Holy Week...Holy Time!

Once again as Catholics we gather to commemorate and celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entrance into the City of David on Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. This liturgical observation starts the beginning of Holy Week, where faithful Catholics follow the actions of Jesus towards the fulfillment of the Paschal Mystery. This period should present a reflective and holy period for the worlds Christian faithful. Not only do we celebrate the historical events of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we proclaim the transcendent power of God’s eternal mystery and salvation that continues to transform the entire world through the message of Jesus Christ.
As a Catholic , the rituals and ceremonies of Holy Week indicate for me very clearly the true historical character and roots grounded in antiquity of our Catholic faith. The week clearly reminds all of us, that our Church and it’s liturgical expressions are critically important for our present Catholic faith as we recall the institution of our sacred Sacraments during this symbolically rich week.
On Sunday, parishes will wave palm to recall the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Our priests, bishops and deacons will wear the liturgical color of red to accentuate the significance of this day on the liturgical calendar but also to highlight the journey that begins towards Calvary after this triumphal reception of Jesus.
The Catholic Sacred liturgy during this week presents all of the richness of signs and symbols through visual use of vestments, the shouts of the hostile crowd during the narration of the Passion, and the tactile reverencing of the Cross on Good Friday. Truly this week is one that is most sacred and our Catholic liturgical traditions reflect the rich tapestry of woven traditions that make up the Church’s worshipping life.
Holy Week also provides a great pastoral opportunity to educate parishioners about the various signs and symbols that the celebrations offer to the faithful. It is an opportune time to teach all ages of the faithful about the historical development of the Roman Liturgy, the importance of Holy Orders and the Eucharist and how this week represents our continuity of faith with the Church of the past, the present and the future.
For this author, Holy Week is the time to immerse oneself in ritual and sacramental appreciation of every sacred day, because our common faith is being demonstrated through our liturgy. Catholics should have a special appreciation for our Holy Week rites, because they most significantly reflect our Catholic Passover through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. The rites of Holy Week indicate the Church’s anticipation of Jesus as the New Moses and our belief that the Kingdom of God is truly manifested in the Church and her sacraments.
This week when you participate in the most ancient and sacred celebrations of the Church, remember this is our celebration of new life in Jesus Christ. The sacred time we enter into during Holy Week, calls all Catholic believers into an expression of “kairotic” time every day of the year. That is why we celebrate and remember, so our faith will be manifested in our actions every day.

Less paper...better liturgy!

This article is a second release of this musing. It was published last June, but should have another revisit by Catholic readers. In light of the recently listed "sins" that include those against the environment. HJMN

There are always ways that the Catholic Church can join in the environmental movement in small but yet effective ways. One of the things I frequently think about is the considerable amount of paper resources that are generated at a parish on a weekly basis. Think about it, most parishes generate thousands of copies of their parish bulletin. For the most part the parish bulletin is a redundant method of communicating all of the same old stuff. The weekly Mass intentions are noted, the parish organizations make announcements, sometimes the altar boys schedule is included and at my parish the tally from the previous weeks collection. My question is this, do we really need to keep printing off all of the same information, week in and week out. There is a place in the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the celebrant to insert a few announcements. This is right before the final blessing. It would be a great example of ecological stewardship if priests and people would consider using this appropriate time to make announcements that are important each week. Of course this time is not a license to proclaim a mini-homily, but it is a good time to bring everyone up to date in a few concise points about parish activities.
While on the subject of printing a lot of materials, most parishes print their Mass schedules in the bulletin. Additionally each December they print and distribute thousands of monthly calendars that quite honestly contain all of the same old information as the bulletins. Why don’t we take a bold step and realize that in the 21st century, most people don’t even use wall mounted calendars. An insert for someone’s Day-Timer, or Filofax or even a refrigerator magnet would be better utilized. Besides, how many times do most Catholics change their schedule of going to Mass. Not a lot. It also presents an opportunity for the local parish priests to really look at what Masses are not well attended, and make changes. There is a lot of heat, fuel, electricity and other resources that are consumed to have a Eucharistic liturgy for a handful of people. Perhaps fewer slots for Masses would produce larger congregations for a better qualitative Liturgy! Remember all of the pastors out there; good stewardship of a parish’s environmental resources makes for a good and happy parish.
For Catholics that remember pre-Vatican II, they will also recall with fondness the Catholic Missals they used to carry to church each week. All of the prayers of the Mass were contained in the Missal, including the Latin and English translations of the Mass. You could follow along and respond just with the flip of a few ribbons. In our modern parish community we are inundated with the Missalette. They come from a liturgical publishing house, are replaced on a monthly if not quarterly basis and they use up a lot of paper. Why don’t we just get back to using a Missal? When our children are confirmed, it would be a great gift to receive. It would save a lot of trees and cut out all of the costs associated with the use and distribution of the low quality and time endangered Missalettes. An added incentive would also be that if people did not spend so much time turning pages and following the readings, they would make a prayerful attempt to LISTEN to the proclamation of God’s Word. All in all the results would be better for everyone. Less paper, less noise and no need to constantly replace and restore cluttering missalettes.Besides the use of a missal would be a great incentive to Catholic publishing houses to provide a well produced and highly qualitative missal for Catholics to use.
While I am on the point of “highly qualitative”, we need to revisit the requirements for the candles that are used in our liturgies as well. Everywhere you go there are different types of candles, made of all sorts of artificial materials being used to illuminate the Sacred liturgy. There are even candles that are “spring-fed” to keep the melting pseudo wax in a state of constant replenishment. Whatever happened to using good old bees-wax candles? The burned evenly, they were naturally produced and the looked great. Besides, what a better way to illuminate the Sacred Mysteries than by using an entirely natural material, made from the work of bees! There is such an organic and natural factor to our celebration of the Sacraments that using naturally derived candles would provide an illuminated ecologically sensitive message.
Of course in previous writings I have always advocated the use of “natural” environmental spaces. Just to put it plainly, open the windows and the doors and let some fresh air into our Church celebrations. Our liturgy was never intended to be hermetically sealed away from externally natural elements. A little fresh air never hurt anyone. It would also cut down on the use of expensive heating and cooling resources…not to mention artificial lighting.
While we contemplate various methods with which our Catholic communities can contribute to the “ecosphere” we need to remember that it is about the worship of God, and not designing a church that mimics a theatrical boutique. Our sacred space is reflective of the living people that are the People of God, let’s not commercialize it up and keep adding unnecessary “things” to clutter God’s house. If we just took the time to look around our parishes and churches there are many inexpensive ways we could make a positive contribution to the planet’s environment…let’s start with less paper.

Peaceful harmony between ordinary and extraordinary celebrations.

There seems to be many stirrings around the Church about the return of the Mass of Blessed John XXIII. Seemingly, the desire to celebrate this liturgy is spreading in the Catholic world. Maybe now is the best opportunity for the Church to declare a renovation moratorium on all of the Catholic Churches in the world, so an effective study of current liturgical design and the implementation of the Mass of Blessed John XXIII might be best integrated.
Since the end of the Second Vatican Council, the Church worldwide has been involved in extensive projects that have modified our Holy places of the ability to celebrate the ordinary and the extraordinary rites of the celebration of the Eucharist conveniently in one place. As was the practice, the former altar was removed in most cases, and a freestanding altar was the replacement. At the time, there was no indication that the liturgy prior to the changes of the Second Vatican Council would be restored on a universal level. Well, the permission for this rite of liturgical worship is here, and we need to make our Catholic Churches once again acceptable for the celebration of both forms of the Sacred Liturgy.
A freestanding altar offers the best opportunity for the celebration of either of these forms, because the celebrant is able to adapt the posture ad populum or ad oriens for the liturgical celebration. There are more points as well that need to be included, such as the capability of the reception of Holy Communion with an altar rail and in the kneeling posture and a reappreciation of the sacred space of the sanctuary as part of the ritual observation. With this reevaluation, there is also another point worth considering, and that is the continued use of non-ordained extraordinary ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, and even the practice of Communion in the hand to be more deeply considered.
The rite of the celebration of the Eucharist according to John XXIII did not offer the possibility of the reception of Holy Communion in the hand, nor did it envision the usage of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. One discussion that rightly needs consideration is the further consideration by the Holy See and the Bishop’s Conferences are the need to truly implement the teachings of Paul VI and provide for a stable ministry of instituted acolytes and instituted readers in our parish communities. This author is instituted to both the Ministry of Reader and the Ministry of Acolyte and experience regularly the confusion most parishes have regarding the “stable” nature of these obligations, and the lack of appreciation for each as a specific ministry in the Universal Church. If indeed, the local parishes were able to designate specific men to the ministry of acolyte provisions would then be accomplished for the proper distribution of Holy Communion according to the intended goals of the Second Vatican Council. The abolition of the minor orders and the restoration of the “lay ministries” of Reader and Acolyte are significant because the Council provided another form of participation for the laity, right down to a parochial level in regards to the proclamation of the Sacred Word, and the distribution of the Holy Eucharist. Unfortunately, these ministries are often considered as obligations and offices…picked up on the way to deaconate and priesthood. However, the stable exercise of the ministries of reader and acolyte in this authors own experiences have provided me with greater responsibility and understanding of the importance of specific roles in the ministry of the Church.
One misconception that needs to be clearly corrected is the notion that everyone has the right to participate in the Church’s ministry. This is perhaps the strongest and most erroneous interpretation of Christian rights and responsibilities since Vatican II. No one person or group of persons has the right to participate in any ministry in the Church without proper catechesis and most importantly the permission of the Bishop. The local ordinary, the Bishop is the true priest in any diocese and all functions associated with sacramental and liturgical worship emanate from his Holy Orders. That is specifically why, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council specifically called for a restoration of the permanent diaconate, to manifest the three distinct orders that are contained in Holy Orders, namely Bishop, Deacon and Priest.
As we develop a more consistent parish structure that involves the presence of just one priest in each community, the responsibility to participate in the Bishop’s ministry will increasingly fall upon deacons and of course the parish community to assist in the parish life. A greater catechesis and understanding on the essential importance of the order of deacons is essential to the development of the Church’s liturgical and pastoral life in the 21st century. In the same manner, a deeper consideration on the roles and responsibilities of laypersons in the sacramental and pastoral life of the Church is critical to the Church’s survival. Instituted Acolytes and Readers present the opportunity for men of the parish community to provide service in real and important ministries that provide unique obligations and responsibilities through the ministries in the development of the parish life of communio.
As we begin to examine our evolving liturgical life in the modern Church, clearly the need to examine not only our liturgical space is overdue, but the need to implement the directives of the Second Vatican Council more fully is overdue as well. While we examine the externals that constitute our sacred liturgical spaces, as a worshipping community we also need to coexist with the celebration of two rites as possible in our own Latin Church. If indeed we make provisions in the design and implementation of our liturgical buildings, we can accommodate the ritual needs of both the ordinary and extraordinary forms with a keen appreciation of each rites requirements and sensitivities.
While we are on this project of self examination the time is right to consider the proper development and appreciation of the roles each person plays in our liturgical and pastoral practice of Catholicism. If we examine and study the teachings of the Second Vatican Council more closely we might discover a new consistency in our beliefs and how they adequately apply to both ministry and service for all of the baptized in Christ’s Church.
Starting with an appreciation of our sacred and liturgical space, we can then provide a proper implementation of liturgical norms and ministries that compliments and enhances each ritual celebration with pastoral service and liturgical dignity.