life in Christ.  Hence, over the next several weeks, these articles will focus on an overview of the beautiful Catholic teaching on marriage and family as it is presented in the Catechism.  After that, we will be ready to look at a summary of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia.

So next week we will ask a very fundamental question: What is marriage?  Perhaps take the next week and ask yourself how you would answer that question: What is marriage?  How would you define it?  Why does marriage exist?  What is the purpose or goal of marriage?  This is the most basic question we can ask, because until we know what something is we can’t know anything about how to use it, what will make it thrive, or what could make it suffer.

Abortion and the Catholic Vote

A couple of weeks back I wrote a letter to the editor in the Diocese of Green Bay newspaper, The Compass regarding the issue of abortion in this election year. Here is the letter:

I am not a single-issue voter. That is, I do consider more than one issue when evaluating a candidate. However, there are single issues that are so fiendish that, in my mind, they disqualify a candidate from getting my vote. For instance, if a candidate were to favor the legalization of race-based slavery, I obviously couldn't vote for him. If a candidate favored the legalization of domestic abuse, no vote from me. If a candidate favored the legalization of something outlandish like kitten-torture-for-fun, I simply couldn't vote for him. It doesn't matter what his other policies are, or even how likely it is that this odd-ball policy would be enacted. It doesn't even matter if I agree with that candidate on every other issue. Other issues don't really matter at that point. His position on any one of the above mentioned issues (and hundreds of others we could imagine) would disqualify him from holding office. I think many people would find this line of thinking very reasonable. Many of these examples are only hypothetical or even imaginary (like kitten-torture-for-fun). But if a candidate and his party platform supported the legal killing of unborn human beings, that should clearly qualify as one of these unspeakably heinous disqualifying factors. It doesn't matter what one's position is on the economy, foreign policy, immigration, or anything else. If you and your party celebrate abortion on demand, you won't get my vote. It baffles me that faithful Catholics could think otherwise.

I'd note that my position seems at least consistent with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (#42):

As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet if a candidate's position on a single issue promotes an intrinsically evil act, such as legal abortion, redefining marriage in a way that denies its essential meaning, or racist behavior, a voter may legitimately disqualify a candidate from receiving support.

I say that my letter is "consistent" with the USCCB guidelines, since those guidelines don't say that a Catholic "must" or even "should" disqualify a candidate based on a single issue concerning an intrinsic evil.  They merely state that that one "may legitimately" do so.  Admittedly, my position is a bit stronger, but I think my argument justifies this.

At the risk of repeating what I wrote in the letter to the editor, I will summarize my argument succinctly as follows:

1. (General Principle)  There are certain single issues that are so crucial, that a faulty stance on that one issue ought to disqualify a candidate from consideration by any voter of good will.
2. (Specific Application)  Abortion is such an issue.

In the following issue of the Compass, Sr. Ruth Battaglia CSA, who works as a Pastoral Associate at Holy Family Parish in Brillion, wrote the following response.  I offer my response and comments to her letter in purple:

It would be nice if deciding who to vote for was as simple as Mike Brummond suggests in the March 11 issue of the Compass. (I'm not sure what aspect of what I wrote suggested to Sister that this is a simple matter.  I proposed one criteria, not an entire voters' guide.  Even if one were to accept this one criteria, there would still be others to apply.  As I said at the opening of my letter, "I am not a single-issue voter."  Calling my position "simple" seems to be just a case of ad hominem.)   From my perspective it does matter what parties' and candidates' policies are beyond abortion, as weighty as that it.  (First off, a candidate's policies do matter to me beyond the issue of abortion, so long as we are speaking of the pool of candidates who oppose the legalized murder of unborn children.  So it seems to me Sister must be denying #2 of my basic argument.  She must not think that abortion is the kind of issue that should disqualify a candidate from consideration.  I have to think she agrees with #1.  For instance, I'd be willing to bet a box of donuts that Sister Ruth would not support a candidate who lined up with her on every issue she mentions below, yet supports the legalization of race-based slavery.  Or religious genocide.  So here's the rub:  Why doesn't abortion qualify for Sister and so many other Catholics as a disqualifying issue?  Certainly some "Catholics" simply dissent from Church teaching on abortion and are actually pro-choice.  I want to give Sister the benefit of the doubt, and assume she wishes Roe v. Wade to be overturned, and to see an end to abortion in our country.  So, again, why would abortion not be a disqualifying issue?  I'd like to suggest it is because we have become desensitized to the reality of abortion.  We either no longer avert our minds to the fact that abortion is the murder of innocent unborn human beings, or that concept has become so sanitized to us that in no longer produces in us the appropriate response.  I think I can illustrate this point.  Instead of abortion, imagine we were speaking of infanticide.  Imagine a candidate or party whose platform supported the legalization of a parent's right to euthanize their child up to three months after birth.  Would Sister Ruth's last sentence make any sense if we made this substitution?  Imagine her saying "From my perspective it does matter what parties' and candidates' policies are beyond infanticide as weighty as that it."  Of course not!  That sounds ludicrous to us because we still  instinctively recognize the gravity of the crime of murdering born children.  But we have lost that same sense of gravity when it comes to the unborn.  My challenge to Sister Ruth would be this: explain how something like legalized infanticide could be a disqualifying factor for a candidate (I'm assuming she would say so), but abortion is not.  Ultimately she has to concede one of the following: 1) Infanticide would also not be a disqualifying issue (a monstrous thought), 2) The unborn are less human or less deserving of legal protection than a born child (denying Catholic teaching), or 3) The unborn are just as human, but she is being inconsistent.)

I do not want my vote to support abortion (I certainly hope not, or that would be formal cooperation in a grave intrinsic evil, which would itself be a mortal sin), but I also do not want my vote to support actions of war, torture, violence, racism, sexism, building walls, mass deportations, refusal to raise the minimum wage, ignoring the poor, or favoring corporations and industry to the detriment of Earth and its inhabitants now and in the future, to name some of my additional concerns. (First off, some of the things she states are just misleading or ingenuous, like "ignoring the poor."  There isn't a party platform or candidate who is running that supports "ignoring the poor."  Perhaps sister disagrees with the means by which a candidate or party proposes to deal with the poor, but simply tagging it as "ignoring the poor" is an example of what she criticizes below, a "social media sound bite."   But more to the point, what Sister fails to mention to the reader is that not all these issues are of the same gravity.   Our Catholic Tradition recognizes some things as intrinsic evils.  While there are some matters that good, well-informed Catholics may disagree on, there are other things that are always wrong in every situation.  While there are some issues that Catholics can argue about regarding how to prudentially act, there are some issues where there is no argument; they are simply, unequivocally wrong.  Abortion - the intentional killing of an innocent human being in the womb - is one such issue.  As far as I can tell, the only other intrinsic evil Sister Ruth mentions in her litany is torture, and perhaps racism and sexism, depending on what exactly she means by those things.  As the US Bishops have said in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the Church's defense of life is distorted by "a moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and dignity. The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.")

These complex issues bear some weight on the scale of life issues that I care about. (I agree with Sister here that these issues bear some weight.  But certainly not all to the same degree.  I do think that once one has disqualified candidates that support the legalized murder of unborn children, these issues all need to be weighed.  But I'm left wondering which of these issues Sister thinks are proportionately grave so as to balance the 54 million abortions in the U.S. since 1973.) Therefore, it is vital that I learn more about the candidates and their policies than from social media sound bites, that I have basic understanding of the issues facing our state and our nation, and that I pray and discern over the ballots that I will cast.

Ss. Peter and Paul, Naperville as a Pilgrimage Church for the Holy Year of Mercy

In keeping with Pope Francis’ wish to extend to the faithful a plenary indulgence during the Holy Year of Mercy, Bishop Conlon of the Joliet Diocese has named several parishes as diocesan pilgrimage churches for the Holy Year.  By visiting one of these Churches and fulfilling the other prescribed conditions, the faithful may receive a plenary indulgence.  Bishop Conlon has named Ss. Peter and Paul in Naperville as one of the Pilgrimage Churches.

What is an indulgence?

Our sins have consequences.  One of the consequences of sin is God’s just punishment of sin (Is. 13:11). This punishment for serious (mortal) sins includes eternal separation from God, what we know as Hell (Daniel 12:2).  Our sins may also carry with them consequences that are not eternal; we call these temporal punishments (cf. Gen. 3:16). 

Going to the sacrament of Confession brings about, through God’s mercy, the forgiveness of our sins, as well as the eternal consequence of sins (John 20:21-23; Matthew 16:18-19).  However, even after a sin is forgiven in Confession, temporal consequences may remain (cf. 2 Sam. 12:7-12; Numbers 14:13-23; 20:12; 27:12-14).  Before we are to enter into the presence of God in Heaven, these temporal consequences must be remitted as well (Revelation 21:27).  But consider: if Christ gave the ministers of His Church the authority to forgive the eternal consequences of sin, how much more would the Church have the ability to remit the temporal consequences of sin as well!

To help understand this, picture your soul as a block of wood.  Each sin is like hammering a nail into the block.  Serious sins drive large, damaging nails into the wood.  The sacrament of Confession is like removing the nails with a pliers.  However, there are remaining effects: there are holes in the block of wood.  Before we enter into Heaven, God wishes to repair all the damage done by sin; he wishes to fill in the holes.

With God’s grace and in His mercy, the temporal punishment due to sin can be remitted in this life through the voluntary penances we take on, or the involuntary penances we patiently endure.  For those dying in a state of grace, if there still remains temporal punishment due to sin, there is a final state of purification known as Purgatory (2 Maccabees 12:39-46; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  Another means of remitting the temporal punishment due to sin is through an indulgence. 

Through an indulgence, by the ministry of the Church God the temporal punishment due to sins, the guilt of which has been absolved through the Sacrament of Confession.  The Christian faithful must be rightly disposed and observe prescribed conditions to gain this remission through the assistance of the Church.  An indulgence may be partial or plenary.  While a partial indulgence remits some of the temporal punishment due to sin, a plenary indulgence frees a person from all of the temporal punishment due to sin.  A plenary indulgence may be gained only once a day.  Indulgences are applicable either to oneself or to the dead.

How can one obtain a plenary indulgence during the Holy Year of Mercy?

The Holy Father attached the Holy Year indulgence to several actions.  Among them are included: 

• Visiting one of the Diocesan Pilgrimage churches, which includes Ss. Peter and Paul in Naperville
• Or by personally performing one or more of the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. 

In addition to one of these acts, the individual receiving the indulgence must also: 

• Have the intention of acquiring the indulgence
• Go to sacramental Confession
• Receive Holy Communion,
• Make a profession of faith, praying for the Holy Father and for the intentions that he bears in his heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world 

Liturgically Speaking: Bringing More to Mass

“How can I get more out of Mass?”  It’s not an uncommon question.  But perhaps it’s the wrong question.  First, by faithfully attending Mass, we receive the flesh and blood of the Savior, the substantial indwelling of our God, the forgiveness of venial sins, grace to avoid mortal sins, a participation in the sacrifice of Calvary, the opening of the Word of God in the Scriptures, and fellowship with other believers.  Given all of that, it seems odd to ask “How can I get more out of Mass?”  Second, this kind of attitude turns us into consumers and the Mass into just another product for our consumption.  That’s not the right kind of attitude with which to approach our Lord at Mass.

Perhaps the better question might be, “How can I bring more to Mass?”  Here are a few practical suggestions on how to more fully, totally, and consciously participate in the Mass:

·         Read the readings ahead of time.  If your mind wanders during the Liturgy of the Word, consider reading the Mass readings as early as Monday, or throughout the week.  Read them together as a family after dinner one night, or at least as you’re driving to Mass.  That way, when the readings are being proclaimed, you’ll have some familiarity with them.

·         Read and pray the Eucharistic Prayers.  The Eucharistic Prayers are beautiful, ancient compositions.  Study them.  See what they are saying at each point.  Work them into your personal prayer so that you have a deeper familiarity with those prayers.

·         Get to Mass early.  Now, I know this may be hard for parents of small children.  But we tend to arrive early to things that are important to us.  Very few of us would show up to a job interview late.  Come to Mass five or ten minutes early to quiet you mind and prepare yourself for the Mass.

·         Sing and respond.  This one should be obvious, but I’ve been to many Catholic Churches where no one sang.  The Mass is not a spectator sport.  We cannot expect to sit in the pew mindlessly and derive its full fruits.  Engage your mind, heart, and voice in the actions of the Mass

·         Journal “one point” about each Mass.  I steal this point from speaker and writer Matthew Kelly.  Get a notebook or journal and at each Mass, ask yourself, “How is God trying to make me a better person through this Mass?”  It may be in a reading, a hymn, the homily, or your own quiet prayer, but try to see how God is speaking to you in each Mass, and write it down.  After a year, you’ll have fifty-two ways God was asking you to follow Him through the Mass.

·         Remain after Mass and offer a thanksgiving.  Yes, I know our parking situation is less than ideal.  But we also don’t leave important events early.  I’ve had the opportunity to stand outside of a number of Masses at Ss. Peter and Paul as Mass was ending.  We have three “exoduses” from Mass: one group of people leaves having received communion; another group leaves as the first note of the closing hymn is played; a final group leaves after the priest has processed out and the hymn is finished.  A word of encouragement:  unless it’s an emergency, don’t leave Mass early.  It says something about how we are approaching what’s going on.  Instead of rushing off, kneel down after Mass and offer a brief thanksgiving.

·         Eucharistic Adoration.  We are blessed with a perpetual adoration chapel at our parish.  This is a marvelous way to extend the graces of Sunday Mass throughout the week.  Stop in from time to time, even if for just five minutes.  Consider signing up for a weekly hour.  The Eucharist is so central to our Catholic lives, it makes sense not to leave our devotion to Christ in the Eucharis to Sunday alone. 

·         Continued Learning.  There is so much depth to our Mass, so much to learn.  The more we know about something, the more we can appreciate that thing.  Consider starting with Scott Hahn’s very accessible book, “The Lamb’s Supper.”

Liturgically Speaking: The Communion Rite and The Concluding Rite

After the Eucharistic Prayer and our “Amen,” the Communion Rite begins with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.  In early centuries, catechumens learned this prayer only weeks before baptism.  It was well established in the liturgy by the time of St. Augustine in the early fifth century.  It makes sense that we include the prayer which we regard as the most perfect, since it came from the lips of the Savior Himself.  The priest alone prays what is known as the Embolism:  “Deliver us Lord, we pray, from every evil…”  We then conclude with yet another doxology or song of praise: “For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.”

The sign of peace is a sign of sharing in peace, unity, and fellowship before we share in the even more profound communion of the one loaf and one cup.  It echoes the words of the risen Christ in John 20:20: “Peace be with you.”  We know than St. Paul often exhorted Christians to greet one another with the kiss of peace.  Thus it also entered the liturgy.  Originally it was toward the end of the offertory, a sign of peace and love as the gifts were being brought to the altar.  Pope Innocent I (410-417) moved it to its current place in the liturgy.

There is then a breaking of the Eucharistic bread over the paten and a small piece of the host is placed in the chalice.  The priest prays: “May this mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.”  This is again reminiscent of the Lord who, at the Last Supper, took bread, blessed it, and broke it.  It was also in the breaking of the bread that the disciples recognized Christ on the road to Emmaus.  Early Christians referred to the Eucharist at times simply as “the breaking of the bread.”  The precise origin of the Commingling of a piece of the host in the chalice is unknown.  It is sometimes thought to symbolize the reunification of the body and blood of the risen Lord whose blood was shed on the cross. 

This action is accompanied by the singing or recitation of the Angus Dei, or Lamb of God.  This title shows Christ as not just priest, but as victim.  It recalls the Passover lamb sacrificed to free the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt and from death.  It echoes the words of John the Baptist in the Gospel of John: “Behold the Lamb of God” (1:29).  This itself is a reference also to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who suffered for the sins of many, the “lamb that is led to the slaughter house like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers.”  Finally, the Lamb of God is a kind of wedding hymn that proclaims the union of Christ and the Church.  In the Book of Revelation, Christ the bridegroom appears as a lamb as though it had been slain.  The Book of Revelation is the wedding feast of the Lamb.   At the Mass, we are the bride. 

Our attitude to this Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is one of profound humility.  Along with the centurion in the Gospel of Matthew (8:8), we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.”  

It is at this moment that each person reborn in the waters of Baptism, approaches the altar to receive Christ, really, truly, and substantially present in Holy Communion.  We receive the whole Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity under either species of bread or wine. 

After communion, the priest returns to the altar and collects any remaining hosts and clears the altar.  He prays: “What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.”  The priest then prays the Prayer after Communion.  These prayers, again much like the opening Collects, are short and to the point.  They often deal with the effects of fruitful reception of Holy Communion: graces in our soul, an increase in virtue, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the unity of the Body of Christ, and eternal life.

The Concluding Rite is very short and simple.  We are blessed, we are dismissed to go out and serve God, and there is the same reverencing of the altar as in the entrance procession.  The aspect of mission is clear at this point in the Mass.  Having received the body and blood of the Lord, carry into the world the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ.  As Pope Benedict XVI said in his first encyclical, “God is Love,”

“Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented (DCE 14).            

Liturgically Speaking: The Eucharistic Prayer, Part III

We continue to follow Eucharistic Prayer III as a model as we look at the different elements of our Eucharistic Prayers.  The words of Eucharist Prayer III will be in bold, while some brief commentary will appear in italics.

After the consecration, the anamnesis, or remembrance, is a recollection of the saving death and resurrection of Christ.  An anamnesis is never a simple memorial, however.  This kind of remembering actually makes present the reality being recalled.  We are not just remembering the Paschal Mystery; we are participating in it:

Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice. (Notice that, in recalling the Paschal Mystery of Christ, the Church also offers to the Father that same sacrifice of Christ, “this holy and living sacrifice.”)

There can then be discerned a second invocation of the Holy Spirit, an epiclesis in which we ask the Holy Spirit to transform, not bread and wine, but those who will receive them:

Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.  (Notice again the language of sacrifice: oblation, sacrificial Victim.)

Filled with the Holy Spirit, we then offer intercessions for both the living and the dead.  We pray for the leaders of the Church, those present, and all of God’s people, that they may holiness and eternal life.  We also at this time call upon the intercession of the saints in heaven who are present with us, united in the liturgy:

May he make of us an eternal offering to you,

so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect,

especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,

with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints,

on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.

May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation,

we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world. Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church on earth,

with your servant N. our Pope and N. our Bishop,

the Order of Bishops, all the clergy,

and the entire people you have gained for your own.

Listen graciously to the prayers of this family,

whom you have summoned before you:

in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.

To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to you

at their passing from this life,

give kind admittance to your kingdom.

There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory through Christ our Lord,

through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.

Then, the final doxology, taken largely from Romans 11:36, directs all our praise and honor and that of all of creation to God the Blessed Trinity:  “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.”  We respond with our “Amen.”  This Amen sums up the entire Eucharistic Prayer that has been prayed on our behalf.  In our Amen, we unite our hearts, minds, and voices to the praise, thanks, and joy of the whole church of heaven and earth.  The great Amen was said to have “resounded in heaven, as a celestial thunderclap in the Roman basilicas” (St. Jerome).  

Liturgically Speaking: The Eucharistic Prayer, Part II

In our last article, we saw the at main elements of the Eucharistic Prayers include the epiclesis, the institution narrative and consecration, the anamnesis, the oblation, intercessions, and the concluding doxology.  We will follow Eucharistic Prayer III as a model as we look at these different elements.  The words of Eucharist Prayer III will be in bold, while some brief commentary will appear in italics.

You are indeed Holy, O Lord, (Recall that the Eucharistic Prayer follows the Sanctus, in which we acclaim God as “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  The Eucharistic Prayer begins on the same thought of God’s holiness.  Notice also that the Eucharistic Prayer is not addressed to the assembly; the priest is not speaking to us.  It is a prayer addressed to God the Father.)

and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit,

you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting

a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name. (This is an allusion to Malachi 1:11, which says, “From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations; Incense offerings are made to my name everywhere, and a pure offering; For my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.”  This is a prophesy that among the nations, or gentiles, there would one day be a pure sacrifice in all places and at all times.  Early Christians saw in the words of Malachi a prophesy of the Eucharist, which is the sacrifice among the nations that would supersede those sacrifices offered in the Temple in Jerusalem which could never take away sin.)

Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you:

by the same Spirit graciously make holy

these gifts we have brought to you for consecration,

that they may become the Body and Blood

of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,

at whose command we celebrate these mysteries. (This is the epiclesis.  The priest calls upon the Holy Spirit to effect the transformation of our gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.)

For on the night he was betrayed

he himself took bread,

and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing,

broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT,

FOR THIS IS MY BODY,

WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

In a similar way, when supper was ended,

he took the chalice,

and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing,

and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT,

FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,

THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT,

WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. (This whole section is the Institution Narrative, that is, it recalls the events of the Last Supper at which Christ instituted the Most Holy Eucharist and commanded that it be done perpetually in memory of Him. Christ’s words, “This is my body; this is my blood,” which are presented in all caps above, are traditionally seen in the Western Church as the essential words of consecration through which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, mere bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ.)

           

The memorial acclamation follows.  The expression mysterium fidei is exclaimed at this point: “The Mystery of Faith!”  Through our response, we bear witness to an encounter with the Risen Lord:  “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.”

Liturgically Speaking: The Eucharistic Prayer, Part I

After the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy), we come to the center and high point of the entire celebration of the Mass, that is, the Eucharistic Prayer.  The priest associates all those assembled with himself in the Eucharistic Prayer that he addresses to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit.  In the Eucharistic Prayer all of us join with Christ in confessing the great deeds of God and in the offering of sacrifice.

It can be all too easy to let one’s mind wander at this most sacred of moments.  One way to focus on the Eucharistic Prayer is to know its structure and meaning.  The main elements of all the Eucharistic Prayers may be distinguished in this way:

·         The epiclesis.  This word from Greek means a calling down upon, or we might say “invocation.”  In the epiclesis, the Church implores the power of the Holy Spirit that the gifts become Christ’s body and blood, and that the sacrificial Victim may be for the salvation of those who will partake of it.  You can recognize the epiclesis as the priest extends his hands over the gifts and, usually, the altar server will ring the bells.

·         The institution narrative and consecration.   By the words of Christ the sacrifice which He instituted during the Last Supper is recalled and made effective here and now.  This is a recalling of Christ’s familiar words at the Last Supper, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood.”  These words are traditionally seen as the “form” or essential prayers that bring about the change, or transubstantiation, of bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood.  Again, you will recognize this part of Mass also by the ringing of the bells at the altar.

·         The anamnesis.  Another word from Greek meaning, roughly, “remembrance.”   By the anamnesis, the Church celebrates the memorial of Christ, recalling especially his Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  Unlike a simple memorial, however, an anamnesis does not leave the events it recalls to the past, but makes those realities present here and now, so that we may participate in them.

·         The oblation.  An oblation is an offering to God, often the offering of a sacrificial victim.   The Church gathered here and now offers the sacrificial Victim in the Holy Spirit to the Father.  Not only is the body and blood of Christ offered to the Father at Mass, but we the faithful are meant to offer our very selves in union with the sacrifice of Christ.

·         The intercessions, by which we realize that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church of both heaven and of earth, and that the offering is made for her and for all her members, living and dead.

·         The concluding doxology.  “Doxology” is yet another word from Greek, meaning “praise.”  In the concluding doxology, the glorification of God is expressed and is affirmed by the people’s acclamation “Amen.”

In our upcoming articles, we will follow Eucharistic Prayer III as a model as we look at these different elements.

Liturgically Speaking: Entering into the Liturgy of the Eucharist

After the Offertory, the priest invites us to prayer: “Pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.”  This dialogue shows forth that the Mass is a sacrifice.  The Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church asks, “What is the Eucharist?”  It responds, “The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until his return in glory….”  At the Mass as on the cross, the victim is Christ being offered to God the Father in atonement for our sins.  The priest and the victim are the same.  Only the manner of offering is different.  On the cross this happened in a bloody manner; in the Mass, in an unbloody manner. 

 That Mass is a sacrifice is shown also by our language used for other elements related to Mass.  We don’t have a simple table; we have an altar because altars are used to offer sacrifice.  We don’t have ministers or rabbis; we have a priest, because priests offer sacrifice.  We refer to the Body of Christ at Mass as the “host;” the word host comes from the Latin for “victim.”  So when I say I receive the host at Mass, I am saying that I am partaking of the victim of the sacrifice.  As we go through the rest of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the language of the Mass reminds us time and again that we are present at a sacrifice, the one and only sacrifice of Christ which He offered on the altar of the Cross.

Following this is what is known as the Prayer over the Offerings.  It is prayed by the priest and varies according to the celebration.  It is generally a petition that God would receive the gifts we offer in sincerity of heart.  

Each Eucharistic Prayer begins with a Preface that usually varies according to the feast or season.  The rest of the Eucharistic Prayer is fixed.  The Preface is a prayer of thanksgiving that is meant to move us to praise and joy, in which “the Priest, in the name of the whole of the holy people, glorifies God the Father and gives thanks to him for the whole work of salvation or for some particular aspect of it, according to the varying day, festivity, or time of year” (GIRM, 79).  The preface is preceded by the dialogue: “The Lord be with you.  And with your Spirit.  Lift up your hearts.  We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.  It is right and just.”  The priest urges us to lift our hearts and minds to nothing but God alone.  This exchange has remained the same since at least the third century. 

There are four basic Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Rite.  Eucharistic Prayer I, also known as the Roman Canon, originated in Rome by the end of the fourth century.  Since the time of Pope Gregory the great in the seventh century it has undergone little change.  After Vatican II, three other Eucharistic Prayers were added.  Eucharistic Prayer II follows closely the Anaphora of St.Hippolytus, and dates to around the year 215.  The Third Eucharistic Prayer is very clear on the notion of sacrifice.  The Fourth Eucharistic Prayer gives an overview of salvation history and is very biblical.    

It is easy to let our minds wander during the Eucharistic Prayer.  The Mass demands that we make the effort to conform our minds and hearts to the action taking place.  Consider using the four Eucharistic Prayers for your own private prayer.  Take some time to read each one slowly and discern the movements of the prayer.  In upcoming articles, we’ll go through one of the Eucharistic Prayers, and show the various elements that come together to make the prayer.