In This Issue:
February, 2008
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
100 Oak Dr. South
Lake Jackson, Texas
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
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In This Issue: |
Sunday Obligation
As a church, we experience the fullness of God – the “real presence” of God, primarily in the celebration of Mass. Church teaching has been that Catholics must attend Sunday Mass every week and that Sunday activity should be in harmony with the sacred character of the day. This obligation is so important that God included it in the commandments he gave to Moses for the religious life of the Chosen People.
Sunday should be the center of our week and a holy day in which to give thanks to the Lord for the many gifts, blessings, love and mercy that he generously bestows on us.
The observance of Sunday must be more than the fulfillment of a serious obligation, but as a need we have to live fully our faith and to share in the Christian life of the parish community. It is what defines us as church. We cannot be Catholic and fail to celebrate liturgy. Through Baptism, I am church, so I have to be there when the church gathers.
Just as the liturgy is prepared before it is celebrated, so must we prepare spiritually to celebrate. Sometimes, just getting ourselves and our families dressed and driven to the church can be stressful, but if we could take a few moments to reverently turn our thoughts, as well as those of our families to the holiness of the action we, as church are about to take, it would put everyone in the right frame of mind. It is always helpful to read the scripture ahead of time that will be proclaimed that day, then listen attentively to the proclamation.
It can be helpful to reflect on this question, Why do I go to Mass? When you hear others speak of their reasons for going, does that give you food for thought when reflecting on your own motives?
When people come together as family, they focus on being together and on the event that brought them together. When people gather for Mass, they come together as the Family of God. Introductory Rites, at the beginning of Mass, focus people’s hearts and minds as one community of faith and prepare them to celebrate the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Introductory Rite gathers us and transforms us from a room full of individuals into an assembly of God’s Holy people who have come specifically to remember our need for God’s redeeming love, to celebrate God’s awesome saving deeds in human history, especially in Jesus Christ, and to get fed richly on Word and Sacrament.
Liturgy, In present day usage, liturgy is the official public worship of the church and is thus distinguished from private devotion. Liturgy refers to those prayers, rituals, and seasons that are in the official books of the church, regulated by the church, and celebrated on behalf of the whole Church. Liturgy is the spirituality of the church, and in this sense it refers to more than just the Mass. The celebration of any of the Sacraments is liturgy. The Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) is another example. The calendar of the church with its seasons and feasts is also part of our liturgy. Liturgy is a verb - an action of Christ and his body, the church. Liturgy is the work of the people-literally the work done on behalf of the people-the saving work of Christ made present in the power of the Spirit through which our salvation is both signified and realized. Liturgy is an act of communication: God with us and we with God and with one another. The purpose of the liturgy is to make people holy, to build up the body of Christ, and to give worship to God; liturgy is primarily for us, the church, not for God. Devotions on the other hand, are prayers and spiritual practices that are optional. For example: the Rosary, 40 hours, novenas, scapulars, first Fridays, etc. No matter how widespread or publicly celebrated a particular devotion may be, it is not part of the core prayers and rituals of the church, nor is it celebrated on behalf of the whole Church. Devotional practices are meant to be quite personal; they intensify the effects of Liturgy for the individual believer.
QUIZ
(TRUE/FALSE)
Q. The priest may change the words of fixed prayers in the Mass upon approval
from his bishop.
(Click here for answers, or scroll down)
That all liturgies derive from and lead to Liturgical Prayer? Liturgies have 3
things in common;
· They are Rituals
· They are Prayers
· They are Communal
Communal means the Church as a whole has always found and celebrated the core elements of our faith.
Prayer means listening to and being obedient to God, as well as proclaiming, singing, moving, sharing, blessings, etc.: actions that are ways of being in the world and carrying a particular meaning which communicates our beliefs. By practicing a set, patterned behavior – ritual - we can use it as a foundation for growth.
The reality of every Eucharistic Liturgy is that Christ's death and resurrection are renewed under sacramental signs and we are drawn more deeply into the saving mysteries of our salvation when we participate.
"Holy Mass is the foretaste of the heavenly Wedding Banquet, for it is our privileged invitation to partake of heavenly food and revel in the real presence of the Bridegroom. So, let our enthusiasm for this celestial "pre-party" reflect our eagerness and excitement for the Heavenly Banquet, and may our zeal and pious preparation attest to our gratitude and enthusiastic acceptance of the invitation to Life!" Father Rory Pistick
Lent
Mardi Gras, literally “Fat Tuesday” has its roots in the Christian calendar, as the “Last Hurrah” before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It has a relation to the Christmas season, through the Ordinary Time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival. Carnival comes from the Latin words came vale, meaning “farewell to the flesh”.
The carnival season kicks off with Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three King’s Day and in the Eastern Churches, Theophany. The colors of Mardi Gras, with their roots in Catholicism, are purple, a symbol of justice; green, representing faith; and gold, to signify power. They are also Liturgical colors, though not with the same symbolism.
The name “Fat Tuesday” comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fatted calf on the last day of Carnival. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from "to shrive" or hear confessions), Pancake Tuesday, and fetter Dienstag. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from Palm branches blessed the preceding year for Passion Sunday. Great moments of glory give way to ashes. The symbol of Christ's glory has become the symbol of our sin. The ashes are applied to the forehead in the form of a cross, for we live under that sign, with a very public reminder of our sinfulness. Christian liturgical usage and symbolism seem clearly to have been taken from the Jewish tradition, but presently, the Roman Liturgy uses ashes only on Ash Wednesday and in the rite of the dedication of a church.
We wear our Lenten ashes on the day we began our preparation for Easter. Prayer, asceticism and charity towards neighbor are authentic hallmarks of the Lenten Season. There is a genuine need to identify again with the suffering of Jesus and to see these practices and prayers in the light of the church's annual retreat in preparation for the Triduum.
Lent is first, last and foremost about Baptism. Baptism is about going down with Christ into death and being raised up with him to glory. Lent is about dying to self for the life of others, dying to all humans supports which blind us from seeing that true life is in God alone.
Now, Lent is again experienced as a great retreat in the church, when Catholics can be with, and support, those who are preparing for Baptism at Easter (because of the R.C.I.A.), and we remember our own Baptism. For Christians, Lent provides an opportunity to assess relationships to God, to other persons, and to the world. Lent is a grace-filled time to reflect on the priorities in one's life in view of our desire to prepare for heaven. It is the opportunity to compare one's life - including attitude, mentality, mood, style and behavior - with that of Jesus. It is a gift of time in which we get out lives in the proper Gospel order. A good Lenten observance is the only proper way to prepare for the Easter celebration. We will experience the joy of the Resurrection if our Lenten observation is a true dying to self.
Feast Days of Saints
Feb. 2 Presentation of Our Lord (Also referred to as Candlemas Day. This falls
on a Saturday. Traditional blessing of candles will be on Friday, Feb. 1
this year)
Feb. 3 (Traditionally, this is the Feast of St. Blaise, but because it is on a
Sunday, there will be no blessing of throats this year.)
Feb. 5 St. Agatha
Feb. 6 Ash Wednesday (The beginning of Lent)
Feb. 11 Our Lady of Lourdes
Feb. 14 St Cyril and St. Methodius
Feb. 22 Feast of the Chair of Peter*
Feb. 23 St. Polycarp
* The Chair of Peter.
Although it may seem strange to have a feast honoring a chair, it is not a piece
of furniture that is being honored, but an office, one of service, a position of
leadership. On February 22, we celebrate the establishment of the papacy with
St. Peter. From Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, the historically documented
succession of 265 Popes personally links each of Peter’s successors in that line
of service and leadership in Christ’s Church, which is worthy of a feast day
celebration.
The Chair of Peter indicates the authoritative doctrinal power of the Pope as
the successor of St. Peter, and is the origin of the expression ex cathedra;
such as a papal pronouncement (very rarely made), one in which the Pope
infallibly defines a doctrine that is irrevocably binding on all the faithful.
Cathedra, the word for chair, also denotes the “throne” used by the Bishop in
his Cathedral, which is also derived from the word.
ANSWER:
A. False. Changing fixed prayers of the Mass is strictly prohibited for any priest,
bishop or deacon. (Code of Canon Law 838)
Q: In the Eucharistic Prayer, when the Pope, as leader of the universal church
is mentioned, he is mentioned by name. Then, follows the name of the local
Bishop, but the word Bishop is still being used. Shouldn’t his new title of
Cardinal be used?
A: The steps involving ordination in the Sacrament of Holy Orders are; Deacon, Priest, and Bishop, with Bishop being the fullness of Orders. Monsignor and Cardinal are titles of honor, and while involving a ceremony, do not involve ordination. It is always proper and respectful to address a Cardinal (or any clergy) by his title, but a Bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal, and even the Pope are, ultimately, still bishops. The Eucharistic Prayers do not make distinctions in titles, as the same prayers are used in every parish of every Diocese.
(To submit any question on the Mass (Liturgy)
or Eucharist (Sacrament),
click here:
Questions will be answered in next
month’s issue)
Featured
book of the month
KNOW HIM IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD
By Father Francis Randolph
B X 2230. 2 R 27 215 pages paperback
Father Randolph explains the ceremonies of the Catholic Mass and their meaning for lay people, including the young. It is designed to meet the complaint that Mass is boring, incomprehensible or alienating. He goes through the Mass step by step, looking at the origin and purpose of the various elements and relates them to the reader’s experience of prayer and the Christian life.
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Understanding The Mass and Eucharist