Corpus Christi Happy Father's Day
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Corpus Christi Happy Father's Day It is very fitting that on this Father's Day we are joined by another father, a Spiritual Father, Fr. Prabhakar Kalivela from India. If Fr. Kalivela is too much then Fr. K will do. Fr. Kalivela was in the Rectory looking for some breakfast cereal and I said, there should be some in the pantry. He said, yes he recognized a box in there that he bought from when he was her last July. It is a blessing to have him here to serve our parish. Fr. was planning the long process of getting his drivers license but he went in and took both his written and driving test and got his license all on the same day, Thursday. And to help him get around He is looking to buy a good used midsize car while he is here in case you happen to know of one. The Catholic Church in India has been around longer than the USA has been a country. It is believed that the apostle Thomas is buried there after he went east to India to spread the gospel. Today the Roman Catholic Church and others celebrate the feast Day of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. For centuries in the western Church, which is all of Europe her colonized lands, including the Americas, it was customary to build most church's with the altar facing east, not as Far East as India, but towards Jerusalem, because our belief is that when Christ returns He will come in the clouds first in the east over Jerusalem. So for centuries, when mass was celebrated everyone was facing east anticipating the risen Christ. The people and the priest were all facing the same direction. The priest did not turn his back to the people, that is a misunderstanding of the role of the priest and of the laity, which is the people. The posture of prayer was the same for the priest as it was for the congregation, the priest leads the people in prayer which is why in the Vatican Council II says the laity should have full, conscious and active participation in the mass, and let me just say, almost every week, a visitor will compliment how well you all do respond and sing. The council fathers said that, because the priest leads the people in prayer at the Holy sacrifice of the mass, the physical direction of the altar was not as important as understanding what was taking place on the altar, which is both a sacred meal and the sacrifice of Christ. Just before we receive the Eucharist, the priest or communion minister says, "the body of Christ". What that means is, not only are you receiving the body of Christ, but you are also becoming the body of Christ. We as the Church are the body of Christ. So in many places around the world, in the last 50+ years, especially in the USA, we have built our churches similar to this one, with a freestanding altar away from the wall. We also pray, not in Latin, which is the official language of the church, but in the vernacular or our common language. If you follow church politics at all you may have heard a few months ago that Robert Cardinal Sarah who is the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, called for priests to return to facing the altar ad orientem, facing east (in the same direction as the congregation) while celebrating Mass, instead of versus populum , facing the congregation, like we do currently. Well his comment, as a Vatican prefect, stirred up a lot of conversation but since it was not an official mandate most bishops have not required their priests to celebrate mass ad orientum. But the conversation gave me pause, as a priest and a pastor, to reflect on how we celebrate the mass. How do I celebrate mass, me a minister of Christ the high priest, ordained to renew and offer, sacramentally, the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ? There is a sign on a sacristy wall in Emmetsburg, Maryland. There, in the Basilica of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the priest sees these words: “Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass.” I know that for myself, when I do approach the altar as if it were my first mass, my only mass and my last mass, it has greater possession of my heart and mind and I am much more likely to pray the mass and not just say the mass. Last week was my 13th anniversary of my Father's Day. My ordination. The first few weeks after I was ordained I was so happy I couldn't get enough of the Eucharist. In my first 23 days of ordination I celebrated, or concelebrated, 26 masses in four states. Canonically I don't even think that's legal. When I was first assigned associate pastor at St. John Baptist Edmond, I would be so focused on praying the mass, that when it came time to distribute the Eucharist to the communion ministers, I would be too much in my zone to be able to direct them to their stations to distribute communion. I asked the pastor what to do, and he said you have to learn to do both, remain prayerful but also be attentive to those around you. That's something that every congregation has to work on. We can't be so caught up in ourselves during mass that we ignore the fact that this is also a communal act of worship. We can't forget to be respectful of each other during mass. Mass is not the time to balance our checkbook or clip our fingernails. It's also not the time for private devotions like praying the rosary, novenas or chaplets, which are all good and encouraged either before or outside of mass. That's why I instruct the ushers to be attentive when people leave during the middle of mass for whatever reason, and invite them to return to their seats after either the liturgy of the word, or after the homily or after the Eucharistic prayer. To not walk around the church during the liturgy of the word, or during the homily or especially during the Eucharistic prayer is a sign of reverence for God and an act of respect for The people that are praying and trying to listen to The Lord speaking to them. I know some people that can play video games, social media, or play slot machines, for literally hours without food, drink or a bathroom break. But then when it comes to the most important thing that we can do all week, the mass seems to trigger all those bodily needs at the same time. Mass should not be celebrated casually, but with reverence and devotion. Please be respectful when the ushers ask you to wait until the readings, homily or prayer is over. When you go to a Thunder game and leave for refreshments or break, they won't let you back in when the game is in play. They hold up a sign telling you to wait. As much as I respect the NBA, when I die, God isn't going to show me how impressed I was with the statistics of the MVP, God is going to show me how much, or how little, I loved his Most Valuable Players. They usually aren't the millionaires. When you go to the movies, they have all kinds of creative ways to tell people not to talk or text during the show. At the annual Christmas Show, The Nutcracker, they always make an announcement about crying babies. They say, good intentions are like crying babies, it's always best when they are carried out. They don't say they shouldn't be there or not come back in. Just when they are crying. Babies belong in mass. Parents and grandparents, your babies need your help to teach them that this is not a show or concert or movie. This is the most important thing they will ever experience in this life. That's why Your babies belong in mass. The cry room is just a holding cell. A temporary place. Ideally, the only people that should be in the cry room are the good parents helping their child recover themselves. It's not a reward for bad behavior. I want this congregation to join me in promising You parents, that we will support and encourage you to help teach your children that they belong here, because this place is different. That This is a special and safe place and they are wanted here. If you carry your child in your arms in communion line, let them see you receive the Eucharist reverently on the tongue, not single handily trying not to drop them with one hand so you can pop the host in your mouth with the other. This is the only time you get to stick your tongue out. Make sure that you do so the host has a secure place to stick. But let your children watch you. Let them see that you love them more than anything else on earth, except for the God who created them help them to know that the sanctuary is not a stage for the priest, the altar is not a prop. The priest is not an entertainer and the Mass is not a show.