Parishes provide Communion options to those with gluten intolerance

Parishes provide Communion options to those with gluten intolerance National Catholic Reporter

Can you drink the cup that I drink?

This past Sunday's Gospel (Mark 10:35-45) provides, in my mind, one of the most compelling reasons for offering Communion under both species. The sons of Zebedee wanted a prestigious place in heaven, seated on the right and left of Jesus Christ. In short, they wanted to be great.

Jesus answers with a question: "Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" This question foreshadows Jesus' prayer in the Garden: "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" (Matthew 26:39)

Humility--submitting wholly to God--is an active pursuit, always done with God's help. We carry our own cross, drink from the cup of suffering, die to our own ambitions and seek God's will.

Many seem opposed to Communion under both kinds. I suppose the argument is that it is not necessary, since the Catholic Church teaches that "Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts" (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1377). Others are worried about profanation because of the possibility of spilling the consecrated wine. There also are concerns regarding health issues, particularly for individuals with suppressed immunity. All of these issues must be considered and addressed so that if Communion is offered under both species it is "preceded and continually accompanied by proper catechesis" (Redemptionis Sacramentum no. 100).

But current liturgical documents state (although in an increasingly guarded manner) that Communion under both species shows the Eucharistic banquet through a fuller sign (see General Instruction of the Roman Missal nos. 85, 283; Redemptionis Sacramentum nos. 100-107). I also would add that it provides us with the opportunity to answer Jesus' question ourselves, "Can you drink from the cup that I drink?"

In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus instructed the Apostles on greatness. It is not about status, power or control. It is about service as the "slave of all." This is the prize for those who drink from the cup of Christ.

From Mass to Mission

I mentioned in an earlier posting that the Third Edition of the Roman Missal (in its Latin original) has relatively few changes, most of which are the incorporation of feasts, ritual masses and other texts promulgated since the previous publication.

However, the new edition contains three new options--personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI--for the dismissal (in addition to the old standard, Ite, missa est) which highlight the connection between liturgy and life.

In the new missal, the texts offered for the dismissal are:

Ite, missa est.
Go forth, the Mass is ended.

Ite ad Evangelium Domini nuntiandum.
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum.
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

Ite in pace.
Go in peace.

I have to confess that, when I was a young boy, my statement of "Thanks be to God," was responding to the words of the priest with one addition in my imagination: The Mass is [finally] over!

Apparently, others have felt that its current form lacked a clear message. The idea for these additions came from the proposals given to the Holy Father at the conclusion of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 2-23, 2005). They gathered to reflect on the theme The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church. The Congregation for Divine Worship sought suggestions and whittled over 70 proposed texts down to nine, from which the Holy Father picked the three to be included.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken often and eloquently on the need to revitalize our liturgy not only through a return to "heartfelt participation that is expressed in veneration and in respect for the liturgy" (Homily on May 11, 2009), but also in one that truly acknowledges the mystical communion of all believers:

Christ personally unites himself with each one of us, but Christ himself is also united with the man and the woman who are next to me. And the bread is for me but it is also for the other. Thus Christ unites all of us with himself and all of us with one another. In communion we receive Christ. But Christ is likewise united with my neighbour: Christ and my neighbour are inseparable in the Eucharist. And thus we are all one bread and one body. A Eucharist without solidarity with others is a Eucharist abused. And here we come to the root and, at the same time, the kernel of the doctrine on the Church as the Body of Christ, of the Risen Christ. (General Audience on December 10, 2008)

So, the Mass both calls and enables us to "glorify God by our lives" and to "announce the Gospel" in word and deed, to those with whom we live and work. May we all do so in peace!

The Polls Are Closed

Last week I posted two polls on the sidebar of this website. They certainly weren't scientific in any stretch of the imagination, but I was hoping that they would provide us with some idea of what other readers are thinking.

The first poll asked,

To what extent are you aware that we will be using a new Roman Missal in our country within a few years?

87% of readers (14 votes) said that they are very aware; 12% (2 readers) said that they are somewhat aware. No one said that they were not aware at all.

I posted this poll simply out of curiosity. I wanted to get a general sense of where people are and not simply assume. Quite honestly, I expected fewer people to say that they were very aware, so I'm glad I asked.

The other poll asked,

Have you reminded parishioners about the proper manner for receiving Communion over the past year (check all that apply).

Here the vote percentages added up by the polling program reached 113%! Nevertheless, 13 votes said that they had provided some catechesis, either verbal or in the bulletin while 3 votes said that none was provided.

I posed this question based upon my work at our diocesan workshops for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. EMs consistently brought up issues about the way people receive Communion. From gum-chewing communicants to those who insist on self-intinction, the EMs sometimes worry that people are not as reverent as they should be and they also are concerned about their role in this situation.

After hearing these very same concerns presented at nearly every workshop (around 70, I think), we developed some material for use in the diocese. I am hoping that this year we can develop more material to assist with the liturgical catechesis of people in the pew. I'm interested to hear if you have any suggestions or thoughts on this issue.

"We All Become His Body"

This week's coming feast, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, calls us to reflect even more deeply on the gift of the Eucharist and our response to that gift. Pope Benedict XVI, who writes and speaks with such simple eloquence, recently told participants in a Wednesday Audience (December 10, 2008):

St Paul says: "the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (I Cor. 10: 16-17). In these words the personal and social character of the Sacrament of the Eucharist likewise appears. Christ personally unites himself with each one of us, but Christ himself is also united with the man and the woman who are next to me. And the bread is for me but it is also for the other. Thus Christ unites all of us with himself and all of us with one another. In communion we receive Christ. But Christ is likewise united with my neighbour: Christ and my neighbour are inseparable in the Eucharist. And thus we are all one bread and one body. A Eucharist without solidarity with others is a Eucharist abused. And here we come to the root and, at the same time, the kernel of the doctrine on the Church as the Body of Christ, of the Risen Christ...

Christ gives us his Body in the Eucharist, he gives himself in his Body and thus makes us his Body, he unites us with his Risen Body. If man eats ordinary bread, in the digestive process this bread becomes part of his body, transformed into a substance of human life. But in holy Communion the inverse process is brought about. Christ, the Lord, assimilates us into himself, introducing us into his glorious Body, and thus we all become his Body.

This week's feast (celebrated today on the universal calendar and transferred to Sunday in the United States), gives us the opportunity to offer thanks and praise to God for sending his Son as our Redeemer; to give thanks and praise to Jesus Christ for loving us "to the end" (John 13:1) and offering himself in obedience and humility; and to give thanks and praise to the Spirit for constantly renewing the face of the earth, enlivening us to live our faith.

In light of Pope Benedict's message, I believe this feast also calls us to examine our consciences regarding our participation in the Eucharistic feast. Do we live as someone who is grafted to the vine of Christ? Are we willing to love "to the end," even if it means suffering unjustly? Are we willing to forgive as our Lord did, even as he suffered on the cross? Do we seek reconciliation, and unity?

In the words of Eucharistic Prayer III (co-opted for this blog's title):

Grant that we who are nourished by his body and blood,
may be filled with his Holy Spirit,
and become one body, one spirit in Christ.

Sacrament of Unity

Saint Augustine, who has had such an influence on Catholic Eucharistic spirituality, referred to the Eucharist as the “sign of unity, bond of love,” a phrase quoted in whole or in part in documents of the Fourth Lateran Council [1215], the Council of Trent [1545-1563] and Vatican Council II [1962-65].

This is such a timeless phrase because "Unity is the essence of the Church" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 813).

Cardinal Walter Kaspar, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, has written on this topic (Sacrament of Unity, pages 119-120):

Theologians such as Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas do not consider this understanding of Eucharist as a sacrament of unity something trivial or arbitrary, the fruit of pious exaggeration, something that one might just be permitted to say after dealing with the dogmatic truths of the real presence and the sacrificial character of the Eucharist. On the contrary, this understanding is essential in their eyes; indeed, it is the essential truth about the Eucharist…the unity of the Church is the reason why the Eucharist exists.

Eucharist exists for unity, and “unity is the essence of the Church.” We pray this in the third Eucharistic Prayer:

"Look with favor on your Church’s offering,
and see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself.
Grant the we, who are nourished by his body and blood,
may be filled with his Holy Spirit,
and become one body, one spirit in Christ."

One Body. One Spirit.

It is my hope that this blog will offer liturgical information, insight and guidance to liturgical leaders in the Diocese of Madison. There are many wonderful people in our Diocese who work closely with the liturgy (pastors, liturgists, musicians, RCIA directors, liturgical ministers, to name a few). In charity and love we seek to do God's will together, until the Lord returns in glory.