Q: I’m concelebrating the confirmation Mass in our parish with the bishop. There will be a vested deacon assisting. May I proclaim the gospel as the pastor? == A: No, that belongs to the deacon. Every minister should do what pertains to that minister.
Sacramental initiation
Q: We have a 14 year old that was Baptized last year in another parish, but never received Confirmation or Eucharist – can she receive those sacraments this coming Easter Vigil or should it be some other time? == A: If the child was baptized by a priest, someone should contact the priest to educate him on his responsibilities for sacramental initiation. Anyway, to your question, the parish may give first holy communion. But to confirm requires permission from the bishop. The pastor needs to send a letter or email requesting it.
Ordination in a pandemic
Q: We have presbyteral ordinations scheduled this coming April and May. How can we conduct the laying on of hands and the kiss of peace of the concelebrating priest to the candidates for ordination observing health protocols? Do you recommend scrapping the gesture entirely or any recommendations as to its modification? == A: As with so many things, we are making some decisions that are not good for the liturgy, but that are good for charity. Out of caution for spreading the virus, our charity demands some changes in the liturgy. In this matter, your bishop should decide, but I …
Inserts for the Eucharistic Prayer
Q: Are the inserts for the Eucharistic Prayer used ONLY when the Ritual Mass is celebrated… or whenever the sacrament is celebrated, no matter the Mass used (for example, if the Mass of the Day is used)? == A: The rubrics aren’t clear on this point, but I see no problem using those inserts on days when the Ritual Mass cannot be used. There’s a bigger issue with the three main presidential prayers and the preface. If your bishop celebrates confirmation in a parish on Wednesday of Holy Week, for example, he cannot use the collect for confirmation because that …
Laying of hands
Q: Is it the case that in any sacramental situation that calls for the priest to lay hands on those who are receiving the sacrament, there’s a general understanding that, for large numbers of people (as at a confirmation), an extension of the priest’s hands over the group satisfies the requirement to lay hands? I’ve seen it done thusly many times at confirmation; also at Masses of Anointing; never at an ordination (although I’ve never been to an ordination where more than seven men are ordained, so I’d think that’s not a large enough number to justify the switch). Please …
Pending annulment and initiation
Q: Sorry to bother… but I am teaching a class and a question came up…. I know that we don’t celebrate the Rite of Election or Sacraments of Initiation with those whose annulments are pending….The question is: Why? Is the primary reason that initiation is ordered to Eucharist, and since they can’t receive communion (or confirmation) they should also not be baptized? Or is the irregular union also an obex to baptism? I can’t find a clear answer to that anywhere… Thanks! == A: There was an article in Canon Law Digest that took this up on July 11, 1983. You’ll find this …
Post-baptismal anointing
Q: You never seem to slow down, even during a pandemic! I have a question – really it is coming from my pastor – about post-baptismal anointing. We know that chrism used when a child is baptized has a Christological focus – priest, prophet, king. Chrism used for Confirmation is Holy Spirit centered. So, when an adult is baptized, they are immediately confirmed. My pastor says that after the baptism (water), there should be the Chriostological anointing, and then move to the rite of Confirmation. This means a double anointing. He challenged me a year ago when we were walking …
Sign of the Cross
Q: It looks like the Sign of the Cross is omitted when beginning the Order of Conferral of Confirmation outside of mass. == A: I know that this sounds like a pretty stupid answer, but the reason is that it’s not Mass. The sign of the cross is one of the markers that the community has gathered to celebrate the Eucharist. It is not used to begin every liturgical ceremony.This is hard for many Catholics to grasp because we begin and end so many prayers with the sign of the cross—even the blessing before meals. The group revising the Mass …
Full Communion of the Catholic Church
Q: We have a 15-year old preparing for confirmation. He’s been going to confession and communion since about the age of 9. We just learned that he was baptized in a Lutheran Church, but his parents became practicing Catholics after that, and they simply enrolled him in sacrament preparation when he was younger. What do we do now? Do we celebrate the Rite of Reception into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church with him and wait for him to be confirmed with his peers? == A: No. If a priest receives someone into the full communion of the Catholic …
Sacramental oils
Q: When filling oil stocks or vessels engraved with the various abbreviations (OS, SC, OI) or when preparing holy oils for administration of the various sacraments: there has arisen some misunderstanding among those responsible for such matters as to exactly which monogram is attached to which holy oil. I have been observing the following in my careful preparation of matter for the sacraments: Oil of Catechumens (OS) – “Oleum Catechumenorum” or “Oleum Sanctorum” Oil of the Infirm (OI) – “Oleum Infirmorum” Sacred Chrism (SC) – “Sacrum Chrisma” Would you please be so kind as to provide appropriate guidance or confirmation. Thank …