July, 2007
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
100 Oak Dr. South
Lake Jackson, Texas
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
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In This Issue: |
Spiritual Reflection on the Eucharist
by Father
Pat Umberger, Used with permission
"The
Body of Christ." Those words can become so familiar to us. We might recall how
special they sounded the first time we received Jesus in the Sacrament of the
Most Holy Eucharist. It is good for us to take a look at how awesome it really
is!
When something is very special, we get ready for it. We spend lots of time
preparing for Christmas and Easter, for Birthdays and even for summer vacation.
We prepare ourselves before we receive the Eucharist for the first time as
well. It is inspiring to see the great hunger in our Second Graders as they
look forward to that most special day, and the adults in our R.C.I.A.
(Catechumenate) as they prepare to receive Jesus as well.
May we never forget how awesome it is! The Church tells us that we need to
prepare ourselves each time we receive the Eucharist. We should remember that
from the moment we wake up. We need to pay attention to the way we treat one
another, and even to the food and drink we consume. We are aware that we are
not to eat or drink anything for at least one hour before receiving the
Eucharist. It can be good to have someone in the family whose job it is to
remind everybody when it's time to stop eating and drinking. We shouldn't drink
coffee or even chew gum for an hour ahead of time!
Our preparation needs to show even in the way we dress for Mass. As a child, it
was my job to polish the shoes. This was done on Saturday morning, before
breakfast. Everybody had Church clothes that included shirts, ties and dress
shoes. There was no doubt in our mind that what we were going to do was the
most special thing that would happen all week. Because we dressed in a special
way, we behaved in a special way, too. And there was no way we could go
directly from Church to a picnic without changing clothes. That added to the
reverence with which we approached the Eucharist.
When we go to Mass, we need to bring our best self. What a challenge that is,
too. Our kids will help us realize any discrepancy between the way we act at
home and the behavior that's consistent with living as a person who loves God.
We hear about a higher standard, one that we need to strive to
live all week long.
As we come forward for Communion, we don't do so unconsciously. We focus on the
precious Sacrament we are going to celebrate. We think about how much God loved
us in giving us his Son, and how special it is that we can receive the totality
of Jesus, Body, Soul and Divinity. How fortunate we are to be able to receive
the true Body and Blood of Christ. We bow from the waist before we receive
Communion. The Eucharist is not a symbol at all, but the true Body and Blood of
Christ himself!
We wouldn't think about going back to our seat and letting our mind wander. We
wouldn't be so callous to leave Church, either, before we've had a chance to
thank God for the gift of the Eucharist. That takes time! How confusing it is
to children when people are leaving Church right after Communion, or even before
the priest has a chance to make his way down the aisle of Church. We wouldn't
think of leaving a dinner party right after we ate our last bite. Good
upbringing means that we nurture the relationship with our host, not just get
what we want and get out of there.
Then we hear the words, "Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord!" We truly
become what we eat, the Body of Christ. As we leave for home we do so to "be"
the Body of Christ in our families, at work and school, and with everyone we
meet. That needs to be reflected in the kindness of our words,
the respect we show for others and the love we share all week long. We don't
fight with our brothers and sisters on the way home. We don't talk about our
neighbor or speak in judgmental and resentful ways. We try to be patient in the
parking lot and when we arrive at home.
Some of us have accepted God's call to serve as Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers
of the Eucharist, Mass Servers, Choir Members and Ushers. What a privilege it
is to serve at the Table of the Lord. And Jesus is truly present. We need to
remember that when we Serve, and take our responsibility seriously. What does
Jesus think when we're on the schedule to serve at His table and simply don't
show up ... thinking somebody else will probably do it? Jesus is there. It is
our privilege to serve
faithfully and with great joy.
What a great chance we are given to reflect upon how special receiving the
Eucharist really is. This week we can continue to reflect on the way we
approach the Eucharist. May we do so with reverence and love, and go in peace
"to love and serve the Lord," with much love and enthusiasm.
Have a good week!
Father Umberger is a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin U.S.A. Spiritual Reflection is found each week at the Web Site www.frpat.com.
Genuflection : Latin,
“bending of the knee” as an act of reverence.
Our religious practices try to reflect the holiness and the
mystery of God, and reflect our covenant relationship as His people. To bend the
knee before someone is to express symbolically that one is not on a footing of
equality with that person, to confess one’s inferior position, to mark
submission. It is a symbol of smallness, or humility in the presence of the
greatness of the Lord.
In Isaiah 45:23, God says, “Before me every knee shall bend”
- He wishes to reserve this act to himself. Paul quotes this in Romans 14:11 and
applies it to Jesus as being Lord and deserving the same adoration (also see
Phil. 2:10-11)
It is customary to genuflect when passing before the Blessed
Sacrament in the tabernacle, entering the pew for divine worship, and during
certain ceremonies to the Cross. “One knee is bent before the Blessed Sacrament,
whether reserved in the tabernacle or exposed for public adoration”
(Eucharistiae Sacramentum, # 84, 1973). A double genuflection
was commonly made before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a monstrance.
Genuflections are also properly made to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ.
QUIZ
(TRUE/FALSE)
Q. People must always genuflect when passing in front of the Eucharist.
(Click here for answers, or scroll down)
That the names of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary are not found in the Bible?
Anne (Hebrew Hannah) and Joachim - First Century A.D. (Feast Day, July 26)
An apocryphal writing is one that was not considered inspired by God, so was not in the canon when the list of books to be included in the Bible was finalized. However, even though some accounts may be fanciful, non-canonical works sometimes contain important information that should not be ignored.
According to the apocryphal "Protoevangelium of James", Anne was the wife of Joachim. They were desolate because they didn't have any children.
One day, while Anne was praying, an angel appeared to her and told her she would have a child, and Anne promised to dedicate the child to God. On his part, Joaquin fasted for 40 days in the desert, and then an angel appeared to him also promising him a child. This child was Mary (Hebrew Miriam), mother of Jesus.
There are other stories about Anne and Joaquin (that they were born in Nazareth, married when she was about 20 and she gave birth at age 40, that Joaquin died soon after Jesus was born), but the sources are unreliable, so we don't know much with certainty about Jesus' grandparents, but without this and other apocryphal works, we would not even know their names.
“I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lake shores and sea coasts; I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and city squares. This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, its cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation.” Pope John Paul II, from his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (“The Church of the Eucharist”) #8.
This encyclical, written in the last year of his life, shows his deep love for the Eucharist, and his desire to awaken in the Church a new appreciation of it, as well, as he wrote, “The most Holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth, Christ himself, our Passover and living bread.”
THE LITURGICAL YEAR
ORDINARY TIME
Much
like the secular calendar notes the seasons of the year - we even “spring
forward” and “fall back”, associating the changing of clocks with nature – the
Church follows these natural patterns of time throughout the liturgical year. In
its celebrations of special seasons and feasts, it adds meaning and depth to the
passage of time. Like the natural seasons, our liturgical year takes us through
seasons of new life and seasons of death and dying. We also observe seasons of
anticipation, preparation, penitence, redemption, and joy. We celebrate birth
and life and enter into the meaning of suffering and death and eternal life. The
Church celebrates the very heart of Christian faith during the Triduum (the
Three Days) immediately after Lent.
The liturgical year is so rich with the meaning and importance of time that we even celebrate the season of Ordinary Time. Actually, there are two periods of Ordinary Time. The first is early in the calendar year, coming just before Lent and following the season of Advent and Christmas Time. After Easter Time, we return to the season of Ordinary Time until we come to the end of the liturgical year with the Feast of Christ The King, and once again begin a new year with Advent.
Ordinary Time, the longest season of the year, is when we grow in faith and live Jesus’ love for others in simple yet very important ways. We celebrate the ministry and the fullness of the mystery of Jesus, which began with his Baptism, and which feast day marks the beginning of our Ordinary Time. We are not thematically focused on one particular aspect of the mystery, but reveal the fullness of our redemption in Christ through the rich treasure of scripture and sacramental celebration.
There are 33 or 34 weeks – depending on the date for Easter – in Ordinary Time, and the liturgical color is green, the color of natural life, growth, freshness and health
The word ordinary derives from the root Ordo meaning order or series, and we are a Church of order. Ordinary Time, (Tempus Ordinarius, in Latin) simply means Sundays or weeks that are numbered, or ordered; however, they were not called that until Vatican II.
Before 1969, when the Church Calendar was reorganized, the Sundays between Advent/Christmas and Lent were called “Sundays After Epiphany”. Those between Pentecost and Advent were “Sundays After Pentecost”.
When we studied numbers, we learned that there are two kinds: cardinal (one, two, three) and ordinal (first, second, third). Our weeks are numbered in the second sense, and there is nothing run-of-the-mill or routine about our Sunday liturgies.
Feast Days
of Saints
July 3 St. Thomas, Apostle
July 11 St. Benedict
July 14 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha*
July 25 St. James, Apostle
July 26 Ss. Joachim and Anne, Parents of The Virgin Mary
July St. Ignatius of Loyola
*Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was the first Native-born American to be placed on the path to Sainthood.
Called "The Lily of the Mohawks", she was born in 1656 in the Indian village of Osserneon,N.Y. to a pagan Mohawk chieftain father and a captured Christian Algonquin mother. 10 years before her birth, her hometown had witnessed the martyrdom of St. Isaac Jogues and St. Jean de Lalande.
Kateri was orphaned as a child when her parents and brother died during an epidemic of smallpox, which left her with seriously impaired eyesight and a disfigured face.
Her Christian mother had taught her to pray, and after she met a Jesuit missionary and explained her longing for baptism, she became a Catholic.
Because of a hatred for Christianity that prevailed in the area, she was subjected to great abuse and ostracism. Leaving her village, she walked 200 miles to a Christian Indian village near Montréal, Canada.
She made her first Communion on Christmas Day of 1677, and in 1679, took a vow of chastity and dedicated herself to Christ. She lived a life of great holiness and austerity and died in 1680, at the age of 24.
Many miracles were attributed to her, and in 1943 she was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII – the first step in canonization, and was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II – the second step in the process.
ANSWER:
A. True. Individuals must always genuflect when passing by the Eucharist, whether in the tabernacle or publicly exposed. (General Instructions of the Roman Missal 233)
Q: Catholics don't hear about "Easter duties" any more. Has the Church relaxed the obligation to receive the sacraments of reconciliation and communion at Easter?
A: Let us look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive communion each time they participate in the Mass. As the Second Vatican Council says: “That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest’s communion, receive the Lord’s Body from the same sacrifice is warmly recommended. #1388
The Church obliges the faithful “to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days” and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season. But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily. #1389
The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist (Jn. 6:53), but St. Paul reminds that to respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment, urging us to examine our conscience (1 Cor. 11:27-29).
Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion. (C.C.C. #1385. Also see #1457 on the seriousness of the obligation to confess serious sins at least once a year.)
(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
THE LAMB’S SUPPER – THE MASS AS HEAVEN ON EARTH
Scott Hahn
BX2230.5:H29 174 pages hard cover
A development of the relationship between the Book of Revelation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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