 Fr.
Tom's Tomes November 13, 2005
The Liturgical Year is coming to an end. The weekend of November 19 and 20 we will be celebrating the Feast of Christ the King. On this weekend we take up a special collection called the Campaign for Human Development. This collection stays in the United States and is used for helping groups of individuals to promote opportunities for people to become self sufficient through economic employment. The collection is taken up on the Feast of Christ the King because Jesus Christ came to bring us to the Father. Jesus came to show us we need to be concerned about all of his people. As King Jesus wants us to follow his example of reaching out to others to improve and develop the dignity of human life. I invite you to be generous to this collection to help others improve their lives here in our country. The new Liturgical Year begins with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent begins our waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ at the end of times and also our awaiting the celebration of the incarnation. The incarnation is Jesus becoming man for our salvation. It is the participation in the plan of redemption of mankind. As people moved away from God, God promised to send a Messiah, Savior. Jesus Christ came to save us from our sin and to show us the way to heaven. As the new Liturgical Year begins we will be doing a few things different at Mass. First we will begin to have the option of receiving communion with both the Body and Blood of Christ. When you come up for communion the three ministers in the center of the altar step area will be distributing the Body of Christ. The two communion ministers on the outside of the altar step area will be distributing the Blood of Christ. When receiving communion as you approach the communion minister you first bow to the Body and/or Blood of Christ. The communion minister will say either "The Body of Christ" or "The Blood of Christ". Those receiving communion are to respond in a voice which can be heard "Amen". When receiving the Body of Christ the person distributing the Body of Christ will place either in your hand or on your tongue the Body of Christ. If you are receiving the Blood of Christ the minister will be handing you the chalice so that you may drink from the cup the Blood of Christ. When you have finished receiving the Blood of Christ you then hand the chalice back to the minister. Please know that it is the option of the person if they receive the Blood of Christ. It is a choice the individual person makes if they want to receive the Blood of Christ or not. Another change which will happen beginning the First Sunday of Advent is after each of the scripture proclamations during the Liturgy of the Word there will be a stop or pause of about 15 seconds for the Word of God to permeate our bodies. I have asked the readers to stop and let the Word of God fill not only our ears and minds but also our hearts. This is sometimes hard to begin in a parish because we are not always comfortable with silence. Silence is very important in prayer because it allows us to listen to God. Silence opens our hearts and minds to allow God to guide and direct us. In our society and culture many people find silence difficult. As we begin to add moments of silence to our Liturgy please know it is not there just to add time but in actuality to make time for God to work in our lives. After the Hebrew Scripture Reading (the Old Testament), the Responsorial Psalm, the New Testament reading and the Gospel please know this time is for God to work in each one of our hearts. All together we will only be adding about a minute to the Liturgy of the Word. If it becomes effective I will be able to preach less since God will be working in each one of our hearts. Please be patient as we incorporated sacred silence into our Masses. God bless you this week. |