         
Pastor's Desk Archive             
2008 Pastor's Desk Arch.            
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Pastor's Desk Archive (June 2008)"Active" Parishioners (6/1/2008) "Active" Parishioners (6/1/2008)Our parish data system includes the following ways to identify members: active, inactive, deleted, or moved. “Moved” presents no problems since this merely acknowledges that some people have a new residence out-of-state or somewhere outside our parish boundaries. The other three categories, however, are not so clear cut. Obviously, at some point we will delete the names of people who have notified us that they have moved out of the parish. But not everyone who moves lets us in on it. Their names remain indefinitely in the system with their original designation as active. So, what exactly is an active parishioner? Is it simply someone who filled out a registration card once upon a time? Or, is it someone who participates in Mass on Sundays and Holydays? How about otherwise able-bodied folks who only show up once in a while—maybe only at Easter and Christmas? Does the term active imply that a person is doing their best to give some portion of their time, talent, and treasure in the service of God and the Church? First of all, we don’t take attendance and so we don’t know who is present and who is absent on Sundays and Holydays. But on three different occasions during the year, we do encourage members to be good stewards through the offering of their time, talent, and treasure. That information is entered into our data system and provides us with the ability to produce reports based on different criteria. A glance at these reports does seem to indicate that some parishioners are more active than others. Leaving the sick, the homebound, and the aged aside, some folks look downright inactive. We have hundreds of members, for instance, for whom we have no contributions records. Maybe all these folks support the parish by placing currency in the basket instead of envelopes or checks? No doubt some of them do. But when we divide the amount of our loose collection by the number of members who don’t use envelopes, the average gift is, literally, tiny. Interestingly, the names of the vast majority of members who don’t use envelopes are also not found on the lists of those who have made offerings of time and talent. I would hope we could all agree that Christ offers all of us the grace to be active members of his Church. We were not made members of his priestly people through baptism so that we could be part of “Catholics Anonymous”. We were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit and are nourished by the Body & Blood of Christ so that we can bear witness to His presence in our lives as vibrant and active members of a parish community. Understanding The Mass: The Penitential Rite (6/8/2008)One of the first things we are invited to do as Sunday Mass begins is to call to mind our sins. Have you ever given much thought as to the meaning and purpose of this Penitential Rite? My perception is that a lot of Catholics are not very clear on this. Some seem to confuse the penitential rite of the Mass with the kind of Penance Rite we celebrate before Christmas and Easter. They certainly sound similar and they both have something to do with sin and forgiveness. In fact, there are significant distinctions in terms of meaning and purpose. We gather for a Penance Rite before Christmas and Easter for the purpose of celebrating the church’s sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. The high point of this Rite occurs when each person approaches one of the priests to contritely confess their sins, to receive absolution, and to accept a penance. All Catholics who have sinned gravely are obligated to confess mortal sins to a priest in the sacrament of penance in order to receive Holy Communion worthily. This sacrament is also an effective way to experience the forgiveness of venial sins, but this is an optional (though praiseworthy) practice. During the Penitential Rite at Mass, we are invited to renew our sorrow for the mortal sins we have already confessed (and for our venial sins as well), to praise the Lord for His Mercy, and to be assured of His forgiveness. But renewing our sorrow for our sins is not the same action as confessing our sins in the sacrament of Penance. Rather, its purpose is to stir up within us a deeper desire to turn away from our sins so that we can express our gratitude for God’s mercy. When we pray Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy we are actually praising God for being willing to forgive the sins for which we are truly sorry. The form of absolution which follows uses these words: May Almighty God have mercy on us, The following words express more accurately the actual meaning of this absolution: As often as we come before Him with a contrite heart, I believe that the confusion between these rites is one of the most important contributing factors to the decline in the number of Catholics who go to confession. Many may be choosing what appears to them to be an “easier, softer way” of having their sins forgiven. Have We Been "Saved"? (6/15/2008)The topic of this year’s clergy education days this past week was the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. Interestingly, it was only last Sunday that we began a continuous reading of Romans that will extend until the middle of September. Equally interesting is that at the end of this month the Church will officially inaugurate a “Year of St. Paul”. So what’s so important about St. Paul and his letter to the Romans? A closer look should provide us with an answer. To begin with there were two distinct groups of Christians living in Rome. One of those groups consisted mainly of gentiles (or “Greeks” as they were often called) who were converts of Paul. The other group included the Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. The Jewish Christians were very concerned about the importance of God’s Law and clung to the belief that righteousness pertained only to those who followed the Law. The gentile Christians, on the other hand, were taught that they were made righteous through faith in Christ’s saving death rather than by having to follow the Law. It was these conflicting views which occasioned the writing of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Now Romans is a rather long and theologically complex document that I can hardly do justice to in a single column, so what follows next is an attempt to concisely summarize some of its most important doctrinal points. Paul teaches that when Christ came into the world, Sin (with a capital S) dominated the world. This is the kind of Sin by which human beings were separated or estranged from God because they did not know Him or could not keep His Law. Christ obediently accepted death on the cross so that He could pay the price for our SIN. All who believe in Christ’s saving death are the recipient of two major benefits: 1) We are made right with God; and 2)We are reconciled to the Father. These results come not through our human efforts to keep God’s Law but through Christ’s gracious act and our faith in Him. Is this the same thing as saying we have been “saved” by faith? Not actually. Salvation is what occurs when having lived and died in the hope of “rising again”, Christ comes at the end of time and opens our tombs to fill us with a New Life in which there is no more dying, no more mourning, no more suffering, and no more crying out. In the meantime we are called and empowered to be saved as we allow God’s grace to make us holy. Understanding The Mass: The Gathering Rite (6/22/2008)Two weeks ago, I began this series of articles about the Mass by addressing the meaning of The Penitential Rite, which, interestingly enough, is one of The Gathering Rites. So what are the other ones and what is their significance? First of all, let me point out that these Gathering Rites are part of a larger framework known as The Liturgy of The Word. In fact, they are the rites whose purpose is to help us get ready to listen and respond to the scripture lessons and the homily. Here is the structure of the Gathering Rites: (Prayer & Meditation Before Mass Begins) The Mass (or Eucharistic Celebration) is public or communal prayer as opposed to private or strictly personal prayer. It is the prayer of all the people who have been gathered by God’s grace to worship Him not only with our lips but with our whole mind, soul, and strength. Being an active participant in the Eucharist is greatly aided when we take a little time before Mass to begin to get our bearings through personal prayer and reflection. Am I present to give thanks to God for all things? Am I ready to really listen to God’s Word and to respond to it wholeheartedly? Am I ready to renew my sorrow for all my sins so that I may be united to Christ and to His people through Holy Communion? At some Masses a choral song or instrumental can help us place our focus on the worship of God. The song at the beginning of Mass is specifically designed to help us make the transition from being just an “individual” to member of the worshipping community. Its purpose is, literally, to gather us by making us more conscious of our belonging to a priestly and prophetic people. As the song concludes, the priest (who is standing in the place of Christ) leads us in the Sign of the Cross and greets us with a phrase drawn from scripture. Our response implies that we are ready now to give ourselves entirely to God in worship. We further signify this readiness by renewing our sorrow for our sins and being reminded of God’s readiness to forgive us when we are resolved to turn away from them. Just in case we were not fully gathered by the opening song, we are next invited to join in singing the ancient yet familiar Trinitarian hymn known as Glory to God in the Highest (except during Advent and Lent). At its conclusion, the priest extends his hands and says “Let us pray……..”. Since we’ve been praying since before Mass began, what does this refer to? This is an opportunity for each worshipper to seek from God some particular grace or assistance. Often the invitation to pray will suggest a certain direction to our prayer. Next: The Liturgy of The Word. Understanding The Mass: The Liturgy of the Word (6/29/2008)The Gathering Rites prepare us to participate more fully and consciously in the Liturgy of the Word. Liturgy is a Greek word which may be translated as the work of the people. In this instance it refers to our active listening and responding to God’s word. The Lectionary is a book which contains scripture lessons which have been especially selected for each of the Sundays of the year, for special feasts, and for every weekday. The Lectionary for Sundays and special feasts is arranged on a three year cycle; and the Lectionary for Weekdays is arranged on a two year cycle. The genius of this arrangement is that over the course of three years, all the major teaching passages are proclaimed to the people. This practice reflects the ancient tradition by which the people listen to God’s Word and are instructed by it. This is in conformity with the Catholic (and Jewish) notion that the scriptures are to be primarily understood within the context of the Church gathered for worship. This is very different from the Protestant notion that the Bible is a self-explanatory blueprint for following God’s Word that, sadly, has led to great divisions in the Church. The First Lesson on most Sundays is taken from the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament). During the Easter Season, however, the first lesson is always taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Through these readings we learn of the history of our salvation which unfolded over thousands of years in the course of concrete events in which God interacted with His chosen people. Following this lesson comes a period of silence during which we can briefly reflect on its message. Then we are invited to respond to the lesson by joining in the singing of the Responsorial Psalm. The Second Lesson is always taken from the New Testament letters—especially St. Paul—or the Book of Revelation. These scriptures speak clearly about how we are called to live our lives in Christ as we wait in joyful hope for His coming again in glory. The proclamation of the Gospel lesson is preceded by the singing of the Alleluia by which we acclaim our belief that Jesus, who is The Word of the Lord, is about to speak to us. The homily, a message which springs from these scripture lessons, is given by the priest or deacon to arouse a fresh and lively faith in us. The Liturgy of the Word concludes with our Profession of Faith and the Prayers of Intercession. Having been nourished by God’s Word, we should be more ready now to lift up our hearts and offer thanks & praise to God. |
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