And We Can Sing Just Like Our Fathers

There are a few things that Catholics and Protestants can agree on without question.  Most people would tend to think that The Lord’s Prayer is one of them.  Of course, if you talk with members of some Protestant churches (usually non-denominational churches), you might find the skeptical Bible reader who takes Matthew 6:7 ENTIRELY too literally: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.”  From this verse, many Protestants have bought into the concept of “vain repetition.”  For the most extreme adherents to this concept, praying using ANY formal, written prayers is taboo.  And the Rosary???  Don’t get them STARTED!!

Well, apart from these few “prayer can have no structure whatsoever” Christians, most Christians can agree that when it comes to formal, pre-fabricated prayers, the ultimate is The Lord’s Prayer.  Why?  Well, it’s hard to argue with Matthew 6:9-13.  Jesus literally says, “This is how you are to pray...” then spouts off what we eventually called “The Lord’s Prayer” or simply “The Our Father.”  Now, based on how Jesus himself prayed throughout the Gospel, and the only mention of these exact words are in this verse, it’s pretty obvious that Jesus wasn’t saying this is the ONLY way to pray, but was simply giving us a guide on how to pray.  (Just more proof as to why you CAN NOT take the Bible literally, word-for-word, without SOME level of interpretation.)

Right after the Eucharistic Prayer, and our response of “Amen,” we all stand together as one church and pray the Lord’s Prayer.  The introduction from the priest goes like this:

Current Text:

1.      Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Savior gave us.

2.      Jesus taught us to call God our Father, and so we have the courage to say:

3.      Let us ask our Father to forgive our sins and to bring us to forgive those who sin against us.

4.      Let us pray for the coming of the Kingdom as Jesus taught us.

Beginning in Advent 2011:

At the Savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say…

I don’t know about you, but there’s something about that new introduction that reminds me of watching Rudy.  I just get really pumped up with how solid that phrasing turns out.

At the Savior’s command…  Ok, obviously that’s a straight-up nod to that Matthew 6:9 verse we mentioned above where Jesus said “This is how you are to pray.”  So there’s our “Savior’s command.”

…and formed by divine teaching… Our whole lives are supposed to be formed by divine teaching, or “the Word of God” (the Bible), and so we know not only HOW we are to pray, but WHY we should pray.

…we dare to say…  Yeah, buddy…this is the kicker line right here.  Think about it for a second: there’s a HUGE difference between “having courage” to say something and “daring” to say something.  We can have courage because of our own merits.  We can give ourselves enough credit to say, “Yeah, I’m brave enough to do this.”  Daring to do something, however, assumes a certain level of humility in that we realize there are some things we CAN do, but how WILLING we are to do them is another story.  Daring to pray the Lord’s Prayer inherently recognizes our humility before God.  We know we can physically say the words, but to MEAN the words is another story altogether. 

What’s so daring about these words we are about to pray?  That’s another story for another day.

I Get Down on My Knees and I Start to Pray (Praise the Lord!)

There are certain parts of the Mass that act as sort of a prayer/response sort of deal.  By that, I mean that the priest, deacon, or reader will say one thing, to which we all respond together as a congregation.  Certain things are especially meant to be said by the priest celebrant who is acting “in the person of Christ”…or as we say in Latin (really, how shocked are you that there’s a Latin version of this phrase?) in personae Christi.  When you give this some thought, we see that it’s important that we all play our parts as part of the larger Body of Christ (“the Church,” in this sense) and that we remember the parts that others (namely the priest in this example) play apart from ourselves.

One example of when I notice several people “overstepping their bounds” in what IS and is NOT their part in the large prayer that is the Mass is our next, and final part of the Eucharistic Prayer: the Doxology.  The word Doxology, comes from the Latin Doxologia.  But since that clears up absolutely nothing, let’s break that word down.  Doxa, in Latin, means ”glory,” while the word logos means “word.”  Essentially, a “doxology” is a “word of glory,” or generally speaking, praising God through words.  Adding this concept to the Eucharistic Prayer was likely borrowed from our Jewish roots and the Kaddish, a prayer of the sanctification of the name of God found in Jewish synagogue services.  So what does the Doxology look like at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer?  Like this:

Current Text:

Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever.

Beginning Advent 2011:

Through him, and with him, and in him, to you, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, is all honor and glory, forever and ever.

Now, we’ve been talking about Jesus right before the Doxology, so the antecedent to that “him” pronoun (sorry to make you reach WAY back in your grammar memory banks for those two terms) is Jesus.  The priest is essentially concluding the Eucharistic Prayer with an affirmation that what we are doing in the Mass is ultimately to give glory and honor to Him, who makes it all possible in the first place.

And, of course, after the Doxology, the congregation gives a unified, and emphatic (usually through song) AMEN!

Whatever You Do, Don't Put the Blame on You...Blame it on the Rain

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to assure you guys that I HAVE NOT given up on this blog.  I know I haven't posted in a few days, but I've been pulling 12-hour shifts at the Terrebonne Parish Emergency Operations Center in response to Tropical Storm Lee.  Things should be getting back to normal fairly soon, and we'll scale back the EOC.  When that happens, I'll get back on here and get back to postings.  Until then, keep the people affected by this storm in your prayers.

Say a Prayer for Me, I'm Buried by the Sound

In case you haven’t noticed, we Catholics like to pray…a lot.  We pray not only for ourselves, but for each other, so it’s no surprise that we felt like having another chance to pray WITHIN the larger context of the Eucharistic Prayer.  The next part of the Eucharistic Prayer is the Intercessions…that’s a fancy-schmancy word for “prayers.”  Now, these are not to be confused with the General Intercessions that came after the Profession of Faith (Nicene Creed) earlier in the Mass.  These intercessions are worded in a way to remind us that the prayer we make in the Sacrifice of the Mass is made in communion (Ooooooh..! See that clever, theological play on words, there?) with the whole Church in Heaven and on earth.  We also show through these prayers that the offering we make at Mass is for the Church and ALL its members, both living and dead who are called to share in the Salvation Christ gives us through HIS sacrifice.  So let’s look at how this prayer is spelled out in Eucharistic Prayer II.

Current Text:

Lord, remember your Church throughout the world; make us grow in love together with _____ our Pope, ______ our bishop, and all the clergy.

Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence.  Have mercy on us all, make us worthy to share eternal life with Mary, the virgin Mother of God, with the apostles, and with all the saints who have done our will throughout the ages.  May we praise you in union with them, and give you glory through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Beginning Advent 2011:

Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of charity, together with ______ our Pope and ______ our Bishop and all the clergy.

Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy; welcome them into the light of your face.  Have mercy on us all, we pray, that with the blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, with the blessed Apostles, and all the Saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may merit to be co-heirs to eternal life, and may praise and glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Obviously the priest doesn’t say “blank” at those blanks, but inserts the name of the current Pope (Pope Benedict XVI at the time of this post), and the bishop of the diocese where the Mass is being celebrated.  Also, notice that THIS is where the Mass outlines for us to pray for the dead…not at the General Intercessions that occur earlier in the Mass.  In fact, in Masses for the dead, there is another little paragraph that can be inserted after praying for the Pope, bishop, and all the clergy:

Current Text:

Remember ______, whom you have called from this life.  In baptism he (she) died with Christ: may he (she) share his resurrection.

Beginning Advent 2011:

Remember your servant ______, whom you have called from this world to yourself.  Grant that he (she) who was united with your Son in a death like his, may also be one with him in his Resurrection.

I have heard this little extra prayer occasionally thrown in at a Sunday Mass by a priest when a member of a parish has recently died, and has not yet had a funeral Mass.  As to the “correctness” of doing this, I can’t find anything saying it SHOULDN’T be done, and I don’t think God minds if we say a few extra prayers at this point for someone’s soul.  But that’s just my thought.  Any priests out there that want to weigh in on the subject, please do.

So anyway, remember that the word Eucharist means “thanksgiving.”  Also, the word Communion, which is what receiving the Eucharist is commonly called, indicates that receiving the Eucharist brings us into COMMUNION with each other in the Church, meaning that we realize that we are all part of the larger Body of Christ, the Church Community.  That’s what these Intercessions in the Eucharistic Prayer are designed to remind us.  We are all part of the Church, whether our souls are still partnered with our mortal bodies here on earth (i.e. we’re alive), or our souls have left these mortal bodies to live with God in the eternity of Heaven (i.e. we’re dead).  So here in the Intercessions we pray for the members of the Church, the leaders of the Church, and those members of the Church who have already passed away.  We also pray that the members of the Church will ultimately get to Heaven where we will praise God forever and live in eternal Glory with Him.

Well, that’s about it.  Nothing more to see…move it along, folks…until next post where we’ll just keep on keepin’ on through the Eucharistic Prayer.

Oh My God, We're Back Again

Yeah, this one’s short, but everyone deserves a break right?  I think so, and since I’m in charge here, that’s all that matters.

In Eucharistic Prayer II, after the Mystery of Faith and the Anamnesis, comes the Epiclesis.  No, that’s not a typo, there is actually ANOTHER short Epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer II which brings us back to the subject of “Calling down the Holy Spirit.”  It goes a little something like this:

Current Text:

May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.

Beginning in Advent 2011:

Humbly we pray that, partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.

Again, this one’s just short, since we’ve already talked about what the word Epiclesis means, but don’t be discouraged.  We’ve still got two more posts before we finish up with the Eucharistic Prayer.  See you next time.

Don't, Don't, Don't, Don't! Don't You Forget About Me

I promise this post will be less mind-boggling than the last one.  After the Thanksgiving, Epiclesis, and Institution Narrative (in Eucharistic Prayer II) comes the Mystery of Faith by the people, and the Anamnesis.  This comes from the Greek ἀνάμνησιν, which means “memory.”  As I mentioned a few posts ago when summarizing all the parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, the Anamnesis is the collective remembrance through a short song about the passion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.  If there is no choir, obviously, this is just recited.

Some people may not realize that there are actually 4 options when it comes to the Mystery of Faith.  Here’s what they are now along with what they’re going to be starting in Advent:

Intro by the Priest:

Current Text:

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.

Beginning Advent 2011:

The mystery of faith.

Now for the Anamnesis itself:

Option A

Current Text:

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Beginning Advent 2011

(By the date I posted this, a U.S. adaptation had yet to be decided by the Vatican.)

Option B

Current Text:

Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life.  Lord Jesus, come in glory.

Beginning Advent 2011:

We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

Option C

Current Text:

When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory.

Beginning Advent 2011:

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.

Option D:

Current Text:

Lord, by your cross and resurrection, you have set us free.  You are the Savior of the World.

Beginning Advent 2011:

Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.

Now for the Anamnesis, which is said by the priest (in Eucharistic Prayer II):

Current Text:

In memory of his death and resurrection, we offer you, Father, this life-giving bread, this saving cup.  We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.

Beginning Advent 2011:

Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his Death and Resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation, giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you.

So there you have it.  Not too much explanation needed there, as we’ve already talked about Jesus as the Lamb of God and how he was sacrificed for our sins back in “’Cause I Gotta Have Faith – Part V.”  In the middle of the Eucharistic Prayer, it just seems fitting that after we hear the words of Jesus in the Institution Narrative, “Do this in memory of me,” that we would immediately remember what the sacrifice of his body and blood really did for us.

A Change Would Do You Good

Ok, I hope you’re sitting down, ‘cause this is going to be pretty heavy.  Good thing is, since this is a blog, and people tend to read blogs on computers, you probably ARE sitting down.  Although, if you’re standing and reading this on an Android phone, you should take a moment to sit down.  If you’re reading this on an iPhone, you should get an Android.  I recommend the HTC EVO 4G.

So two posts ago we talked about the Epiclesis, the calling down of the Holy Spirit, which changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  Last post we talked about the Words of Institution, which change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  So the obvious question is: What is the exact moment at which the bread and wine change into the Body and Blood of Christ.  The not-so-obvious answer is: There is no ONE moment.  (I love that profound look of confusion on your face right now…but wait: it gets worse—or better.)  See, God is infinite, and not bound by time.  This is probably one of the most difficult concepts to grasp, because we are finite, and our entire existence is completely surrounded by measurements of time.  We’ve only ever known existence as bound by time, and so we have nothing else to compare the possibility of no time restraints to.  As far as the Mass goes, we have to realize that we’re not operating by TIME, but more by circumstances and ideas (for lack of much more impressively philosophical terms).  The bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ happens between a combination of the Epiclesis and the Words of Institution, and really the whole of the Eucharistic Prayer, but it’s really not correct to say that at the moment of whichever part comes last, the change happens.  There’s also the Great Amen to think about, too.  Our response is important in that we are asking God for this gift as a whole church, but it’s also not correct to say that after we say, “Amen,” the change happens.  It’s just a concept we have to take on faith, because our limited brains just can’t comprehend it.

Now for something even more incomprehensible (uncomprehensible? imcomprehensible?).  What actually happens with the bread and wine?  If you have eyes (which is a pretty safe bet, if you’re reading this right now), you’ve probably noticed that the Body of Christ we receive during Communion looks a whole heck of a lot like the bread that’s brought to the Altar before all this Eucharistic Prayer stuff happens.  So much like it, in fact, that it looks exactly the same.  Same thing goes for the wine that becomes the Blood of Christ.  So where’s the change?  For that, we’ll have to have a short (very watered-down) metaphysics lesson.  (That’s a cool philosophy term.)

Everything in the world (according to Aristotle) has two parts to it that make it what it is: (1) substance, and (2) accidents.  The substance is the basic concept of what a thing is, while the accidents are the properties of that thing that circularly define the substance.  Let’s take a chair, for example…ordinary dining room chair with four legs, a seat, and a back.  The substance of that chair is, well, “chair.”  It just IS a chair.  How do we know it’s a chair?  Well, we just look at its accidents.  It’s got 4 legs.  It’s got a seat.  It’s got a back.  You can sit on it.  It’s (probably) made of wood.  If the wood’s stained, it’s probably brownish in color.  All these are the properties that help us understand the substance of this object and let us realize that this is a chair. 

So what if I changed the accidents of that chair?  Some accidents could change without changing the substance.  For example, I could paint the chair white, and it would still be a chair.  If I changed other accidents, however, the very substance of that chair could be changed.  Let’s say I rip the legs of the chair off.  Now I’m just left with a weird-looking, 3-D, wooden “L.”  It’s no longer a chair.  So I can change the accidents around and either change the substance, or leave it in tact. I can’t, however, change the substance of that chair without changing the accidents.  I can’t look at that chair with its 4 legs, seat, back, sit-ability, wooden composition, and brown color and say, “Well, that’s a TV.”  That’s just ridiculous, because TVs aren’t made of wood.  (Ok, there are other reasons too, I guess.)  No matter how hard I try, I cannot change the substance of something and leave the accidents the way they are.  If you were to change the substance of something without changing its accidents, that would be a miracle…………..

………(I’m waiting for that little light bulb to go off over your head)…………

Before we get too ahead of ourselves (for those of you whose light bulbs haven’t gone off on their own yet), let’s talk about the bread we use at Mass.  Before the Eucharistic Prayer, it’s made of wheat, flour, and water. It’s typically somewhere in the color range of bright white to medium-brown.  It’s usually round, and often has a little cross or some other design pressed into it.  It’s bread.  What about the wine?  Well, before the Eucharistic Prayer, it’s a liquid. It’s either red or white. It contains actual alcohol. It’s made from grapes.  It’s wine.

Here’s where it gets tricky:

AFTER the Eucharistic Prayer, the bread is made of wheat, flour, and water.  It’s typically somewhere in the color range of bright white to medium-brown.  It’s usually round, and often has a little cross or some other design pressed into it.  The wine is a liquid.  It’s either red or white.  It contains actual alcohol.  It’s made from grapes.  It’s wine.  HOWEVER, at this point, it is profoundly incorrect to call these bread and wine.  They have become the Body and Blood of Christ.  The accidents have NOT changed.  ONLY the substance has changed.  This change of substance is called transubstantiation (fact), which is the COOLEST word in the Catholic Faith (shamelessly biased opinion).  This comes from the prefix trans- which means, “to cross” or “to change” (as in Transformers who “change” their form from cars to intergalactic fighting robots), and the –substantiation part comes, obviously, from the word substance.  Literally, “to change substance.”

So now you’re asking, “Wait, didn’t you just say that if you were to change the substance of something without changing its accidents, that would be a miracle”?  Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s this little book called THE BIBLE that’s full of stories about God working miracles.  Picture what happens at Mass: The priest takes the bread and wine we offer and says a prayer asking God to send his Holy Spirit upon those gifts to make them holy so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Well, guess what happens!!  God sends his Holy Spirit upon those gifts to make them holy so that they become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  “Ask and you shall receive,” right? 

So to summarize, during the Eucharistic Prayer, God (because we ask him to) transforms the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ without changing anything about the accidents.  The Body and Blood of Christ contain the true spirit of the Risen Christ that we are to consume as he DIRECTLY instructed us in John 6:53-58:

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."

So to ANYONE who calls himself a Christian, but does not believe that the bread and wine doesn’t actually become the Body and Blood of Christ, I say re-read your Bible you “claim” to know so well.

You want an idea of how I REALLY feel when somebody challenges the teachings of my Catholic Church?? Go watch this video.  And yes, Stephen Colbert IS a hardcore Catholic.  WARNING: this video is extremely awesome. Another WARNING: yes, there is a word "bleeped" out towards the end of this video, but it's, well, BLEEPED.  Just wanted to make some of our more "sensitive" readers aware of that fact before being blind-sided by it.