NOTES FROM NOTRE DAME SYMPOSIUM ON LITURGY & LIFE 1: "On Jesus Christ and the Liturgy"

First set of notes from the June 19-23 symposium at University of Notre Dame. Videos of the talks will  be posted on the McGrath Institute for Church Life YouTube Channel.

"On Jesus Christ and the Liturgy" Fr. Khaled Anatolios, PhD
Fr. Kahled is a priest in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and Professor of Biblical Studies/Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity at University of Notre Dame

"There is one thing I ask of the Lord: to dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 27
Christ is the point of human encounter with God. Two natures together in one person.

Church Fathers referred to Psalm 85:10  "Truth has sprung up from the earth..." - with the incarnation God is no longer just in heaven (Augustine)

Liturgy is the event in which the encounter of God and humanity become available and we can participate in it. It is a Christological encounter. A multitude keeping festival = the Church. In the liturgy we become one body, one spirit in Christ. We encounter each other in Christ.

Liturgy as Exodus.  Every liturgy is Passover. We pass over to freedom in the spirit from death in sin. It begins as soon as we begin our preparations for going to Mass.  But it doesn't happen through our efforts.  Christ doesn't wait for us. He goes out to accompany us.  It begins with the family preparation. But also within spiritual preparation. What do we need to be liberated from?

Liturgy as Kingdom.  In Eastern Church, we begin "Blessed is the kingdom in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Jesus came to say that "the kingdom is among you" (literal translation of the Greek)

PENITENTIAL RITE AND DOXOLOGY (The "Gloria")
If the liturgy is a Passover, we begin by leaving something behind. In the Penitential Rite we declare our liberation from sin in Christ and announce the kingdom. (Repent!) And leave behind what is not the kingdom.

Christ never receives our confession, because he has already given his grace to us and has repented on our behalf. He leaves behind all that

LITURGY OF THE WORD
Epistle to the Hebrews opening.  Continuity - God the Father gathers up all the ways he has been speaking and places it in Christ. Scripture is communication of the incarnation. The opening of the Epistle clears the way for the proclamation of Christ. When we hear Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel, we encounter him.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Liturgy as sacrifice - we need to recover the meaning.  Last Supper:  "This is my Body" = This is my Life. "This is my Blood" = This is my death. Christ can do this because he is in command of his life and death.  (John 10:18)  This communicates the sacrifice.

See Hebrews 10:1-14
Jesus's self offering is his whole will to the Father.  He offers all of us in himself. Perfects for all time those who are sanctified.  It is a love covenant with God - "here I am to do your will."

What happens to sin in the middle of that offering?  How does Christ take away the sin of the world? (As Lamb of God.)  In real sacrifice, you have to enter into - to empathize with the other.  Christ enters into our humanity with all its messiness and becomes part of it... His pain was greater than any human pain because he suffered all the woundedness of the world because he empathized and took on all our suffering. He did this while in the Trinity, so it becomes part of the holiness of the Trinity.

Eucharist needs to be spiritually digested because it's spiritual food - it is digested spiritually by contemplation and through reflection on Scripture.

EPICLESIS
The Holy Spirit is the "extrovert" member of the Trinity.  It comes down and transforms the bread and wine and then it transforms us.  Every Eucharist is a Pentecost.

GO IN PEACE
Jesus never says "Peace be with you" except after the Resurrection.  The peace of Jesus is a definitive peace.  The peace of a fullness of communion, of encounter between God and humanity. Humanity is fully integrated into the life of God - and we are sent to bring this peace to the world.

Q&A
Pope Benedict in Sacramentum Caritatis... we bring the pain and suffering of the world and offering them with the gifts.

We lift up our hearts with Gods help.  We get new hearts from God at the liturgy.

Laudato Si and the Eucharist

As I am speed-reading through Pope Francis' new encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si this morning, I discovered this beautiful section near the end on the sacraments - in particular, the Eucharist - and the importance of Sunday. This connection to Creation and to respect for the world and its peoples opens up great richness in sacramental theology.

235. The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a different plane. Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise. The hand that blesses is an instrument of God’s love and a reflection of the closeness of Jesus Christ, who came to accompany us on the journey of life. Water poured over the body of a child in Baptism is a sign of new life. Encountering God does not mean fleeing from this world or turning our back on nature. This is especially clear in the spirituality of the Christian East. “Beauty, which in the East is one of the best loved names expressing the divine harmony and the model of humanity transfigured, appears everywhere: in the shape of a church, in the sounds, in the colours, in the lights, in the scents”. For Christians, all the creatures of the material universe find their true meaning in the incarnate Word, for the Son of God has incorporated in his person part of the material world, planting in it a seed of definitive transformation. “Christianity does not reject matter. Rather, bodiliness is considered in all its value in the liturgical act, whereby the human body is disclosed in its inner nature as a temple of the Holy Spirit and is united with the Lord Jesus, who himself took a body for the world’s salvation”.

236. It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours. In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living centre of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world”. The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, “creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself”.Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation.

237. On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s eternal rest in God”. In this way, Christian spirituality incorporates the value of relaxation and festivity. We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. The law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day, “so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your maidservant, and the stranger, may be refreshed” (Ex 23:12). Rest opens our eyes to the larger picture and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of rest, centred on the Eucharist, sheds it light on the whole week, and motivates us to greater concern for nature and the poor.

This will bear some study - but there is much to consider here - in a world that has largely lost its sense of the importance of Sabbath rest. Lots to think about in Pope Francis' document... but this is the liturgical connection.

The Vine, the Branches and the Eucharist

The kids in my Confirmation class were confirmed earlier today in two celebrations at my parish. (We had 115 of them, so it was necessary to split the group.) In class on Wednesday, my 22 kids and I talked at length about the image of Jesus as the vine and us as the branches, which, it happens, is the Gospel reading for this weekend. The discussion went in a direction I had not anticipated, but actually, it was the right direction. Here are a few highlights...

• If Jesus is the vine and we are the branches on that vine, he is the only reason we thrive and bear fruit. 
• If we are cut off (or cut ourselves off) from the vine, we will become dead branches - and there will be no fruit.
• Jesus, the true vine, nourishes his people through his sacrifice. He offers this connection if we become his friends, which we become by doing what he asks of us.
• We never do this alone - we are all connected - all Catholics in the parish, the diocese and around the world.
• Initiation into full membership in the community through Baptism and Confirmation grafts us onto the vine and makes us a part of it.
• The faith community (all the branches together) gathers each weekend to be nourished by the Eucharist, which is the chief way that the vine nourishes us
• Therefore, going to weekend Mass, being nourished by the Word and receiving Eucharist on a regular basis, is the most important thing we can do to maintain our identity as branches on the vine. 

What I hope they took away from Wednesday's session and today's experience is a sense that they belong to Jesus Christ and to his community, the Body of Christ.  The beautiful image of the vine and branches is an organic one - the relationship is the most natural thing in the world. The branches take their very identity from the vine to which they are attached and rooted to the earth. We, too, take our identity from Jesus -and all that we do should reflect our connection to him. 

The Eucharist is NOT "Comfort Food"

(photo source: Getty)

Here in the Chicago area, we have been experiencing an early cold-snap, with temperatures we normally don't see for about another 6 weeks. Cooler weather typically brings out the cozy blankets, space heaters and puts me in the mood for cooking and baking.. and yes, it brings a craving for comfort food. The thought of a hearty soup when it gets down in the 30's at night and barely into the 60's by day is certainly more attractive than it was about a week ago when it was in the upper 80's and humid!  When we are cold, it's natural to seek comfort.

It strikes me that likewise, when one's discipleship is cool, there can be a tendency to look to God primarily for comfort, while avoiding the challenge of the Gospel, and to see the Eucharist as mere "comfort food." 

Jesus referred to himself as the "Bread of Life" and said that "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (John 6:54) He promised eternal life to those who eat.  But what does it mean to allow Christ to remain in us? Is that just about being comforted?  Televangelist Joel Osteen famously preaches the Prosperity Gospel - that "God just wants you to be happy."  But is that what it is all about?

If Jesus is in us, that means all of him - and all of his life. Take a look at what Jesus asked of us. Jesus calls us to do as he has done - to wash feet and to sacrifice ourselves for others in his name. To preach, teach and baptize (evangelize).  He never said, "Come, sit in the pews and feed on me, and then go home and be comfortable."  He never said, "I just want you to be happy and to have everything you want." That is the trap we can fall into when our faith is just about seeking comfort - about us instead of about truly following Jesus Christ in all our thoughts and actions. He is not only the comforting Good Shepherd, but also the "narrow gate."

Instead of simply resting in him, Jesus asked us to live for the sake of the Kingdom - God's will for the world. He said “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  (Matthew 16:24-25)

And where do we go, what do we do when we follow Jesus? We heard the apostle Paul tell us in this weekend's second reading that Jesus "emptied himself,taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." (Phillipians 2:7-8)  He did that for us, not for himself.

Discipleship is about learning that obedience, even to death, even death on a cross. The true disciple does not receive the Eucharist as if it is comfort food. It should be received to embody a total union with the One who calls us to submit to the will of God, whatever that may be, and wherever it leads us. It's not about us. It's all about you, Jesus. 

Evangelizing, Joyful Ministry: Embodying Jesus for Others

A friend of mine just posted this on social media after his daily Mass attendance:

"My Eucharistic Minister had such joy in her eyes it was like she was handing me the freshly swaddled baby Jesus. She snapped me out of my shameful inward focus with which I was approaching the altar." 

Wow. Just wow.

Do your parish liturgical ministers bring joy to their ministry? Do they see the encounter each member of the Assembly as important?

How can parishes form ministers for joy?

What can we do for our priests to help them find and radiate joy?

"The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice."

                 (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 5)

Review: Eucharist: A Journey of Transformation, Healing and Discipleship

How can we allow ourselves to be changed so that we may broken and shared to "become Eucharist" for others? That is one of the key questions that Mary Amore is trying to help people answer in the three talks on her new DVD  Eucharist: A Journey of Transformation, Healing and Hope.  Dr. Amore, who serves as the executive director of Mayslake Ministries has honed her presentation from her background in liturgical studies and her many retreats and parish missions.

Amore's presentations are sometimes theological, sometimes liturgical, frequently punctuated by storytelling and wisdom from life that enliven these experiences of liturgical catechesis and model how "liturgy and life are interconnected." She challenges listeners to make sacrifices, to take risks and become more than they think they can be, all through the power of the Eucharist.

In a guided reflection, she digs deeply into how listening to the Word challenges us to change, and how participating in the sacrifice of the Eucharist is an opportunity for real spiritual sacrifice as we offer all that we are and all that we love to God along with the gifts on the altar. She encourages us to enter the sacrifice and allow ourselves to be transformed  - to become consecrated and holy - the  "Living Body of Christ" (echoes of my favorite section of the Catechism, Paragraph 901.)

The Eucharist DVD consists of three 20-minute talks and a user guide for personal or group reflection:

Part 1: Eucharist as a Pathway to Spiritual Transformation
Part 2: Eucharist as an Invitation to Spiritual Healing
Part 3: Eucharist as the Renewed Call to Discipleship

Suggested uses are for RCIA, parish missions or personal reflection. I would add small communities of teens, young adults and adults as other suitable audiences - as well as parish staffs and other ministry groups. What might happen within a parish staff or pastoral council dynamic if the members honestly reflected on the Eucharist with this kind of depth?

The printable user guide sets up sessions that allow time for reflection, sharing, prayer and ritual. The questions dig deep and should provoke profound responses. Make no mistake, this is not superficial or mere "learning about" the Eucharist. Dr. Amore challenges us to become part of the power of the Eucharist that can transform the world. We do this by allowing ourselves to become like Jesus, to be disciples who are not only hearers of the Word, but doers who serve others and don't count the cost.

Bottom line: this is a beautiful resource for liturgical catechesis and I highly recommend it. 

All of Me, Why Not Take All of Me?

I have mentioned before that I try to remember to offer myself to God as the gifts are being prepared or during the epiclesis (when the priest holds his hands over the bread and wine and calls down the Holy Spirit to change them into the Body and Blood). It's that part in CCC 901 about lay people offering their lives with the gifts.   You can read my explanation of that HERE.

On most days, it's pretty tame. Something like "God, take it all"  or "I give it all to you, Lord".  Sometimes, however, because I'm a musician and my head is full of random stuff,  the whimsey in me comes up with this:

All of me

Why not take all of me

Can't you see

I'm no good without you...

Yeah, God - I'm pretty much a mess without you. 

When the Bread of Life Can Make You Ill: A Celiac at Mass

As I continue to navigate the challenges of being a Catholic and being recently diagnosed with celiac disease, I have to admit I get a little catch in my gut as a reaction to anything referring to bread or wheat in songs or in the text of the Mass.  It's obviously psychological, like my latest tendency to pass longingly and nostalgically through the bakery section of the grocery store and glance at things I can never eat again.

And yet this is important to who we are:

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
(John 6:53-58)

So what do you do when the bread that is broken and shared as Jesus' flesh can hurt you? When your low-gluten host is brought and distributed separately and is no longer part of the bread of the community?

You pray a lot. You feel sad. You learn that you will never know what part of the Cross you will be called upon to bear next in this life.

I know it's still the Eucharist, but now it's just a lot more complicated.

Rethinking My Relationship with the Eucharist: Celiac Disease and Catholics

What if you could no longer receive Eucharist in the regular way? I have learned that when it is a choice between receiving the Body of Christ in a wheaten wafer as does the rest of the community - and my health - it is a very emotional issue as well as a logistical one.

I have always been able to eat pretty much anything, so a summer of severe gastrointestinal issues came as a huge shock. Doctors tested me for the usual "bugs," but concluded it was probably one of the "between 3 and 4 thousand viruses we don't test for." In September, I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy, which was initially reported as clear. However, when I went back for my follow-up appointment, he mentioned that microscopic examination of samples had revealed the cilia in the lining of my small intestine had atrophied, the sign of celiac disease. I protested that I was no longer having G-I issues. His response was simply "Well, see me if you are having any problems."  End of visit.

I had heard of celiac disease, but had never known anyone who had it. (One out of every 133 people in the U.S. have it.) From what I have since read, it's obvious the gastroenterologist really had no real experience with it either. He seemed to think that as long as I was not having G-I distress it was not much of an issue. The nurse for the internal medicine doctor who had referred me to the gastroenterologist suggested a gluten-free diet, but gave me incorrect information about what I could not eat.

Since then I have learned that celiac disease is regarded as very under-diagnosed (some estimate that 95% of people who have it don't know) and that "silent" celiac disease is indeed serious, even when there are no or few digestive issues. For people like me the only noticeable symptoms may be arthritis and major fatigue. The damage to the intestine means I do not absorb nutrients from food - which can result in severe osteoporosis, liver damage and even cancer. My best strategy is to eat a totally gluten-free diet for the rest of my life. That means nothing made with wheat, barley or rye. And that means no wheaten hosts for Communion.

I was certainly aware that the USCCB has a statement about low-gluten hosts, but never thought it would apply to me. After a few weeks when the communion host was the only wheat I knowingly ingested - and a tell-tale reactive rash - I made the difficult decision to deal with it. As a diocesan employee, I frequently receive at Masses with our bishop, so I first consulted our Office for Divine Worship. I was told I needed to purchase my own hosts and pyx and bring them to each Mass. So I ordered the hosts made by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and an inexpensive starter pyx.

The early experience has not exactly been seamless.

• I have to remember to load my pyx and bring it with me to Mass. (The hosts need to be stored frozen because the lack of gluten means they go stale very quickly, so I can't just carry around a "spare" at all times.)
• At my parish, my pastor has been very good about it. He hands me my pyx, with the usual words "The Body of Christ." Since I am the only one doing this at the moment, communication has not been good. Other priests, communion ministers and deacons are confused and reluctant. I have sometimes had to ask for the pyx to be brought from the altar and usually they had it to me in silence. One priest insists I should just go up and take it if he forgets.
• The first time I received the special host, it completely stuck to the roof of my mouth. Since I was the cantor, that made singing the communion song a bit of a challenge.
• When I am handed the closed pyx, I have to open it and leverage the extremely thin wafer out with a fingernail. Sometimes it's a struggle.
• At each of the diocesan employee liturgies something different has happened. First, the bishop placed the open pyx in the ciborium with the other hosts and offered me my host in the normal way. Next time, the deacon came down separately and handed me my host. I don't know what to expect next.
• I attended a funeral at a local parish for a priest where there were many concelebrants - and three bishops. It was not my home parish, so I did not feel comfortable presenting my pyx at the altar. The Precious Blood was not offered to the congregation, so I did not go up for communion. 

Yes, there are logistical issues. I hope these will be worked out over time. What I was not prepared for, however, were my emotional reactions and the distraction that these can cause. These have included general sadness that this has to happen at all, uncertainty about procedure, fear that I will forget to bring a host with me, worry about whether my pyx will actually be on the altar at the Consecration, fear of causing a fuss or disruption to the communion line, reluctance to make an issue at an unfamiliar site or with new people, and sorrow when I am unable to receive.

I realize that my experience is not as difficult as it must be for people who have a severe reaction to even the tiniest amount of gluten. (There is some discussion in the Catholic celiac community about whether even the low-gluten hosts are safe.)  However, I am a highly-motivated, high-functioning, liturgically knowledgeable person. I already knew there were low-gluten hosts. I can only wonder how many people have stopped receiving communion or have stopped going to Mass altogether because of celiac disease.  

For me, this has and will continue to be a journey. It has resulted in my realizing just how important the Eucharist is in my life. I will struggle through this - because I have to, and because I have the right to receive the Body of Christ, even when it is not in the same way as the rest of the community.

Gratitude... It Should not be Seasonal

Apologies for the long hiatus - some serious health issues and a very busy time at the office, plus I wrote a major article which will appear in the March issue of Ministry and Liturgy magazine. The other good part is that I found the time to add pages for all the liturgical seasons to my website The Liturgical Catechist.  I have also been blessed to be working on a series of posts for the Loyola Press DRE Connect blog on ways catechists can reinforce rituals, prayers, music and other elements of the Mass in the classroom. (A new post should be published any day now. Links to previous posts are at the end of the current post.) The next major project is a book proposal for Loyola Press for a manual for new and untrained directors of religious education.

As Thanksgiving approaches and we prepare to enter Advent, 2013, I want to give particular thanks for all God's gifts, particularly for my healthy, beautiful granddaughter, Emma. She is proof that there is always the possibility of new life.

I am grateful for family, friends and my parish community, as well as the support of colleagues in the diocese. There is no substitute for a community of people who care. I am thankful to have a steady full-time job and a part-time job facilitating online classes for University of Dayton in an economy where so many are jobless. I am grateful for the beauty of golden-rose sunsets as I drive home from work these late November days, and for the quiet companionship of my cats. I thank God every time I am privileged to serve his people as a cantor at Mass, and for the continued strength and beauty of the voice given to me by the Holy Spirit, which I give back in praise.

I also give thanks for the new piece of the Cross I have been handed - the challenge of Celiac Disease. When I realized that the condition is serious enough that I needed to turn to low-gluten hosts, I was hit by the realization of how much I love the Eucharist. When I have been forced to receive only the Precious Blood because a host has not been available, I had a wrenching realization of the depth of my attachment to the Bread of Life. I know that the day I find myself at a Mass unequipped with my own host and pyx where the Precious Blood is not offered will be challenging. Yet, there is blessing in these new discoveries.

 I may not give thanks for all this often enough... Thanksgiving is a reminder that I should be grateful all year 'round - as should we all.

A Call for Adult Catechesis on the Real Presence: Statistics Show Half of Catholics Do Not Know!

Now I am truly convinced we need better and more sacramental catechesis for Catholics of all ages.

Over on the Nineteen Sixty-Four CARA blog, Mark M. Gray presents evidence of the failure of religious education - literally half of adult Catholics in the American Catholics in Transition survey are unaware that that Church teaches Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Just look at the graphic:

Gray makes the point that actual "Knowlegeable Doubters" are very few, but that half of adults don't even know the Church teaches about Real Presence.... yet this is quite simply the most important of all Church teachings about the Eucharist! He points out what the statistics mean: "Now we know that lack of belief in the Real Presence is more a problem of religious education than of doubt."

What's the problem? Why has catechesis failed with literally half our people? What are we doing wrong? Well, let's think about it.

When do we normally catechize people about the Real Presence? When they are seven years old, preparing for First Eucharist.  Yet, at that age, are people even ready for the concept that Jesus Christ, body and blood, is really fully present in that bread and wine?  We can tell them, but it may or may not make sense. Real Presence is not only an advanced concept, it is simply MYSTERY... and something demanding of lifelong reflection.

Most catechetical texts have a chapter on the Eucharist in succeeding years - if children go through continuous age-appropriate catechesis - which is becoming less and less the norm for families. At any rate, there is a brief review of the concept in the upper grades, during the time teens are preparing for Confirmation.  Yet, does a 12-year-old have the ability to "get" the concept/mystery of Real Presence?  Apparently only about half the time.

After that, most adult Catholics do not receive any sacramental catechesis at all - except for the occasional parent meetings for sacrament preparation for their children. (OK, pastors and directors of religious education - now do you see why good catechesis at those meetings is crucial?)  In rare cases, adults may hear a little sacramental catechesis about the Real Presence in the homilies at Mass... but I suspect these moments are the exception rather than the rule.

So, what can parishes do to change this?

• We can stop taking for granted that people "get" this just because they are Catholic.
• Priests can preach about Real Presence - without assuming everyone already knows what is meant.
• The catechesis provided to adults on the Eucharist must be part of all "captive moments" - it should be part of marriage and baptism preparation and parent meetings for child sacrament preparation.  Why? Because all other sacraments flow from and are in relationship to the Eucharist.
• Religious educators can provide more opportunities for adult catechesis on the Eucharist - either through offerings for adults only or intergenerational gatherings.
• Parishes can start Eucharist study and prayer groups. We have Bible study groups for the Word - but so do other Christians who do not regard the Eucharist as a sacrament or the "source and summit". There are good books/videos out there for such groups. (More on that in a later post) 
• And yes - Adoration. Parishes that do not do it at all should start.

The information from this survey is a call to action. If we want to help people know Catholic faith in a way that engages them deeply and keeps them from looking elsewhere, we have to start helping them to develop a Eucharistic understanding and a Eucharistic spirituality - now!

Liturgical Catechesis on the Eucharist - a Creative Catechist Makes it Real

My friend Christian LeBlanc, catechist extraordinaire, just posted a great sound byte  from a lesson on the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes and its relationship to the Eucharist. Smaller Manhattans: Res Ipsa Loquitur: Mass Model   

The kids are engaged and eager - and a bit chaotic at times, but he gets the point across.  Be sure to click on the text "8 minutes of class time" to bring up the mp3 recording - then look at the drawing and listen to how he gets the point across to the kids.  Liturgical catechesis from scripture story... Bravo!

The Eucharist - For the Win!

On Friday the 13th Spirit Juice Studios, St. Charles, IL, a small, independent production company specializing in high-quality short films aimed at Catholic youth (including the popular Fr. Pontifex videos) released a new video on YouTube, Zombies vs Jesus.

A young man awakens one morning to discover his entire family - indeed almost his entire community - has been changed into flesh-eating zombies overnight. What ensues is basically the "Zombie Apocalypse" - until.... OK, no spoilers. Let it suffice to say that Jesus - in the Eucharist - triumphs in the end.

Great way to attract and entertain young people while providing an important message - that we are better, more human, when we receive the Eucharist regularly than without it.

If you like this film, check out Spirit Juice's other videos here.

Study Shows American Catholics Vary on Understanding the Real Presence

The recent survey of American Catholics published in NCR is quite revealing not only about attitudes about the faith, but also about how well catechesis has succeeded or failed.  When it comes to belief that the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Christ, results are unsurprising, if somewhat disheartening for those of us in the work of catechesis.  The reasons for attending Mass are also revealing.  Three out of four said they go because they "enjoy the liturgy."

The report on knowledge and beliefs about the Eucharist is here.  


This is definitely a call for liturgical catechesis of adults!

Laying the Blame Where it Belongs

A Facebook friend posted this video today from RealCatholicTV.com on what the Pope has to say about the state of Catholic faith in the world today.  While the Pope makes some really good points about the need for re-evangelization of our own people, the RCTV commentator chooses to interpret the fault as lying with bishops and priests who allow abuses in the Novus Ordo liturgy... a typical attack stance among those who see the Latin Mass as the cure for everything that ails the Church.  Take a look. The Pope's comments, sifted out from his Holy Week homilies, are worth hearing:

 

Now, taking the Pope's comments at face value, we hear that his fear is that many Catholics are lukewarm in their faith and either unable to discern evil when they encounter it, or simply able to dismiss evil.  That sounds like the malaise of a post-modern, self-centered, consumeristic culture, not just a failure to celebrate the Mass well. Certainly good celebration of the liturgy is a factor that helps transform people and the Eucharist of itself has the power to convert. But, if Catholic adults are poorly catechized and do not participate in opportunities to be formed in faith other than the Mass, the majority are not going to experience conversion through the Mass alone.

A chicken and egg issue, you say?  Sort of.  Does deep conversion happen because you celebrate Mass well, or do you celebrate Mass well because you are deeply converted? Both. (Lex orandi, lex credendi and all that!)  But just as necessary is good faith formation and re-evangelization of people who already think they are Catholic, but who in reality never learned what faith has to do with real life. We need to reach them with a sense that Catholic faith is not just a one hour on Sunday factor in their lives, but an entire lifestyle.

One answer is not simply eliminating "liturgical abuse", in the sense that it is usually thought of. Better, more inspired liturgical celebrations that lead people to a sense of the sacred is certainly called for.  If "lukewarm" liturgy is an abuse, however, it is not just endemic to the Novus Ordo.   Better liturgical formation of both clergy and of the laity is one possible and needed solution. The General Directory for Catechesis listed liturgical catechesis as one of the "doctrinal lacunae" in the content of catechesis.  If people do not truly understand the Mass in all its depth, how can they be open to conversion by celebrating it? The current implementation period for the new Roman Missal is certainly a ready-made opportunity to renew our understanding of the Mass and its potential.

However, even beyond renovating our celebrations, we need to focus attention on providing good overall catechesis and opportunities for conversion of Catholic adults.  Too many remain in a child-like understanding of faith because they have had little or no formation since they were children. Jonathan Sullivan of the Diocese of Springfield, IL explores that dynamic very well in this recent post on where adults really are in their faith development.  Another underpinning for the converted life is good experiences of scripture study and prayer (thanks to Marc Cardonella.)  

If parish communities were to provide good adult faith formation that speaks to where people actually are, leading them to a lived understanding of what Catholics believe (Creed) good liturgical understanding  (Sacraments), a knowledge of how Catholics should make decisions and treat others (Life in Christ), deep experiences of prayer methods and practices  (Prayer), underpinned by experiences that enable them to develop appreciation and love of Scripture, it could change Catholic adults into functioning passionate disciples of Jesus Christ....  Well, doesn't that sound familiar?  This is, of course, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, supported by Bible study - the basic content of all catechesis.  Adults with a full understanding of how the content of faith relates to their lived experiences turn around and celebrate that well by fully and deeply participating in the Mass... which can lead them to deeper conversion through the Eucharist.

So, yes, the Pope is right to be concerned. However, the answer is not as simple as going back to the old Latin Mass or eliminating "liturgical abuse" by clergy and laity in the Novus Ordo parishes. What we have, my friends, is a failure to catechize.  We have, as I have often said, failed to help people discover why faith matters.

So Much Catechesis Needed: 41 Percent of US Catholics Still Don't Get Real Presence

The latest Pew Research Center poll on Religious Knowledge in American results are in: 41% of American Catholics polled answered that Catholicism teaches that the bread and wine used for Communion are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus. Although 55% get it right, and there is evidence that variables such as whether or not they regularly attend church, have more education, etc seem to affect the outcome, it is still rather sad.

Just as sad is the fact that Catholics are 1.1 percent below the national overall average in overall correct answers to this survey, which consisted of questions about the most prevalent religions in America. Atheists often, frankly, scored higher. Of great concern, too, is the outcome that Hispanics score lowest overall on this test of religious literacy, showing how much work is to be done among them, as they leave predominantly Catholic homelands and come to the US, a land of religious pluralism, where many of them are proselytized by other faiths.

All of this points to a huge need for better catehesis.  When such a large percentage of people who identify themselves as Catholic cannot tell you that the consecrated bread and wine are really the Body and Blood of Jesus, we have failed to communicate one of the central truths of our faith. It is no wonder Mass attendance continues to dwindle - we have somehow failed to show people why it even matters.

I will be interested in seeing the three-night televised special on the results of this survey: "God in America", set to air on PBS on October 11-13.

Looking for Great Resources on Eucharist, Reconciliation?

Just got Bishop Sartain's seal of approval for the Diocese of Joliet official list of recommended parish catechetical resources for our Year of the Eucharist. Thanks to the Catechetical Formation Committee for their assistance.  This list includes a variety of great websites, group reflection resources for adults, general adult resources, supplementary resources for children and youth, and lots more - on the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We deliberately chose these from across a wide spectrum of methodologies, so there is something for every parish "style." Even if you are not from our diocese, take a look.  The list is posted at http://www.dioceseofjoliet.org/ye/catechesis.asp.

Haiti, Eucharist and Justice: How the Cry of the Poor Affects our Worship

This weekend, around the nation, parishes are being encouraged to take up collections for the disaster victims in Haiti, and no doubt, people will be generous, even in these uncertain economic times. It is also an opportunity to strengthen people's understanding of the connection between Eucharist and the extreme suffering and poverty of people in poor areas of the world. In  Sacramentum Caritatis Pope Benedict calls Eucharist the Sacrament of Charity and "Food of Truth and Human Need." He underlines the connection between Eucharist and social justice for the poor of the world:

"We cannot remain passive before certain processes of globalization which not infrequently increase the gap between the rich and the poor worldwide. We must denounce those who squander the earth's riches, provoking inequalities that cry out to heaven (cf. Jas 5:4). For example, it is impossible to remain silent before the "distressing images of huge camps throughout the world of displaced persons and refugees, who are living in makeshift conditions in order to escape a worse fate, yet are still in dire need. Are these human beings not our brothers and sisters? Do their children not come into the world with the same legitimate expectations of happiness as other children? The Lord Jesus, the bread of eternal life, spurs us to be mindful of the situations of extreme poverty in which a great part of humanity still lives: these are situations for which human beings bear a clear and disquieting responsibility... The food of truth demands that we denounce inhumane situations in which people starve to death because of injustice and exploitation, and it gives us renewed strength and courage to work tirelessly in the service of the civilization of love. From the beginning, Christians were concerned to share their goods (cf. Acts 4:32) and to help the poor (cf. Rom 15:26). "(90)

One could hope that homilists around the country, and indeed the world, will use the opportunity created by people's natural sympathy and horror resulting from this disaster to show the reality of Benedict's wisdom and connect it to the social teaching of the Church.

"The mystery of the Eucharist inspires and impels us to work courageously within our world to bring about that renewal of relationships which has its inexhaustible source in God's gift. The prayer which we repeat at every Mass: "Give us this day our daily bread," obliges us to do everything possible, in cooperation with international, state and private institutions, to end or at least reduce the scandal of hunger and malnutrition afflicting so many millions of people in our world, especially in developing countries." (91)

As we receive Eucharist, may we do so in solidarity with those who suffer in Haiti, especially the 80% of Haitians who are Catholic and will be longing for Eucharist themselves. Since so many priests were  killed and churches destroyed, celebrations of the Mass will, no doubt be few - even if they could find bread and wine. What they need is our help, our prayers, and our solidarity - ongoing - which, as the suffering poor,  they should have had all along.

CCC Paragraph 901 - Offering it Up

Had yet another opportunity to mention my favorite paragraph in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the other day: 901, under "The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office."

Think what a difference it might make in the Church if more people realized that if, as the priest is consecrating the gifts of bread and wine, they offer to God their life, with all its work and activities, successes and even failures and suffering (if these are "patiently born") their offering becomes a spiritual sacrifice that mingles with the bread and wine and makes it possible for their lives to be come holy actions of worship that "consecrate the world itself to God."

In other words, if we offer up our lives, with all their stuff, good and bad, that offering becomes part of the economy of grace, transformed by our faith in Christ. As we go forth into the world, Christ-like, our every action, now sanctified, is a form of praise and worship - a celebration of what it is to be human but always connected to the divine.

So, our offering up of ourselves at Mass makes both us and the world more holy. When were they going to tell us we had that kind of power?

The New Encyclical is News, But Did You Read "Sacramentum Caritas"?

The internet is certainly alive these days with comments about Caritas in Veritate, the Pope's latest encyclical on Social Justice. Opinions certainly vary - and you can read many.

As part of my background preparation for our Diocesan Year of the Eucharist, I just finished a close reading of the Post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum Caritas and found it to be a really great document on the Eucharist. It is very clear, strong and readable. You can't miss his message. Pope Benedict certainly has set an agenda in this document - calling for focused catechesis of the faithful on the Eucharist, improvement in preaching, and a general sense of the connection between Eucharist and the rest of life. Find it on the web at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html

A couple of items struck me most powerfully: his statement that just because a person physically shows up at Mass, does not mean he or she necessarily has the right to receive Eucharist. Benedict calls for an examination of life, a suitable, penitent disposition - and says we should not assume it. That's news to most people. For those raised with a sense of "obligation" as one of the prime motivators for Mass attendance, most people probably assume if they show up, they get the good stuff, whether or not they participate, whether or not they prepare themselves in a meaningful way. This is not their fault - catechesis has failed to emphasize the importance of examining one's life, and the failure of most adult Catholics to celebrate the Rite of Penance points also to this insufficiency.

Benedict also points to the importance of a coherent life, where people are conformed to the Body of Christ in all they do throughout the week. The people we are on Sunday should be the people we are the rest of the week. He also seconds JP II's call for a renewed sense of the sacredness of Sunday, and he deals at least briefly with the cultural challenges to the Sabbath concept.

Certainly, both of these are important points to make with the parents of children receiving First Eucharist, or adults preparing for their first reception of the sacrament. Catechetical leaders would be well-served by a reading of this document.