This past weekend, during which we joined the Church in celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, I preached on UNITY, which I believed tied together, this Solemnity with that of Pentecost and The Most Holy Trinity that were celebrated in the last few weekends.
I spoke of the Holy Spirit who unified the apostles in their action (of coming out of the room they were in to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen) and in their message of hope through Jesus Christ. The Most Holy Trinity is a unity of identity and action as Jesus himself spoke in the Gospel of John of his oneness with the Father. The solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord is about the great "Sacrament of Unity" that is the Eucharist and the Eucharistic celebration.
I spoke of the unity at every Mass of people coming from different backgrounds, locations, and ages to join together in unity of giving praise and worship to God in our thoughts, words and in song.
I made the statement that the one aspect of the Mass in which we are the most unified is our posture. At various times of the Mass we all stand. At various times we sit and at various times we kneel. Someone who had never been to Mass would certainly be impressed by our unity of worship, especially in our posture, EXCEPT perhaps at Communion time.
Around 2003, the bishops of the United States in teaching about our liturgical celebrations, especially the Mass, pointed out the uniform posture that we have during Mass and they stressed that that should be the case at Communion time. Those who grew up in the pre-Vatican II days remember that the common posture of the congregation during Communion was kneeling. People received Communion kneeling and the rest of the congregation was kneeling throughout Communion. With Vatican II came the change in our posture to receive Communion (standing). Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a corresponding change in the congregation's posture before and immediately after receiving Communion. The Bishops of the United States in the year 2003 reemphasized unity of posture throughout the Mass including Communion time. This means that we should all stand at the beginning of Communion and remain standing until everyone receives Communion. During this "Communion Time" we are strongly encouraged to be in Communion of voice by singing the Communion Hymn or Antiphon. Once everyone has received Communion, we all kneel (or sit if you can't kneel) and speak and listen to the Lord during a time of complete quiet, before we all stand for the "Prayer After Communion."
Back in 2003 when then Bishop Sartain of our diocese instucted our priests about this emphasis of common posture during Communion time, he stated that if anyone chooses to kneel after going back to their pew after receiving Communion that no judgement should be made by anyone about that person, and certainly nothing derogatory should be said to those who do this. That should be the case here and at every Catholic Church that responds to the call for unity of posture trhoughout Mass, including the Communion Rite.
I spoke of the Holy Spirit who unified the apostles in their action (of coming out of the room they were in to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen) and in their message of hope through Jesus Christ. The Most Holy Trinity is a unity of identity and action as Jesus himself spoke in the Gospel of John of his oneness with the Father. The solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord is about the great "Sacrament of Unity" that is the Eucharist and the Eucharistic celebration.
I spoke of the unity at every Mass of people coming from different backgrounds, locations, and ages to join together in unity of giving praise and worship to God in our thoughts, words and in song.
I made the statement that the one aspect of the Mass in which we are the most unified is our posture. At various times of the Mass we all stand. At various times we sit and at various times we kneel. Someone who had never been to Mass would certainly be impressed by our unity of worship, especially in our posture, EXCEPT perhaps at Communion time.
Around 2003, the bishops of the United States in teaching about our liturgical celebrations, especially the Mass, pointed out the uniform posture that we have during Mass and they stressed that that should be the case at Communion time. Those who grew up in the pre-Vatican II days remember that the common posture of the congregation during Communion was kneeling. People received Communion kneeling and the rest of the congregation was kneeling throughout Communion. With Vatican II came the change in our posture to receive Communion (standing). Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a corresponding change in the congregation's posture before and immediately after receiving Communion. The Bishops of the United States in the year 2003 reemphasized unity of posture throughout the Mass including Communion time. This means that we should all stand at the beginning of Communion and remain standing until everyone receives Communion. During this "Communion Time" we are strongly encouraged to be in Communion of voice by singing the Communion Hymn or Antiphon. Once everyone has received Communion, we all kneel (or sit if you can't kneel) and speak and listen to the Lord during a time of complete quiet, before we all stand for the "Prayer After Communion."
Back in 2003 when then Bishop Sartain of our diocese instucted our priests about this emphasis of common posture during Communion time, he stated that if anyone chooses to kneel after going back to their pew after receiving Communion that no judgement should be made by anyone about that person, and certainly nothing derogatory should be said to those who do this. That should be the case here and at every Catholic Church that responds to the call for unity of posture trhoughout Mass, including the Communion Rite.
OVERWHELMED is the best word I can use to describe my feelings about everything that happened to celebrate my Silver Jubilee of ordination to the priesthood. The Masses were beautiful and well attended.
It took a great deal of time to go through the many cards I received. The words on the card, both printed and written, touched my heart and led me to thank God for my priesthood and the opportunity I've been given to serve the wonderful people of this parish.
Finally, the receptions were well done and well worked by those who put time and effort before, during, and after they took place. Special thanks to Mary Anne Honzik and JoAnn O'Brien for all their efforts to put the receptions together. Members of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Home Plate and Mary Parks provided food that was satisfying to all. This event, with all that was done for me, will be treasured by me for the rest of my life. THANK YOU.
It took a great deal of time to go through the many cards I received. The words on the card, both printed and written, touched my heart and led me to thank God for my priesthood and the opportunity I've been given to serve the wonderful people of this parish.
Finally, the receptions were well done and well worked by those who put time and effort before, during, and after they took place. Special thanks to Mary Anne Honzik and JoAnn O'Brien for all their efforts to put the receptions together. Members of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Home Plate and Mary Parks provided food that was satisfying to all. This event, with all that was done for me, will be treasured by me for the rest of my life. THANK YOU.
There are times that some of us are blessed to participate in more than one Mass on a single day. This happens most often when someone attends a funeral Mass on a Saturday morning and then the regular anticipated Mass on Saturday evening. When that happens, you can (if properly disposed) receive Communion at both Masses. This was changed over 25 years ago, but unfortunately, was not widely publicized. I pray that we will feel blessed when choosing to participate in more than one Mass on a single day for whatever reason. Obviously, receiving Jesus in Holy Communion should be the highlight of every Mass.