Liturgical postures and gestures #3 - Excerpts from Homily of 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When the hymn begins, we all stand together. Of course, some people are unable to stand for whatever reason so they may stay seated because of physical limitations. But our gesture of standing speaks volumes. First, it is a common gesture for all. We are showing our unity as we stand together. Plus, standing is a sign of welcoming. We are not only welcoming the priest and ministers into the room, but we are preparing ourselves to welcome Christ.

At the same time, we sing together the entrance antiphon or hymn. Not only does this hymn open the celebration, but singing together also fosters and signifies our unity. Hopefully we notice unity is a big deal. We’ll see many more symbols of unity throughout Mass.

As we ministers reach the sanctuary, we genuflect to Jesus who is present in the tabernacle. We recall from last week that genuflecting shows that Jesus is our king and we believe that he is truly present: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament that is reserved in the tabernacle. If the Blessed Sacrament is not present, we would make a profound bow to the altar. This is because the altar is a symbol of Christ. Furthermore, the altar is consecrated for the sole purpose of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In case it is not clear how sacred the altar is, the priest also kisses the altar.

There is also the option of incensing the altar. We incense things that are holy to show reverence for them (including the human body at a funeral). The smoke of the incense rising also reminds us of our prayers rising to the throne of God in Heaven.

Then the priest leads everyone in the Sign of the Cross. Recall from last week how the Sign of the Cross speaks volumes. The Cross is the instrument Jesus used to save us from eternal death, and offer us new life in Him.

Then, there are some words spoken by the priest in greeting, and the people respond together, in one voice, once again showing unity. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) says: “By this greeting and the people’s response, the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest.” So, our little signs of unity here also point to the unity of the Church throughout the world. That is some 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

Even our moments of silence speak volumes. As the priest invites all gathered to call to mind their sins, there is a moment of silence to do just that. Furthermore, we can consciously call to mind that we are in God’s presence.

In the Confiteor, we strike our breast when we say: “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” just like the tax collector in today’s Gospel. What does that mean? This is an ancient sign of humility that shows we are sinners, we need God’s mercy and we are unworthy to be in His presence. Striking the breast can be done very lightly. It is a symbolic gesture. We are not trying to hurt ourselves.

In some places, the faithful have made the Sign of the Cross when the priest says: “May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us the everlasting life.” This is a pious action that speaks volumes, but the Sign of the Cross is not called for here in the liturgical norms. If it were mandated, it might create confusion with absolution from the Sacrament of Penance. The GIRM reminds us that this sentence spoken by the priest “lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance.” We are required to receive the Sacrament of Penance at least once a year and any time we are conscious of mortal sin before we consider receiving Holy Communion. In my opinion, people who make the Sign of the Cross here should continue to do so.

It is also appropriate for the priest to sprinkle the people with holy water, especially in the Easter Season. This gesture speaks volumes in reminding us of our Baptism and all the rich implications that come with being made sons and daughters of God.

Finally, to finish up the Introductory Rite, the priest invites all to pray. Before the prayer, we observe silence once again to consciously remind ourselves that we are in God’s presence. And we can formulate our own mental petitions of prayer. The prayer the priest says is called the Collect. Collect looks exactly like the word collect, and it means the same thing. As the priest is praying it on behalf of the people gathered, all their individual prayers, hope and desires are collected and offered to God also.

The priest prays the Collect in the orans position, which is the ancient prayer position with hands held open and slightly out to the side. Since the priest is representing the people and collecting all their prayers into one with the Collect he is praying, it would not be appropriate for any of the faithful to pray in the orans position at that time. It would diminish the symbolism of all the prayers of the faithful being collected into one by the priest’s prayer to the Father.

And the people acclaim together: “Amen.” This shows they unite themselves to the prayer the priest just made to the Father. And it shows they make the prayer their own, once again, showing their unity. 

Liturgical posture #2 - Excerpts from Homily on 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we walk into the church, men remove their hats but women can keep their hats on. Men remove their hats for respect just like entering a courtroom as a sign of respect. It has always been good manners for men to remove their hats as they enter buildings especially important buildings like the church. Women, on the other hand, can keep their hats and veils on in Church. We veil things that are important. The Holy of Holies in the Temple was veiled. The tabernacle, the Holy of Holies of the New Covenant, is veiled. A bride veils herself before she gets married.

As we walk into church, the first thing we find is the holy water font. We dip our right hand into the holy water to bless ourselves. The holy water reminds us of our baptism. This is important because it is in baptism that we received new life in Christ. We were creatures of God, but in Baptism, we became sons and daughters of God.

With the holy water, we make the sign of the Cross with our right hand. Of course, if someone does not have a functioning right hand, the left hand could be used. The Sign of the Cross is super important because the Cross is the tool Jesus used to bring us out of eternal death and into eternal life. He transformed the Roman instrument of torture and death into the ultimate instrument of new life. Sometimes we get lazy and make the sign of the circle, or the sign of the triangle.

When we make the sign of the Cross, we usually say the prayer: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We are saying that everything we do, we are doing by God’s authority. How dare we pray at all, but because God loves us, we can dare to pray in His name.

Next, we walk to a pew, of course as close to the front as we can get. As we are walking, we spy out the tabernacle. We should also notice the sanctuary lamp. This is usually a red candle that indicates that the Blessed Sacrament is in the tabernacle. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved there so that Holy Communion can be taken to the sick at some other time. If the tabernacle is at center axis, behind the altar, we genuflect to Jesus, who is present in the tabernacle. What does that mean? Back in the olden days, people used to genuflect to kings. Jesus Christ is King of the universe, so people started genuflecting to the King of Kings who is present in the tabernacle. When we genuflect to Jesus, we put our right knee to the floor. When we do gesture, we are speaking body language that says “Jesus is king of the universe. He is my king. I want him to be the king of my heart.”

This gesture is also body language that says: I believe Jesus when he said at the Last Supper, “This is my Body.” And since Jesus Christ is not divided, that has to be the whole Christ: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Of course, if someone is unable to genuflect, he or she can do a profound bow to show reverence to the Lord. Or, if the tabernacle is not in the church but in some separate adoration chapel, we would make a profound bow to the sacred altar because it is a symbol of Christ.

Then we walk into our pew, kneel, and begin our preparation prayers. The posture of kneeling is a sign of humility. So, kneeling in humility, we are saying to the Lord: You are God and I’m not. Kneeling is also a sign of adoration. It shows the Lord that we believe He is the Awesome God and we love Him. The posture of kneeling can also be a posture of petition or supplication, which means asking the Lord for His blessings.

Liturgical posture and non-verbals from last Sunday’s homily

It all begins before we even leave the house to come to Mass. First, we have to remember to keep the Eucharistic Fast by abstaining from food and beverages for at least an hour. Water and medicine are OK. Gum and coffee do break the fast. We should leave these sorts of things at the house. This is a small way to prepare to receive the most awesome Gift of Jesus himself into ourselves. This reminds us that everything we do is ordered toward and directed to this encounter with Christ.

How do I dress for Mass? Do I dress like I am going to encounter the living God? How would I dress to meet the most important human being, whoever we might think that is: the pope, the president, some other politician, the queen of England, the person interviewing me for a job? I have heard other Christians make comments that we sometimes dress for Mass like we are going to the beach. We have air conditioning. Shorts, tank tops and beachwear are not respectful enough for the King of Kings.

Remember the book by Matthew Kelly, Rediscover Catholicism?

He talked about reading the readings ahead of time and even bringing a journal. He challenged us to be ready to hear at least one thing that was going to improve my life this week.

Another non-verbal that speaks volumes is arriving early. This gives us time to prayerfully prepare to enter into the sacred mysteries where we will encounter the living God.

Once we arrive at the church in our cars, we should leave our cell phones in the car unless we are expecting an emergency. This is a good reminder that the time we spend in Church is meant for God and His people.

Our non-verbals are already speaking volumes and we have not even arrived at the door of church. We’ll pick up there next week.

Respect Life Sunday Homily

“Destruction and violence are before me.” These are the words of the prophet Habakkuk in today’s first reading. On this Respect Life Sunday, we draw attention to the destruction and violence that continues against innocent human life. It’s a reminder to us that God’s commandment against murder is absolute and non-negotiable.

And sometimes we may feel like the prophet Habakkuk as he cries out: “How long, O Lord?” In this country, it has been legal to end the life of the unborn child for 43 years. And, in some places it seems like things are getting worse. For example, the aged are more and more vulnerable to euthanasia. But as Christians, our actions are to show the unique and priceless value of every human life.

Pope Francis just canonized St. Teresa of Calcutta a month ago. We knew her as Mother Teresa. She became well known when she won the Nobel Peace Prize for caring for the poorest of the poor and the dying. Do you remember what she said about peace when she visited the United States in 1994? “The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child…”

One of the ways we can support the unborn is by supporting their mothers who are afraid, scared and worried about the unknown. Crisis pregnancy centers help these women and girls know that we will help make life as easy as possible for them during this temporary situation. We are called to Christian generosity to give them everything they need so they can choose life.

And sometimes the obvious needs to be pointed out: Nobody stays pregnant forever. It’s only temporary. A temporary inconvenience can never warrant the death of an innocent person. But people overcome by fear and anxiety make rash decisions every day.

It is also very important to point out that there is great hope for healing for those who have made these decisions in the past. There is no longer any need to carry around these secrets that cause overwhelming regret and emotional pain. All people who have been complicit in abortion can get the healing they need in Project Rachel or any number of apostolates for healing the Church offers. These apostolates reflect the compassionate heart of Christ. And of course, they are confidential. Our loving God desires to forgive and heal everyone who turns to him. His offer of forgiveness and healing remains constant no matter what we have done.

We Christians have an important role to play as citizens. Our responsibility is to engage the culture as Christians. No matter how we decide to get engaged, let’s remember the words of St. Paul that we heard today: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. Do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.”

Our bishops continually remind all the Faithful that we must express our Catholic faith and morals in the public square whether it’s done in the voting booth, contacting elected officials, raising awareness, organizing events or whatever.

In order to vote, we must have a well-formed conscience. Conscience is not feelings, but a product of the intellect. We have to be informed about the policies of the candidates who are currently asking for us to give them governing power over us. And as Christians, we form our conscience by having an understanding of the teachings of Christ, and find out what the Church teaches and why. For example, right now, we have to know about the vacancy on the Supreme Court. The first thing the next president will do is appoint someone to fill that vacancy. Then the senate will approve this person or not. What kind of people has the candidate promised to put on the Supreme Court? Since the Supreme Court decides the constitutionality of laws that have to do with protecting the unborn, this will literally have life and death consequences. What’s going to happen to the Little Sisters of the Poor who don’t want to participate in the distribution of abortion-inducing drugs?

We have to find out: What have the candidates and parties said about the Hyde Amendment that makes it illegal to pay for abortions through Medicaid with our tax dollars. It has passed every year since with bipartisan support. But this year, it has come into question. Where do the candidates and parties stand in keeping our tax dollars from paying for evil?

The other thing we have to do as a Christian people is pray. October is the month of the Rosary. This is great opportunity to reinvigorate our prayer lives and beg the Lord to change hearts in the culture. Pray for our country. Pray for our world. Pray for all who have chosen abortion in the past that they will seek God’s forgiveness, healing and loving embrace. As we pray for the conversion of hearts, we recognize more and more the awesome dignity of all human beings at every stage of development, the pinnacle of creation, wonderfully made in God’s image. His plan always leads to life.

Sunday Homily - NFP Awareness

When you pray say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Addressing God as Father is amazing enough. But this should blow our minds: Men share a title with God, the title of Father. We’re going to see that all men are called to fatherhood in some capacity. Fathers generate life. The most obvious example is natural fatherhood. Most men are called to natural fatherhood where they and their wives, together with God, procreate new human life for the building up of the Kingdom.

Then there are men like me involved in supernatural fatherhood. I don’t have biological children but people call me father because of my role as spiritual father. This goes all the way back to Apostles. St. Paul talks about being a spiritual father as he is writing to his spiritual children.

Then there are also men who never marry and never have biological children. In their vocations, they are called to generate life for the Kingdom as well. They are called to lay down their lives and be fruitful in imitation to Christ so that others can have life. St. Paul reminds us today in his letter to the Colossians, talking about Jesus: “He brought you to life along with him.” These men build up the kingdom in any number of ways like teaching, serving, coaching, praying. There is no limit to the ways to generate life.

So, getting back to natural fatherhood, if building up of the Kingdom is important, then fatherhood continues for decades into the lives of their children as they are reared and educated to be citizens of God’s Kingdom. What an awesome responsibility!

To show the Father’s love for us, Jesus gives some obvious examples of fatherhood in the Gospel today. But procreating and educating his children is only half of the task of fatherhood.

The man is also called to make a gift of self for the good of his wife.

Today begins Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. NFP is a tool that is very helpful to ensure both sides of the coin of fatherhood are kept intact. It’s practice helps a man generate life in a generous and responsible way and at the same time make a full gift of self to his bride.

Nothing is held back, especially not his fatherhood.

Because of this, many priests, including myself, require NFP classes in marriage preparation. The numbers speak for themselves. Couples who practice NFP have a divorce rate approaching zero, and report that they are more satisfied with their marriages. While the rest of the culture has a divorce rate of 50 percent.

In our first reading from Genesis, what was the grave sin of the people of Sodom that God wanted to destroy it? They were using their bodies in ways that God did not design them to be used. They were using God’s gift of their sexual faculties not to generate life, but to generate lust and corruption. They were using each other in acts that were completely sterile. Not only were they sterile, they promoted death and destruction. God is not the God of death and destruction. He is the God of life and love.

Throughout the entire Judeo-Christian tradition, until recent decades, fertility was seen as a blessing and sterility was seen as a hardship. But in our present culture at large, fertility is seen as a liability, as something to be suppressed. That is contrary to God’s plan. Fertility is not something wrong with our bodies, but something right with our bodies. Women’s fertility doesn’t need to be suppressed by dangerous drugs and hormones. It just needs to be understood. And God gives us the ability to understand it. These are the skills learned in NFP.

The conjugal embrace of husband and wife is not only good, but holy. It’s God’s primary way of strengthening their bond with each other and bringing new human life into the world.

Saint John Paul II explained in his The Theology of the Body: “[W]hen the conjugal act is deprived of its inner truth because it is deprived artificially of its procreative capacity, it also ceases to be an act of love.”

God’s design is that the conjugal embrace has both a unitive and procreative meaning, open to love and life. There is an inseparable connection between these two meanings. In the contraceptive mentality, a separation occurs and the full gift of self is diminished. The act now says, I am holding back part of myself from you. NFP is the way to live responsible generosity if a couple prayerfully discerns they have a grave reason to avoid pregnancy.

This is definitely a counter-cultural message. In the culture, people are treated as objects more and more. Our own national government mandates that health insurance programs provide contraception without regard to the deeper effects on the human person.

Really, it all comes down to who has the more adequate understanding of human nature. I’m going to side with St. John Paul II and His Theology of the Body. I’m going to side with the Church and her 2,000 years of the most brilliant minds in the world pondering both the natural law and everything God has revealed. I’m going to side with the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit that Jesus guaranteed the Church would have.

Because of this, the Church will always support what is best for marriages because marriage holds families together. And that’s important because families are the building blocks of society. Strong families means strong society where people can flourish. That’s God’s plan for the human race.

The contraceptive mentality has become such a part of the culture that we are allowing it. I mentioned that on Fourth of July Weekend, when we were observing the Fortnight for Freedom. In the case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Supreme Court instructed lower courts to hear further arguments. In March of 2012 all the diocesan bishops of our country acknowledged that the contraceptive mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services is indeed a persecution because it forces people to provide services that have been deemed inherently evil by natural law reasoning.

But the outrage was relatively small. Vast numbers of Catholics yawned and said it’s no big deal. In November of that same year Many Catholics voted to reelect the same officials who put the contraceptive mandate in place.

Many Catholic dioceses, universities had to file law suits for protection from the mandate. Charities affiliated with religious organizations found themselves in the same threat. Priests for Life and the Little Sisters of the Poor were looking at steep fines that would have put them out of business. The owners of Hobby Lobby, my friend who owns a meat processing company, and many other private citizens, who own companies that employ people, faced the same threats.

Some of those cases have been solved, but not all.

Fortnight for Freedom

Nothing fails like success. 227 years ago, the framers of the Constitution of the United States put in place several checks and balances in a system of government that splits power into three branches. This system has worked very well for the most part for more than two and a quarter centuries, hence the success.

Here is where the failure comes in. Since the system has worked pretty well for 227 years, we have become complacent. Even though we may not trust individual politicians, we seem to have a great trust in the governmental system as a whole. We don’t have to be paranoid, but on the other hand, we should not think that we are immune to some of the evil that is brought about by other governments of the world.

Furthermore, we need to remember that politics does not happen in a vacuum. We elect politicians, and they make policies, and those policies have real effects in people’s lives. We should never shrug off politics as “politicians being politicians.” And we should never think of rooting for politicians and political parties in the same way we root for athletes and sports teams.

I'll come back to that point below, but first, let’s fast forward to March of 2012. The Catholic bishops of every single diocese in the United States pointed out that the Catholic Church is being persecuted by the federal government. The bishops asked all Catholics to observe a Fortnight For Freedom from June 21^st to July 4^th. These dates not only encompass the feast days of saints who stood up to government tyranny, but also the day when our nation observes independence from tyranny. This persecution comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, a department of the Executive Branch of the federal government. The persecution comes in the form of forcing employers to provide contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion inducing drugs to their employees. The Little Sisters of the Poor are still tied up in a law suit with the federal government over the issue and is currently on hold with the Supreme Court.

Later that same year, the president was re-elected, so the same Executive Branch stayed in power. The persecution continued, and exit polls show that about half of the Catholics who voted in that election, voted to keep in power the very branch of government that was persecuting the Church.

Now, we once again find ourselves in an election year. It would be nice not to have to discuss political issues. But the outcomes of elections have real effects in people’s lives. Some elections are literally life and death decisions.

Here are the things that we know will happen for sure:

• A new president will take office on January.
• That new president will run the Executive Branch of the federal government.
• That Executive Branch will have a Department of Health and Human Services.
• That Department of Health and Human Services will either persecute the Catholic Church or will not persecute the Church.

Here are some another things we know for sure:

• There is a vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
• Justice Antonin Scalia, a faithful Catholic, died a few months ago.
• The new president will appoint a justice to fill the vacancy.
• The senate will approve or disapprove the appointment.
• One third of the senators in the legislative branch are up for reelection.
• This year, Ohio has one senator up for reelection.
• Whoever wins that election will have a say in the approval of a new Supreme Court Justice right away.

And it doesn’t stop there. Other seats on the Supreme Court are likely to come open in the first term of this new president. Last week there was a rumor that Justice Clarence Thomas, a faithful Catholic, was thinking about retirement. There is a very strong likelihood that the new president will appoint two Justices in the first term of office.

These justices will either be pro-life or pro-abortion. They will either be pro-life or pro-euthanasia. They will decide many cases that will come before them intended to protect the innocent in the womb or destroy the innocent in the womb. Last week the eight members of the Supreme Court voted 5-3 to strike down a law in Texas that would make abortion clinics as clean and safe as any other ambulatory surgery clinic.

As I mentioned above, we can notice a cultural similarity in sports and politics. We can get emotionally attached to sports teams and athletes; and we can get emotionally attached to politicians and political parties. But there is a huge difference. If we are highly emotional toward a sports figure or team, we might become a fan (which is short for fanatic). This could lead to us cheering, spending money on tickets or related goods, or spending time following said team or athlete. This is about the extent of it. No matter how much we cheer or spend, our efforts will have absolutely no bearing on the outcome of any sporting contest. The athlete will not play better or worse depending on the fan cheering from home.

Now, imagine we get highly emotional toward a politician or political party. This emotion could lead to votes and campaigning. Votes and campaigning can lead to the person or party taking office. In office, these elected officials will make policies. These policies will have real effects in peoples’ lives. Some of these policies will literally be the difference between life and death.

Pro-life

Usually during an election year I have the opportunity to point out from the pulpit that we need to elect a pro-life president because the new president may have the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. We should be reminded of two things:
1. Supreme Court justices make decisions that literally mean life or death to innocent human beings.
2. Supreme Court justices are appointed to the bench for the rest of their lives.
Electing a pro-life president this year is even more important. The way things look now, the new president WILL appoint a justice to the Supreme Court very early in his or her term to fill the current vacancy. Moreover, at the time the new president takes office, four justices will be over the age of 82.
In the coming months and years, the Supreme Court will decide constitutionality to numerous pro-life laws that have recently been passed. Many of their decisions will mean life or death for the innocent.