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        This past week has been a busy one. The Bishop of Rockville Centre in New York has banned communion services in his diocese. I am not sure, but this may also include services on Sundays in the absence of a priest. Here is the question: Is this a good thing or a bad thing.    

       Some would say that it is a bad thing because taking the communion service away deprives people of receiving the Holy Eucharist on a regular or daily basis. People ought to have the opportunity to receive the Body of Christ every day if they desire. I would agree that this is a strong argument.

     On the other hand, the removal of Communion Services could be a beneficial thing. Is there a greater good here at work than simply receiving the Holy Eucharist? The Bishop of Rockville Centre seems to think so and I think he is on to something. The greater good is the integrity of the Sacrament of the Eucharist itself. When the Holy Eucharist loses is proximate connection to the sacrifice of Christ, there is a serious danger of making it a horizontal reality alone (common meal) rather than the vertical reality (sacrifice of Christ) that leads to the horizontal dimension (heavenly meal). The other problem is that it takes the priest out of the picture, without whom we would not have the Holy Eucharist.

     It would seem that the big problem is one of convenience rather than devotion. If the priest celebrates Eucharist every day, then the faithful have the opportunity to receive the Body and Blood Christ every day. One thing all of us can tend to forget is that the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass requires a personal sacrifice of time on the part of the priest and the laity in general. That simply means showing up. Will we see the end of communion services in the Archdiocese? I seriously doubt it. Short of an episcopal or Roman mandate, it is hard to get the toothpaste back in the tube.   Another side to this ending of communion services is whether the imposition of a “Eucharistic fast” is a good thing. Will absence of convenient reception of the Eucharist make the heart grow fonder and yearn for Christ? If it does, it may cause some young men to discern a vocation to the priesthood. That would be a good thing.

Any comments on this (positive or negative) are welcome.

     I found it interesting that Bishop Flynn banned Lay Preaching at Mass in his diocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul as he prepares to retire. Maybe he has come to the realization that it is the primary resposibility of the priest to preach the Gospel at the celebration of the Eucharist. It would have been good if he had stated as well that this action is not a denigration of the role of the laity in the Church. We have been dealing with the clericalization of the laity and the laicization of the clergy for the past 30 years, and all it has done is confuse everyone.

      There is also  deeper issue at work here as well. Diocesan priesthood for a long time seems to have lived with the tension of pastor as middle management in the corporate diocesan structure and pastor as shepherd of souls. Most of the talk that has come from many speakers that priests in this archdiocese have had to listen to is that the pastor is middle management. Is it more important to pay assessments or save souls? Like most things in Catholicism, this is not an “either/or” model, but a “both/and” model. There is a need for a Church to be financially viable, but it seems to me that the priority is to be shepherd of souls. I doubt that many would disagree with that. With his role as shepherd, somehow the priest needs to be freed from endless and in many cases useless meetings. Parish bureaucracies that have sprung up from this model need to be torn down. The middle management view of priesthood is I believe a direct attack on the essence of the priesthood.

     If there is a “hierarchy” in the priestly role, it seem to me to possess thre elements: In the order of importance:   1. To Offer the Eucharist and prayerfully celebrate the sacraments of the Church. 2. To be one who preaches the Gospel daily both in Word (preaching) and deed (pastoral care of sick, elderly, teaching, dealing with grouchy parishiners who are never happy, no matter what is done) 3. To care for the material needs of the parish.

   I believe that this order is important because it puts the parish clearly in the hands of God, and it reminds the priest everyday that he is working with Christ for the salvation of the world. When the first two are carried out to the best of his ability, I would think that the third role would be easier

    This is why preaching is the primary charism entrusted to the priest at Mass. Is there a place for lay preaching in the  broader Church? Yes. In England, there sprang up the Catholic Evidence Guild, where Catholic men and women in the early 20th century studied their faith and learned it well enough to address in a public place (not a Church) a topic in a 30minute period followed by answering questions. It is still alive in England and presently in the Archdiocese of New York. There is a real challenge for the lasity if they wish to take it up.

    It seems to me that many, if not most lay preachers, including women religious and lay brothers, have an agenda that is more political, social or cultural than evangelical. This is also a problem among some priests and deacons. I always get nervous when I hear the words “me” and “I” more than I hear the words “Jesus Christ” and “Church.” Some see preaching as their “fifteen minutes of fame.” What is really is to be is the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the gift of the Church in manifesting the salvation of Christ to the world.

    Students, tomorrow is the final class on sacraments. For the quiz, here are some areas you should look at

Issues and persons in regard to the question of the Real Presence- Early Church and Middle ages

Issues and persons in regard to the sacrificial aspect of the Mass

Consequences of the Eucharist and proper dispositions for receiving communion

Material elements in the Sacrament of Penance

Basic early history of the Sacrament of Penance from public penance to private auricular confessions.

Effects of the Sacrament of Penance

See you Tomorrow

St. Athanasius, pray for us.

    Students, do not forget that I will not be meeting with you on Saturday morning, but a double session on Saturday afternoon. Deacon Shea will meet with you from 9:00-11:00. Here are some areas you might wish to review for your quiz.

Five effects of baptism; Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit; Three types of communion; the difference between Baptism and Confirmation; Matter and Form of Baptism and Confirmation; Baptism and its necessity for salvation; Triplex Munus; OT and NT prefigurations of the Holy Eucharist

Please pray that Fr. Ben, Fr. Earl and the Seminarians have a safe trip to New York to see the BIG GUY.

      As I was driving to back to the Seminary, the Skyline on Beechmont that this on their sign, The Pope May Stop By. While I don’t think that will happen, it poses an interesting Cincinnati Question: If Pope Benedict came to Cincinnati and went to Skyline, what would he order?

      1. Three-way   2.  Four Way Bean    3. Four Way Onion  

     4. Five Way (the “fullness of Skylinicity”)   Oyster crackers yes or no?

      5.  Cheese coney with onions    6. Cheese coney with no onions

     7. He would excommunicate Skyline and go to Gold Star

Let me know what you think… ;)

And Yes he Definitely would get a bib

     This Friday, the Seminarians get to travel to NY to see Pope Benedict at Dunwoodie Seminary in Yonkers New York. Thanks to the kindness of a generous benefactor, the seminarians will be leaving Friday by bus to go to New York under the leadership of Fr. Benedict O’Cinnesealaigh, the director of formation. I think they have a secret plan to get the Pope’s attention, but I am not allowed to say what it is.

     Please pray for their safety and the safety of all those who are travelling to New York or Washington DC. As usual, I think my personal invitation has gotten lost in the mail, so I will staying behind to teach the Permanent Deacon students about the Holy Eucharist and the Sacraments of Healing.

     Unless you spend all week watching the coverage from EWTN and listening to Sacred Heart Radio, this has the potential to be a really annoying week. I’m sure that all the media outlets, probably even Fox will be going to the usual suspects, the so-called “experts,” the MacBrien’s et al. who will expound all the faults of the Church and its imminent demise if we do not catch up with the progressively enlightened 21st century. The NY Times today says that the people want the Pope to acknowledge the crisis of faith.    What the dim-witted illuminati in the media seem to be missing is that he is already doing so.

      When there is a “crisis,” people need to regain their identity, and to do that they need to go back to the sources of the faith. Deus Caritas Est and Spe Salvi, do just that. The recovery of the TLM and an emphasis on the sacredness of the sacramental mysteries is another attempt. The flock (and even sometimes the shepherds)  has listened to the thieves and liars and found themselves beaten, bloodied and thrown by the side of the road. The Bishop of Rome has come to remind the flock and the shepherds of this country that the only way to heaven is fidelity to Jesus Christ, manifested in the Gospels and expounded on in Apostlic Tradition. This is the same Jesus Christ that becomes present on every altar during the celebration of the Mass and present in every Tabernacle of every Catholic Church. Peter has come to strengthen the brethren in the faith, because they have been sifted like wheat by trying to fit into this diseased culture rather than praying and working for its healing by confronting it head on with the Gospel.

    We need to pray this week that while everyone is gawking at the spectacle, they may take the time to listen to his words of hope and his challenge to live a constant witness to Christ. If that happens, we may not get so annoyed.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     All the class notes for sacramental theology for the remaineder of the quarter are available for you to download at your leisure.

    For the quiz tommorrow, make sure you know the OT prefigurations of Baptism, the definition of Sacrament, the differences between sanctifying grace and actual grace, meaning of ex opere operato vs. ex opere operantis.

     On this chilly morning when we come together to celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, everything around us shouts out one word loud and clear- LIFE! The clean white altar linens, the brightly colored flowers, the aroma of incense, the joyful music and the children bouncing off the walls because they already gotten into their Easter candy point us to the things we love and cherish the most: beauty, innocence, goodness and truth. The things which bring us real joy in this life have one source, Jesus Christ. By raising Jesus Christ from the dead, the Father makes that fact very clear. The resurrection has given us a new world, a new hope and a new life.

     You may think to yourself that the world does not look that new. There are wars and tragedies. There is sickness and death. Good people are suffering for no reason and the poor are abused and neglected. Where is this new world, this new hope, this new life? I don’t see it.

    The reason that we do not see it is because we do not see Jesus clearly. We may think that Jesus was just a person of the past, who is not interested in the world. We may think that Jesus is this taskmaster who asked more from us than we can ever give. We even think that Jesus is happy if we only do what we think makes us happy. None of these things gives us an honest picture of Jesus Christ.

     St. Peter gives us the clearest picture of Jesus in his sermon in Acts. He says clearly, that Jesus is alive, really alive, not a figment of our imagination, but through the grace of the Holy Spirit he lives among us in the Church, the world and in every baptzed believer. He is still with us becuase he knows that we cannot live without him. We need his wisdom, his compassion, his forgiveness, his encouragement. We most especially need his Body and Blood.

     Every day we face challenges. Some of us are carrying heavy burdens or confused or trapped in sin and we don’t know where to turn. We have good intentions to serve God but they get lost through all the busyness of the day. Every day we face the same question: Can I live without the help and grace Christ or not? Can I live without prayer and the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Holy Eucharist? Do I think my way is the most important, or do I let Christ show me a better and higher way?

     If the answer to those questions is yes, we can live without God, then we are really not among the living, because this Feast of Easter teaches us that there is no life, no hope and joy without the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God makes the resurrection a vibrant reality known to us by prayer and the sacraments. Real life is not going to happen without these things.

     The Lord has been raised from the dead so that we may be a people fully alive. We have been reborn through Baptism and in a moment we will renew our baptismal promises. Let us turn to the Lord and ask him to let us really live. Let us ask him to open our eyes to see where we are and let us beg him to make us into the people he wants us to be- a holy people, a united people, a blessed people, a people of the resurrection. Alleluia.

      As we keep vigil for the Resurrection of the Lord this night, God in his goodness and love bestows on his people Light, Liberation, and Life. We know that all throughout salvation history, God has been slowly preparing his people to become partakers of his divine nature. This history finds its high point tonight when the Church teaches us that the Father sent the Son to undo by his cross and resurrection what we had brought about through our sins. The resurrection marks the beginning of a whole new world.

     As we heard in the story of creation, God first created light, but through sin, we have chosen darkness. We also know that God created us with a free will to choose the good and avoid evil, but we chose to ignore the good and become slaves to our passions. Lastly, while God breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, we chose sin, which ultimately leads to death.

     All the readings and actions we do tonight clearly focus on not only the human race regaining what it lost, but raising us to the dignity of being children of God. First we look to the light. We began this evening in darkness before a large fire, and from that fire there was taken a flame to light this Easter candle. We recognize that Jesus Christ is our Light, the light that shows us the truth about God’s love, the light that warms us from its flame, the light which purifies in us whatever is not of God. Tonight those who will be baptized will receive the Light of Christ, so that they can make their way through the world confident that God will always be their guide, keep them warm in his love and cleanse them from all impurity.

     This night is also about liberation. We heard the story from Exodus of Moses leading the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, with God fighting for them all the way. In a little while, before our Elect will be baptized, they will renounce Satan, announcing their intention to be free from sin and profess their faith in God. All of us then will renew our baptismal promises, in which we renounce again evil and profess our faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God did not create us to be slaves, but a free people, configured to Jesus Christ through Baptism that we may inherit everlasting life. Tonight we call to mind again that our most important attachment must be to Jesus Christ, and not to the things of this world.

     Lastly, tonight is about Life. Real life. It is not about the one we might imagine or think we deserve, but true life, a life in which we are totally immersed in the love of God It is a life that will have the cross, but it will also having lasting meaning and joy. We see through the bodily resurrection of Jesus that Life is Christ, and in order to possess that life, we must die to ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and seal in us the love of God in an everlasting way. Those who are to be baptized and received into the Church tonight receive the special gifts of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation, and having been fully initiated are brought to receive Life himself, Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

     The great hymn to the Easter Candle, the Exultet, says it so well: Rejoice O earth in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes forever! Alleluia!