+ 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
Act of Penitence on Holy Thursday
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 …
Communion minister for a special occasion
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.
Holy Hour and Eucharistic Devotion
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.
Blessing and sprinkling of water
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 …
Revised marriage rite
Q: The revised marriage rite is due out soon (and is to be use starting in Dec, I believe). I have a version from the UK or Australia. Do you know if that is what will be used in the USA? A: Most of what appears in the revised Order of Celebrating Matrimony will be the same in all English-speaking countries. However, there are some differences in spelling, content and layout. For example, the discussion on vestments in paragraph 34 includes the word “color” in the US, but “colour” in England and Wales and in Australia. The civil law in …
Confirmation sponsor
Q: I was under the impression that a Confirmation sponsor must be Catholic. I have a friend who was excited as she had been asked by a young girl to be her sponsor. This friend is not a Catholic. A: Canon 893 §1 says that a confirmation sponsor must fulfill the conditions of the baptismal sponsor (godparent) outlined in canon 874. Canon 874/3 says that a sponsor must be a Catholic who has been confirmed and received the Eucharist. Your friend, I’m sure, is a wonderful person and a model Christian. But she is ineligible to serve as a Catholic …
First blessing
Q: I am familiar with the tradition of members of the faithful lining up to receive a “first blessing” from a newly ordained Priest and I know an indulgence is attached to that. Does the same tradition for the asking and giving of “first blessing” exist for newly ordained Deacons (permanent or transitional)? I am aware that Canon 1169 §3 says “A deacon can impart only those blessings which are expressly permitted to him by law”. Is it appropriate for people to line up asking for a blessing from a newly ordained Deacon? If so, what words and gestures should …
Valid confirmation
Q: Hypothetically (of course!), if the “bishop’s delegate” came to a parish for the sacrament of confirmation and said something like (for the anointing), “______, be anointed with the Spirit, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (or, “_____, be sealed with the Spirit, in the name of the Father…”) would it be a “valid” confirmation? Maybe that is not the right question to ask – but if this happened (again, hypothetically!)… Just wondering what to make of it? A: This is a canonical question, not a liturgical one. So I could be wrong. But I believe …
Readings in multiple languages
Q: My parish has for many years had four or five readers read the first few verses of the first reading of Pentecost Sunday in multiple languages, culminating in the full scripture being read in English. During the last few verses the non-English readers read aloud softly each in their own language while the English reader (on the microphone) was definitely the prominent voice. Recently I have been told that what we are doing is not allowed, by Vatican decree, but I have been unable to find this. Can you comment? A: Guidelines from the USCCB are here: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/frequently-asked-questions/guidelines-for-a-multilingual-celebration-of-mass.cfm. There is …