CHRIST REIGNS!!!
We extend our prayers to the parishioners of:
+ST. JOSEPH CHURCH in SIOUX CITY during this time of loss of their worship space. May God continue to bless your community and your faith. May God's peace be with you.
+ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH in QUIMBY who closed their parish July 11. We open our hearts and arms in support and welcome!
+ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHURCH in MAPLE RIVER who closed their parish October 4.
+ST. JOSEPH CHURCH in SIOUX CITY during this time of loss of their worship space. May God continue to bless your community and your faith. May God's peace be with you.
+ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH in QUIMBY who closed their parish July 11. We open our hearts and arms in support and welcome!
+ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHURCH in MAPLE RIVER who closed their parish October 4.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 419 Jones Street, Moville, IA 51039-0802 US - LITURGICAL NOTES
| LITURGICAL NOTES |
 |
LISTENING
Various end-of-the-world believers often publish their theology on bumper stickers. My favorite: “JESUS IS COMING! LOOK BUSY! In other words, try to look like you’re doing something important. The trouble is that while we are busy looking like we’re doing something important, we aren’t actually doing what’s important. We can feel the difference and God certainly knows the difference. Who do we think we’re fooling by looking busy? And what IS important, anyway? My guess is that what is hardest for all of us is not being busy, but being quiet! The “quiet” moments of the day and of the liturgy are certainly as important as the “busy” moments. Take those few moments to listen to Jesus. We should look for opportunities to be quiet and listen. Perhaps our bumper sticker should read, “DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING! STAND THERE!”
CHILDREN AT LITURGY
The Catholic Church welcomes children at liturgy. Everyone has a right to come to Mass and that includes children. Children cannot be expected to have the same attention span as adults. It's fine to bring something to keep them occupied, like a children's Bible storybook or a coloring book. How does a parent decide when it's time to take a baby out of church? There is a simple guideline: If you were at the dining room table you would know the difference between normal behavior for a child and acting up. It's up to the parent to decide what's inappropriate. Sometimes just walking out in the lobby is enough to calm things down. We need to be very patient with parents who bring their children to Mass. We should be more upset if they didn't come. It is never easy to worship and to discipline at the same time. On our part, a compliment to a well behaved child goes much further than a "dirty look" or a "nasty remark." If you are seated near the family you might ask the parent if you can help. Instead of seeing children as a distraction, let them become the focus of your prayer.
THE LITURGY, which expresses the Church’s proper nature and is a source for the mission, is given to us by the Church herself to glorify God: thus its laws, which should be respected by distinguishing the different roles carried out by ordained ministers and by lay people. Whatever directs believers to God, what gathers them and what unites them with one another and with all the other assemblies should be given priority. The Council was clear on this matter: “Pastors of souls must, therefore, realize that when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the laws governing valid and lawful celebration. It is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite and enriched by it” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 11).
From a Pastoral Letter of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in the United States (September 26, 1919):
27. It is likewise consoling to see in our time a revival of the spirit which, in primitive ages, led the Christian to receive each day “the Bread that came down from Heaven.” In the Holy Eucharist, the love of Jesus Christ for men passes all understanding. “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him” (Jn 6:57). A worthy communion unites us with our Savior, and even transforms our spiritual being, so that we might say with the apostle: “I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20). As by His continual abiding within it, the Church is holy and without blemish, so does the presence of Christ in each soul purify it even as He is pure, and gives it power to do all things in Him who strengthens it.
28. The sense of our unworthiness may incline us to draw back from the Holy Table; but, as St. Paul tells us: “Let a man prove himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice” (1 Cor 11:28). Only sin can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and for sin He has provided a remedy in the sacrament of His mercy. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity” (1 Jn 1:9). Through these two sacraments, the one given for the healing of our souls, the other for their nourishment, we are established in the life of grace and are “filled unto all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19).
--
From a Pastoral Letter Issued by Third Provincial Council of Baltimore (April 22, 1837)
38. How many sources of grace are thus opened to us for the several circumstances in which we may be placed? Again therefore, beloved; entreating, we exhort you not to despise the mercy of our God; no to reject the bounties of Christ, not to neglect the means of salvation thus placed within your reach. Not only for your own sakes, but for the sake of your children, of your families, of the whole Church of Christ are you, especially the heads of those families, bound to have recourse to such of those divine institutions as are befitting your circumstances.
--
From a Pastoral Letter Issued by Second Provincial Council of Baltimore (October 27, 1833) :
14. Thanks be to our heavenly Father: our hearts have been greatly consoled by the increasing multitude that since our last Council has on every side exhibited itself to us, pressing forward to this life-giving food. We have indeed been made joyful by the vast increase; still we have to lament the absence of numbers. Oh, that they would reduce their principles to practice! That they would feel the importance of providing for eternity! That they would follow the plain and explicit declarations of the incarnate Son of God, rather than hazard every thing upon the miserable sophistry of the deceitful world! Brethren, we openly announce to you that there is no other name under heaven in which you can be saved but by our Lord Jesus. And there is no salvation in His name but by means of His institutions, and these are principally the sacraments which He has established. We beseech, we conjure you not to continue the criminality of this neglect.
--
From a Pastoral Letter Issued by Third Provincial Council of Baltimore (April 22, 1837)
37. Now it is by the means of His sacraments that He has provided in the ordinary communication of this grace for the various modes of our regeneration and sanctification. “Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
Now when the apostles who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For He was not as yet come upon any of them: but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:14-17).
In the Gospel of St. John we read, “Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood you shall not have life in you” (Jn 6:54)….
--
From “The Church at Prayer: A Holy Temple of the Lord”
[National Conference of Catholic Bishops (December 4, 1983)]:
6. The liturgy is a principal means by which God acts upon the Church to make it holy. That sanctification takes place through the presence of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, a presence manifested through the word of Sacred Scripture, through the community itself gathered in prayer and song, and above all through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. The sanctification of the Church results in the creation of a community capable of continuing the saving work of Jesus Christ in the world.
7. The liturgy is the chief means by which the Church, through Jesus Christ and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, responds to God’s saving presence in thanksgiving, praise, petition, and longing. In the liturgy the members of the worshipping community are united both inwardly and outwardly with Christ: inwardly by being conformed to Christ in his disposition of humble, self-giving service of the Father and his people; outwardly by expressing both in word and action that interior conformity with the attitude of Christ. In responding to God’s gift of his life offered in Christ, the Church recognizes the mystery of the Father’s love entrusted to “vessels of clay,” It is our challenge in faith to live the paradox of this human element which leaves the People of God in his world always an imperfect community, always inadequate in its acceptance of God’s love, thus always in need of reform and renewal. In this sense the Church is always a community of penitents.
...
9. The worship that is given to God does not consist simply in the externals of liturgical rites but rather includes the very lives of those who celebrate the liturgy—lives which should manifest what the liturgy expresses, which reveal the life and love of Christ to others, and which call them to share in the Spirit of God and in the work of building up God’s kingdom on earth. For as we noted in our reflections commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity in 1980: “the quality of worship depends in great measure on the spiritual life of all present. As lay women and men cultivate their own proper response to God’s call to holiness, this should come to expression in the communal worship of the Church” (Called and Gifted: The American Catholic Laity, n. 3).
...
14. We do not worship God primarily to become better people; the very nature and excellence of God demand worship. But when we worship, by the grace of the redemption, we can be transformed into better people. And so the worship of the Church is a monument in which Christians are formed as moral persons. The liturgy helps to form Christian character, and, as a result, those who celebrate the liturgy are empowered to relate to one another in justice and peace and to involve themselves in the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.
--
FROM SACRAMENTUM
CARITATIS [BENEDICT XVI, 22 February 2007]
1. The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that “greater” love which led him to “lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us “to the end,” even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts! [(1) Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, q. 73, a. 3.]
--
A COUPLE OF LITURGY REMINDERS:
1. We are to FAST one hour before we receive communion. This means no food, beverage, gum, etc. other than water and medication sixty-minutes before communion.
2. Please dress appropriately for our celebration. Our Eucharistic celebration is not a backyard cookout nor a beach party, but a sacred meal that suggests that we dress our best.
3. Thank you to everyone who comes early and stays late. It is nice to come early to pray and to remain until the final song is song. Late comers will still be seated and welcomed but they will have missed some important elements in our celebration. And remember, Judas was the first person to leave Mass early.
--
THE CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS are a response to the Good News. For that reason the actual celebration always takes place after the proclamation of the Word, especially the Gospel, and the homily. Notice anytime that before a person is baptized, confirmed, exchanges the vows of matrimony, is ordained, is anointed, or receives communion—the Word has been proclaimed and we respond through these sacramental signs. Even in the celebration of Reconciliation we confess our sins and are absolved after the Word is proclaimed. We see this clearly in the communal celebration [Form II]. In the more traditional celebration [Form I in the confessional] we have moved away from sharing the word, even a brief passage. The Rite does call for the Penitent and Priest to greet one another and for the priest to proclaim a passage of scripture, and then the Penitent confesses his/her sins. You may be delighted next time you confess your sins to hear the Word proclaimed.
--
GENUFLECT OR BOW? As Catholics we pray in may ways, including through our actions. In must churches (like St. Michael) where the tabernacle is on the back altar, we GENUFLECT, touch our right knee to the ground, when we enter the church to acknowledge the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. In churches (like Immaculate Conception) where the tabernacle is in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, we BOW at the waist towards the altar as we enter the church to acknowledge the presence of Christ represented by the altar. But when we visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, we genuflect towards the tabernacle. Once Mass begins, the only genuflection is done by the priest after the consecration of the bread, after the consecration of the wine, and after the Lamb of God. At all other times during the Mass ministers, including the priest bow towards the Altar. During Holy Communion, as the person ahead of you received the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ, we bow our heads in reverence for Christ who is present in front of us.
--
GENUFLECTION is the action we take to honor the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The proper genuflection is done with the right knee touching the ground as we face the tabernacle.
--
BOWING your body at the waist towards the altar as you enter our church is the proper gesture to acknowledge the presence of Christ represented by the altar. Genuflection, touching our right knee to the ground is only done in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in our case in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in front of the Tabernacle.
--
THE SPRINKLING RITE takes the place of the Penitential Rite when it is used. We will be using the Sprinkling Rite during the season of Easter. When the presider sprinkles the Holy Water on us, we make the sign of the cross over ourselves as we do when we bless ourselves when we dip the tips of the fingers of our right hand into the baptismal font.
--
THE POURING OF WATER INTO THE WINE during the preparation of the gifts began in the ancient world when the Greeks added water to wine because it was often thick, gritty, and too strong. It was simply good taste to add water to wine before drinking it. The Romans loved all things Greek, so they adopted Greek manners and spread them to the lands they conquered. And even though it was not originally a Jewish custom to add water to wine, it soon became part of the Passover meal itself and, hence, part of our Mass.
HALLOWEEN
Have you noticed that much more seems to be made of Halloween these days? Elaborate outdoor decorations on houses seem almost to rival Christmas. We can be happy that so much attention is given to this night. It is one of the few Christian vigils to survive. Certainly there are many trappings of the day that derive from pagan customs, but at its root the Eve of All Hallows, with its ghosts and skeletons and cemetery symbols, points to the heavenly Jerusalem which is our destiny along with all the saints of God. Remember, October 31st , Halloween, is the Vigil of November 1st, the Feast of All Saints.