Q:  What, if anything, is incorrect with this statement? “Our celebrant (presider) at this liturgy is Jesus Christ.” A:  Well, sign me up for that parish! No, the celebrant/presider is always a human priest, and one should not confuse him with Jesus Christ. GIRM 2 quotes SC 47: “At the Last Supper, Our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood, by which the Sacrifice of his Cross is perpetuated until he comes again; and till then he entrusts the memorial of his Death and Resurrection to his beloved spouse, the Church.” Jesus died on the cross. He …

Q:  Quería saber si las personas que nos pongan el lazo puede ser 2 mujeres? Mi mama y la abuela de mi novio? O mi mama y mi tío?? I’d like to know if the persons who place the lazo on us may be 2 women? My mother and my fiance’s grandmother? Or my mother and my uncle? A:  El Rito de Matrimonio dice, “El lazo (o el velo) lo sostienen dos familiares o amigos…” Se permiten dos mujeres. The Order of Matrimony says, “Two members of the family or friends hold the lazo (or veil)…” Two women are allowed.

Q:  Cardinal Robert Sarah recently encouraged priests to use the ad orientem Mass.  I think this was a mistake and will end up confusing lots of folks. What’s your take on (a) the Mass itself; and (b) the cardinal’s statement? I think the idea of facing away from the congregation violates the very spirit, if not the rule and intent, of Vatican II.  My case is severely weakened by the confusing rubrics in the Roman Missal which certainly seem to suggest facing away from the congregation, why else would there be a direction “facing the people” if the priest weren’t …

Q:  Can you help me with a critical commentary on the translation of the Glory to God (in the Introductory Rites of the Mass) from the Greek NT and the Latin in RM (2010). A colleague here is interested in the translation “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will”  The late Rev. Dr Evan Burge (Trinity College, Univ. of Melbourne) apparently wrote a commentary as part of the ELLC Praying Together/Prayers we Have in Common which is one useful source.    Are there any others that could shed light on the most …

Q:  Can you please confirm or deny: an RCIA minister in our diocese wants to know if the rite recommends at any point for catechumens to receive the sacrament of reconciliation BEFORE they are baptized? I can’t find a reference to it, and it seems unlikely to me that people should avail themselves of this sacrament before they are received into the Church…but I’m not confident saying so definitively without a reference. Thank you for your time; I know you’re busy, and I appreciate your wisdom. A:  The RCIA never recommends reconciliation before baptism. Baptism is the first of the …

+  Confronting Extremist Violence, the Refugee Crisis, and Fear: Faith Responses +  Workshops – Convocation of Priests for the St. Augustine Diocese +  Homilies for Pentecost  in English and Espanol  

Q: Our worship committee has used several of your books for study including Understanding the Revised Mass Texts and Let Us Pray.  I thought that you might be willing to address a liturgy question.  We are having a discussion amongst our staff concerning the Holy Thursday Mass and whether there should be the act of penitence at the beginning.  One of our associate priests decided that he wanted to include it in the Holy Thursday liturgy the past two years.  The Roman Missal has no indication that it should be done. It is glaringly absent from the rite. Neither is it mentioned in any …

Q:  May a person not commissioned in a parish or diocese to be a Special Minister of the Eucharist serve in this capacity one time at a wedding without being commissioned? A:  A priest may commission a person to assist as a communion minister on any occasion “in cases of real necessity” with the permission of the diocesan bishop. The prayer is found in Appendix III of the Roman Missal, and it is for a person to distribute communion on a single occasion.

Q:  Do you have an article that describes the correct way to conduct Holy Hour and/or Eucharistic Devotion? A:  Here’s a bulletin insert I wrote a number of years ago: http://ihmgjt2.artyrox.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Adoration.pdf I contributed an introduction to this book, http://www.ltp.org/p-2780-guide-for-celebrating-worship-of-the-eucharist-outside-mass.aspx, which gives a more thorough treatment.

Q:  As I review the rubrics of the rite of blessing and sprinkling of water, why does the prayer over the salt follow the prayer over the water? In the earlier practice, exorcised salt was added to the water before the blessing. Now it appears that exorcised salt is added to blessed water. It occurs to me that one might interpret the pertinent rubric in such a way as to permit the blessing and pouring of salt into the water before rather than after the water’s blessing. Although the words for the blessing of salt appear after the words for …