October 4, 1998Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time |
The second section of the Introduction describes the structure of the Order of Readings. Noting that the order has been chosen for pastoral effectiveness inspired by the Second Vatican Council, the Lectionary seeks to provide "the faithful with a knowledge of the whole of God's word, in a pattern suited to the purpose. Throughout the liturgical year, but above all during the seasons of Easter, Lent, and Advent, the choice and sequence of readings are aimed at giving Christ's faithful an ever-deepening perception of the faith they profess and of the history of salvation" (LFM 60).
While not simply instructional, the Liturgy does serve "as a pedagogical resource aiding catechesis" (LFM 61). The fixed order of readings provides the whole Church with the opportunity of hearing the same readings on any given day, even in the absence of a priest (LFM 62). As well, the Lectionary offers a certain flexibility in the choices provided to pastors in response to the concerns of their own parishes (LFM 63).
The remainder of the Introduction summarizes the Principles applied in the Composition of the Order of Readings for Mass together with a detailed description of the Order of Readings. The final chapter lists the principles to be followed in the development of vernacular typical editions for the adaptation, translation and formatting of the Order of Readings.
-- Newsletter of the Committee on the Liturgy of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Volume XXXIV, February-March 1998.
Most historians trace the origin of the Rosary back to the Dark Ages of 9th century Ireland. In those days, the 150 Psalms of David were one of the most important forms of monastic prayer. Monks recited or chanted the Psalms day after day as a major source of inspiration.
The villagers who lived near the monasteries saw the beauty of this devotion, but because very few people were literate in those days, and because the 150 Psalms are too long to memorize, they were unable to adapt this prayer form for their own use.
One day around the year 800 AD, one of the Irish monks suggested the neighbors might like to pray a series of 150 Hail Mary's in place of the 150 Psalms. Little did he know that his suggestion was the first step in the development of the most popular non-liturgical prayer form of Christianity. At first, in order to count their Hail Mary's, people carried around leather pouches, which held 150 pebbles. They advanced to ropes with 50 knots; and soon they began to use strings with 50 pieces of wood.
Then during the 13th century another prayer form, which would soon give the Rosary its Mysteries, began to develop. Many medieval theologians considered the 150 Psalms to be veiled prophecies about the life of Jesus and His mother Mary. By deep meditation and skillful interpretation of the Psalms they began to compose 'Psalters'. Soon 'Psalters' devoted to 150 praises of Mary were composed. When a Psalter of Marian praises numbered 50 instead of 150 it was commonly called a 'rosarium', or bouquet of roses.
From this rich history we derive our present day rosary which consists of beads on a chain with a crucifix centerpiece. The memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7 and during the month prominence is given to this devotion.
Liturgy is not efficient. You may have noticed that. The good news is that it was never intended to be. Celebrations, secular and sacred, operate on other values. If efficiency were the goal, we could have sanitary communion packets (just hold them up during the Eucharistic Prayer) and hire one or two top professional lectors. And we would probably eliminate all the welcomes and introductions, and certainly stick to only one verse of a hymn. But liturgy is more concerned with hospitality than hustle, with striving for open-hearted, joyful adoration than catering to brunch or tee-off times. Liturgy is not about crowd control, but it is about gathering in the lost, the found, the hurting, the healed. Please don't read me wrong, good celebrations take a heap of efficiency behind the scenes, but oh the joy when the people of God celebrate the inefficient eternal gift of Eucharist with widened, uplifted hearts!
Many people ask, "Who should be anointed?"
In the beginning, the early Christian Church prayed for its sick members. Oil, brought by the faithful, was blessed by the bishop. Anyone could use or apply the oil in times of sickness.
Some centuries later, a rite for the anointing of the sick appeared. This rite assumed that the community was gathered and the sick person was generally able to be restored to health. Meanwhile, people began putting off the Sacrament of Penance until their death bed because it could be received only once. Therefore, they couldn't receive the Sacrament of the sick until they had confessed and been reconciled to the church. Since both Sacraments would therefore often occur at the time of death, the anointing of the sick unfortunately became associated with dying. Church teachers who knew only of this practice began to explain the anointing as a preparation for death rather than a prayer for the sick. Even though the official teaching of the Church urged people not to wait until the time of death to receive the anointing, in practice most people did wait. Some families even waited until the dying person was unconscious before calling a priest. What had been a Sacrament for the sick became incorrectly known as the "Last Rites" and many of us grew up with images of the priest anointing the dying person, even anointing someone who had died.
Today the proper practice in the anointing of the sick is for the seriously sick. A person need not be in danger of dying. The beginning of serious illness is the best time to request the Sacrament. It may be repeated during a long illness or as the elderly struggle with the infirmities of age. It can be celebrated with children at least seven years old. The Sacrament is a prayer, normally celebrated with sufficient time and suitable surroundings. Parish communal celebrations of this Sacrament present an ideal setting. This is especially true as health care moves more to home and local settings and as priests are less available in hospitals. The purpose of the Sacrament is to unite the one who is sick with the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ so the sick may know the healing presence and love of the Lord, be strengthened in faith and experience the support of the Church.
There are other prayers and rites available in the official prayers of the Church for those who are sick or near death or who have already died. "Last Rites" refers to reception of Holy Communion by a person near death. It is called VIATICUM, food for the journey. It is a beautiful Sacrament and can be repeated over several days as the person nears death. It may be administered by any Catholic pastoral minister or special minister of communion as well as by a priest.
The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the Tradition that comes from the Apostles, those chosen and sent by Jesus. With the help of the Holy Spirit she keeps and hands on the "teaching" (Acts 2:42) that she has heard from the Apostles. She continues to be taught, sanctified and guided by the Apostles through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, assisted by priests and deacons in union with the successor of Peter, the Pope. Through them Christ continues his mission of preaching and teaching of the Good News of Salvation to the entire world. All members of the Church share in this mission in various ways. Through Baptism, they are called to share in this vocation to mission. For this mission to be fruitful it is vital that they remain in union with the Body of Christ, the Church. Strengthened by the Eucharist and with the help of the Holy Spirit all members can accomplish their part.
1) Habakkuk, 2-3; 2, 2-4
2) 2 Timothy 1, 6-8. 13-14
3) Luke 17, 5-10
Next Sunday the reading's will be: 1)2 Kings 5, 14-17; 2)2 Timothy 2, 8-13; 3)Luke 17, 11-19.
We enter the month of October, which for many years has been known as Respect life Month for the Catholic Church in our country. In this month, our Bishop ask us to recommit ourselves to living out our belief in this, as part of our Catholic Faith, but to live this belief out in a visible way, as a public commitment to our Faith. We live in a culture of death, and it is easy to be complacent in this. Yet, we are responsible before Almighty God for witnessing instead to a Culture of Life. The violence which is all around us reminds us that frankly, life is not worth much any more. The late Cardinal Bernardin tied this tendency toward violence and disrespect for human life to abortion, saying that if life is not respected in its weakest and most vulnerable moments, before birth, then it will not be respected, at all. I would like to offer you some words by the Archbishop of Denver, the Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, on the subject of respect for life:
Conversion, whether personal or cultural, begins by recognizing that a problem exists. Today, many, including those in government and in institutions that help to shape our cultural beliefs and behavior, do not recognize that abortion is a problem, or that euthanasia is the wrong direction to take. They deny it. Over the past quarter of a century, the tolerance of abortion, socially and legally, has clouded individual consciences and made it more difficult for many to distinguish between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. So people in our society need to be reminded that voluntary killing of innocent human beings is always gravely immoral, and that violating this teaching through abortion and euthanasia has far-reaching consequences.
But how does one help others to understand this? To penetrate the rhetoric of choice and highlight our human capacity for violence and self-delusion are not enough. To transform our culture into one which respects and defends human life, it is necessary to speak of a deeper and a greater truth: All human life is sacred. God is its author. We do not own it.
THEME: FAITH AND WORK: The sculptor, Henry Moore, once advised us to identify a task to which we can devote our lives. He then added that the task must be one we cannot expect to accomplish. The reach must always exceed our grasp; a vision must guide us. Today the prophet Habakkuk learns that the just one lives by faith. Paul exhorts his friend Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God that is already within him. We have been given the gift of faith. We are asked to live by that faith and set our hands to the task that begins on earth and does not end.
In preparing for the Year 2000, the individual Churches have their own role to play, as they celebrate with their own Jubilees significant stages in the salvation history of the various peoples. ... Seen in this light, the whole of Christian history appears to us as a single river, into which many tributaries pour their waters. The Year 2000 invites us to gather with renewed fidelity and ever deeper communion along the banks of this great river: the river of Revelation, of Christianity and of the Church, a river which flows through human history starting from an event which took place at Nazareth and then at Bethlehem two thousand yours ago. This is truly the "river" which with its "streams," in the expression of the Psalm, "make glad the city of God" (46:4).
Pope John Paul II, On the Coming Third Millennium. paragraph #25
An image we are invited to embrace for the preparation of the Great Jubilee is Open Wide the Doors to Christ. When we open the doors of our hearts to Christ, we seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Doors are a powerful symbol. Open doors speak of welcome and hospitality. Closed doors convey isolation and being shut off from community and love. Our period of preparation provides us with an opportunity to deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship sustained and nurtured through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our world today. The church began in preparation for the great jubilee from the years 1997 to 1999. Each year has had a particular focus. The focus for 1997 was on Jesus Christ and we as a people of faith in Jesus. The virtue that was highlighted was faith and our sacramental focus was on baptisms. Our goal was to share our faith by offering small sharing groups. The focus for 1998 is A People of Hope, through the Holy Spirit. The sacrament that is highlighted is that of Confirmation and the goal is of Christian Unity.
We are soon moving into the final year of preparation. The theme is: A People of Forgiveness and Justice on a Journey to the Father. God the Father is the Trinitarian theme. The virtue that is highlighted is Charity. The sacramental focus is on penance. Our goal is to be more hospitable toward other religions and cultures.
Soon we will be entering the season of Advent. The parish leadership asks that each person make some commitment toward making this final year of preparation a very spiritual journey. In this year of Jubilee, of new beginnings, let each one of us enter into the spirit of reconciliation and renewal. It is our choice. The Lord Jesus stands at the door waiting for us to enter.
by Pope John Paul II
Our times consume and require ever-greater priestly energy. However, although many parts of the world are experiencing a great blossoming of vocations, in other areas one notices a persistent shortage of priests and the phenomenon of a great many sacred ministers of advanced age, ill, or worn out by the evermore whirling pace of apostolic ministry. As a result, even where the number of ordinations and seminarians has increased, the availability of priests is still inefficient to meet all needs.
Hence the demand is felt for an appropriate collaboration of the lay faithful in the pastorial ministry of priests, while always respecting, logically, the sacramental limits and the difference of charisms and ecclesial roles...[But] the particular gift of each of the Church's members must be wisely and carefully acknowledged, safeguarded, promoted, discerned, and coordinated, without confusing roles, functions, or theological or canonical status. Otherwise the Body of Christ is not built up nor does it's mission of salvation correctly develop... We cannot increase the communion and unity of the Church by clericalizing the lay faithful or by laicizing priests.
As a consequence, we cannot offer the lay faithful experiences and ways of participating in the pastorial ministry of priests that would in any way or to any degree entail a theoretical or practical misconception of the unchangeable differences willed by Christ and the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church: the diversity of vocations and states of life, the diversity of ministries, charisms, and responsibilities...It should also be understood that these clarifications and distinctions do not stem from a concern to defend clerical privileges, but from the need to be obedient to the will of Christ and to respect the constitutive form which He indelibly impressed on His Church...
Above all, it must never be forgotten that problems caused by the shortage of ordained ministers can be alleviated only secondarily or temporarily by having lay people in some way supply for them. The shortage of sacred ministers can be avoided only by praying the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (see Matthew 9:38), giving the primacy to God and caring for the identity and holiness of the priests there are. This is simply the logic of faith! Every Christian community that lives its total dedication to Christ and remains open to His grace will obtain from Him precisely those vocations which serve to represent Him as the Shepherd of His people.
Where there is a shortage of these vocations, the essential problem is not to search for alternatives - and God forbid that they should be sought by distorting His wise plan - but to focus all the efforts of the Christian people on making the voice of Christ, who never stops calling, heard again in families, parishes, Catholic Schools, and communities. [TPS 39/5, 1994, 309-12]
UNITY AND THE HOLY SPIRIT: On the Coming of the Third Millennium states that the Jubilee is to demonstrate that the disciples of Christ are fully resolved to reach full unity as soon as possible in the certainty that 'nothing is impossible with God.' The Holy Father continues: Among the most fervent petitions which the Church makes to the Lord during this important time...is that unity among all Christians...will increase until they reach full communion. I pray that the Jubilee will be a promising opportunity for fruitful cooperation in the many areas which unite us; these are unquestionably more numerous that those which divide us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to ultimately fulfill the high priestly prayer of Jesus: I pray...that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one (John 17:20-23). The courage and vision to strive for this ultimate unity are the promise and grace of Confirmation: Sacrament of the Spirit.
