CHANGE and MORE CHANGE?

As a Catholic Returning to the Church after 25 years in the Evangelical Church, I find myself ‘missing’ the reverence I had experienced as a young Catholic.  So many changes and experiments have been tried in so many dioceses across the United States.  There has been the use of crystal rather than gold for patens and chalices.  There were modern music experiments, removal of kneelers, moving of the tabernacle to less obvious places or to small adoration chapels completely.  I have not seen ALL of these changes here in my own dioceses, but have witnessed them as I travel around the State and the south of the US.

One of the first things I noticed with my return was the number of people who no longer genuflect or even bow before the tabernacle prior to entering the pew or passing by the front center, naïve of the church.  I have witnessed a few parents doing it, but their children walking right past them to hurry into the pew before them.  IT seems the only people who reverence the Alter and tabernacle these days are our Priests and Deacons, and of course the white and gray haired members.  Why don’t we ALL follow their example?

There has been much debate about this in the American Church and I do not think it is will end anytime soon.  I expect it will continue to come up especially when people see the changes coming to the Mass this fall with the New Roman Missal.  I applaud the changes, but I must admit I wish there were more changes coming with it.  I would consider it a ‘missed opportunity’ to NOT simultaneously implement additional changes that many Faithful Catholics long to see.  With the New Roman Missal, it would be a PERFECT opportunity to restore the reception of the holy EUCHARIST on the tongue and kneeling.  SO many of us receive it as if it is a ‘lunch line’ and especially the young people who probably have little or no idea what ‘reverence’ is.  Re-establishing the practice would highlight the importance, reverence and respect that so many seem to be missing in their experience.  It would re-establish for us a ‘teaching moment’ for all times.  Children will ask, "WHY do we kneel?"  Why on the Tongue?  Do YOU know why?

I had mentioned in a previous blog that the Church in the US has a kind of ‘variance’ in receiving communion.  Pope Benedict presently and rightly administers the sacrament of the Eucharist to communicants who are kneeling and on the Tongue.  In the US, our Bishops voted and sought for a variance several decades ago.  Although the OFFICIAL CHURCH teaching and practice is that we should all receive it kneeling and on the tongue.  IN the US, with the coming new Roman Missal we will find changes in the liturgy that re-establish original intentions and wording that the Church in her practices has changed.  In hindsight, it was a mistake to make some of these changes and therefore ‘corrections’ and tweaking… if you will… are restoring original meaning and intentions.  Again, I wish that we could restore the practice of receiving our Lord at the Eucharist while kneeling and on the tongue at the same time so that we have complete continuity with the rest of the Catholic Church and especially our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.    

What do you think?  I would be interested to hear some of your thoughts.

The Missing 'Cup'

This is the most somber Holy Day of the Year, Good Friday. At the Ninth hour much of Christendom will pause to commemorate the Hour at which our Lord Jesus Christ gave His own Life so that we might be reconciled to God the Father and share in the Eternal Life of the Trinity. One of my favorite Theologians in the United States is Dr. Scott Hahn. He is a brilliant theologian, writer, and speaker. If you have never listened to his talk on “the Fourth Cup” you are missing one of the best blow by blows, detailing the Lord’s Last Supper, Passion, and Death. He is able to look at Scripture and give all us regular Catholics in the pews, a down to earth explanation of what transpired some 2000 years ago. As a former Protestant Evangelical that has returned to the Church, I was absolutely amazed at what I did not see in Scripture as I read the Gospel accounts over and over and over these past 25 years.

In the Traditional Jewish Passover Meal, there are 4 cups of wine that are drunk, each with their own significance. However, the night Jesus instituted the New Covenant of the Passover in His Body and Blood; he did not drink the Fourth Cup. At the end of the Passover Celebration, normally they would sing a song called the ‘Great Hallel’ and drink the last cup ending the celebration. In the Gospel accounts, Jesus and his Disciples sang the hymn, but then left the upper room and went to the Garden to pray without drinking that last cup. SO at first glance, and as many of us regarded the Passover meal was over and done with; but was it? Was the New Covenant Passover complete at the end of that Meal? I am hesitant to give you then answer. You see, once I was disillusioned with the Protestant church and began to doubt the “once saved always saved” theology, I also began to question other doctrines as well. One of the largest differences comes to us in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist. MOST Protestants (not all), believe that the Lord’s Supper is just a Remembrance, a Memorial, a snapshot of the past. They believe it is more of a commemoration of the Meal, not a sacrifice that contains the REAL PRESENCE of our Lord Jesus Christ. We Catholics do believe that Jesus is Present in the consecrated Bread and Wine. Jesus is present to us… the same Jesus who was present at the Last Supper is being made present when the priest at mass calls upon the Holy Spirit to come down upon them. It in fact becomes the SAME Sacrifice that Jesus presented some 2000 years ago. He told us that he would NEVER LEAVE us. He has made this sacrifice to span both time and space so that HE is present to EVERY person who becomes a member of His Church; to nurish and feed us.

In Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells everyone gathered, “I am the Bread of Life, that comes down from Heaven." He went on to tell them that if they did not eat his flesh and drink his blood, they would have no life in them. (Please read the bread of Life Discourse in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel) Many present said they could not take that kind of talk. They said to themselves… HOW are we to eat his flesh… this is hard to take. As a result, many of his disciples left and no longer believed in him. Today, many Protestants think Jesus was speaking figuratively and did not mean we had to eat his flesh and drink his blood. They point to the fact that at the Last supper he only told us to do this in ‘remembrance of Me’… as a memorial and since it was a memorial… it was only symbolic. However, if Jesus only meant it symbolically, he would have called those disciples back and told them so. He did not. He even went further and asked the Apostles if they wanted to leave as well. They declined, saying that He was the son of God, and where else could they go? He was the one with the words of eternal life. The fact that Jesus did not correct them and given that he told them this 8 times… demonstrates that he meant what he was saying.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:51)

Whenever Jesus was teaching the crowds in the form of a parable or figuratively, later he would explain the meaning to the disciples… here he does NOT do that here. He meant that we were to eat his flesh and drink his blood. That is why at the Last Supper, when he said to the Apostles… “This is my body…” and “this is my blood…” they knew what He meant and they didn’t have to ask for clarification. My friends, JESUS is PRESENT under the appearance of bread and wine in the consecrated Eucharist. He is physically present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The early Christians believed it and so did the Christians at the Reformation. It was not until at or after the reformation that Protestants denied it. Luther himself and many of the reformers believed in it… even Henry the eighth did as well. That is why today Anglicans believe it.

In his talk about the 4^th cup, Scott Hahn reveals to us that the Passover meal that Jesus transformed into the NEW covenant of his Body and Blood, the Eucharist; in fact was not over until he was hanging on the Cross and said, “I thirst.” Then the soldiers gave him common wine from a sponge on a hyssop branch, and then he said, “IT IS FINISHED”… Protestants believe that Jesus finished the role he came to earth for. He finished and completed the mission of salvation and reconciled man with God Almighty. INDEED He did! Then he said. “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Then He died. It was done. But lets look back, do you remember what Christ said at the Last Supper? He said he would not drink of the fruit of the vine until he came in glory. He was offered common wine more than once on the way to the cross but he refused it. It wasn’t until God allowed him to “be lifted up from the earth…”, and hung on the Cross-that “he would draw all men unto me” (himself). The Father Glorified the Son at the Crucifixion. Jesus took the “last cup” of the Passover Meal while upon the Cross. Then he said “I Thirst” so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. He drank from the 'cup of blood', from a sponge on a hyssop branch…. The same branch that the Israelites used at the first Passover in Egypt when the sprinkled the blood upon the door posts and mantels so that they would be passed over when the Angel of Death ‘passed-over’ all of Egypt taking the first-born of every house. At His drinking of that wine from that sponge on a Hyssop branch, Jesus finished His mission and became the Passover Lamb for us all! Now, we too, can have death pass over us as we enter into Eternal Life. Thanks be to God!

May I ask you one question? What did the Israelites do with the Passover lamb? I’ll tell you…. They ATE It's FLESH! That is what Jesus meant for us to do as well. HE said… “Give us this day our daily bread” and in Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel…He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” At the last supper He instituted the Eucharist so that he would be made present to us until the end of the Age; in the Eucharist where He would feed us and nourish us and give us the grace we need while on our journey to Eternal Life. EVERY time we share in His body and blood at the Eucharistic Meal, we proclaim his death until he comes again. Each time we take the Eucharist, we are having a personal encounter with the living Lord. We are personally welcoming Him into us, to change us so we become more like Him, as he unites us to Himself, God the Father, The Holy Spirit, and to one another; all Sharing in the Eternal Love of the Trinity.

I don’t know about you, but all I can say is…. WOW! Isn’t this AWESOME! Since I have discovered what the bible truly claims about the Eucharist… I am so OVERJOYED, so BLOWN AWAY! Whenever I humbly step forward I cannot help but bow before My Lord and My God as I graciously receive His Body and Blood present under the appearance of bread and wine at the Holy Sacrament of the Altar -The Eucharist. No wonder the Church calls the Eucharist the Sum and Summit of our Faith! All Praise and Glory be to God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Amen? AMEN!

If you are interested, you can purchase a downloadable MP3 for $2 of Dr. Scott Hahn’s “the Fourth Cup” at the website of Lighthouse Catholic Media. Here is the link:

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/the-fourth-cup

Until next time, May you and your families have a MOST BLESSED EASTER.

BloggerBill

Reverence in the Church and at Holy Communion

You all know that I have only just recently returned to the Catholic Church after 25 years in the Evangelical Church.  When I left the Church so many years ago… we (Catholics) were turning away from some traditions (with small t) and norms in the Mass.  Some of these changes were a very good thing, in my book, others I wondered and was quite puzzled about; I was a bit confused over them.

First, the Priest has turned around to enhance the idea that we are all gathering AROUND the ‘table of the Lord’.  We are drawn into the ‘conversation’ and Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  No longer is it just for the Priest and God, but now we are actually invited into the most Holy Sacrifice - more intimately.  THIS is TRULY a good thing!  One of the other good things was the language of the Mass.  As a child I had NO idea what was going on in the mass when it was in Latin, I never took Latin, so it was always foreign to me!  I am sure that I was not alone.  My older sister tells me that the missals contained both Latin and English on opposing pages.  I wouldn’t know.  Being one of eight children, my parents couldn’t afford missals for all of us.  Once the language went to English, I remember being IMMEDIATELY drawn into the Mass, and when the New Alter was turned around, I could not only hear in English but witness and participate with my own eyes, my ears, my heart, soul and spirit more FULLY in the Liturgy.

However, other changes puzzled me.  For example, ‘reverence’.  We no longer knelt when receiving Holy Communion.  Additionally, we were now receiving the Blessed Sacrament … the Eucharist in the Hand, then picking it up with our own fingers, and putting it in our mouth. I thought, wow, is the Eucharist no longer thought to be HOLY?  Again, I am sure that I was not alone.   I always liked receiving it on the tongue but I thought we should conform and be ‘progressive.’  Who am I to make the rules?  At first people bowed and/or genuflected before receiving standing in the hand, but that became less and less.  Receiving Communion started to become mundane and … seemed to me to be ‘cafeteria’ style communion.  Upon, returning after 25 years, I see more evidence of change. VERY few people genuflect or profoundly bow (if physically unable to genuflect) before entering the pew.  Nor do they genuflect when leaving or turning their back to the tabernacle where Jesus is present – Body, Blood, Soul, Spirit and Divinity in the Eucharist.  This truly made me sad.  I am especially sad when parents genuflect, but their children walk right by them as they do and slide into the pew.  They are not ‘training them in the way they should grow.’  Do not get me wrong… it is not everyone who does this… but it is becoming the norm.  I am sure; once the future gray heads replace the gray heads in the church today, I bet no one will be genuflecting at all.  This I do not think is good.  We are losing the sense of Holiness that was missing in the protestant churches I attended.

I DO NOT bring up this topic of reverence to start a movement and insist that everyone start Kneeling and receiving on the tongue; nor do I INSISTS you train your kids how I think you should.  I bring this up to create an awareness of what the SACRED TEACHING of the Church is - universally.  I have been told many times in the past that standing for Communion was the ‘new norm’.  Well, that is really just in the USA.  MOST of the rest of the Catholics in the world still receives Kneeling and on the Tongue.   I was astonished.  One of the reasons I was given for not kneeling to receive the Eucharist  and receiving in the hand, was that, In the Eucharist; we are transformed, made like Christ when we receive communion.  Therefore, we are all united in Christ and Christ is in us, Furthermore we, are all bringing Christ’s presence to all we meet.  I was given this reason, as to why we do not need to kneel, bow, or receive on the tongue.  It sounded ‘good’ but I was never comfortable with that stance.  For me, I know that Christ is IN ME.  AS I receive the Eucharist who is WHOLELY and COMPLETELY JESUS CHRIST PRESENT in the visible form of the Bread and Wine.  He changes me and makes me more Christ like.  Unlike a regular piece of bread that I eat where I take it in and make it a part of me… it is the opposite with Christ in the Eucharist.  As I take HIM in to me at communion, HE changes me… into HIM, not the other way around.  This makes me think that having reverence present in the Eucharist is just as much an obligation as it was in the 1950’s.  Even though Christ comes into me, and gives me the grace to be more CHRSIT-LIKE and welcomes me into communion with the TRINITY, I in fact still am the mortal person named ‘Bill’.  The EUCHARIST present in the Tabernacles of the World and right in my church is 100% JESUS CHRIST.  Therefore, when I face or come into the church that holds the tabernacle that holds the EUCHARIST, that Holds MY LORD AND MY GOD, I feel blessed and in AWE of Him so I will bow as I come into his presence, before sitting down.  I will bow before I turn my back to him, and I will bow to him before I leave and take Him in myself, after Holy Communion when I am sent forth at the end of Mass. 

May I suggest to you that below are two links of videos that I came across reinforcing my understanding of faith and the church’s teaching on these subjects.  I am glad the Church continues to hold high, her reverence for Christ Presence in the Eucharist.  I ask you as we are coming to changes in the Mass this Dec. 2011, should we consider some more Returning to the Primary Norms of the Mass found in the UNIVERSAL CATHOLIC CHRUCH.  I often wonder… did these changes contribute to the loss of so many Catholics like myself over the past 25-30 years?  Do we need to take a second look, admit our error, and return to the Norms of the Roman Rite currently being demonstrated in Rome today?  Again… I am NOT a revolutionist…  I just miss the reverence of the Churches of my youth that created an atmosphere at church that was DIFFERENT from any other place I visited.  This is a place where we come to be transformed… made HOLY… Set ASIDE… from the fancy-free and mundane nature of our society.  When I was in the Evangelical Church… there was no mystery, not reverence… no real sense of Holiness or of being set apart.  Upon my return, I still find that Holiness missing.  Think about it, wont’ you?  Pray about it?  Talk about it and give it some thought.

Here are the video blogs about the Eucharist and how it should be received and what ‘permissions’ have been granted in its distribution.  The first is form Cardinal Arenzie… a BRILLIANT CATHOLIC priest who is the Prefect of the Liturgy and Sacraments for Pope Benedict XVI.  Please review them… there are additional links on these sites to study and explore on this and many other subjects.

Cardinal Arinze on Eucharist on Tongue and Kneeling and Standing in the Hand.  Cardinal Arinze is the Apostolic Prefect for the Sacraments and Liturgy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap1KL2D5ae4&NR=1

The Vortex: ‘Kneel Before God” http://www.realcatholictv.com/free/index.php?vidID=vort-2011-04-19  

Discovering the Faith We Hope To Pass On.

Re: The Inheritance.
I came across a video on YouTube, where a Mr. Michael Voris talks about the “Inheritance”, a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. During the last 5 or 10 years of my journey, just before returning to the Catholic Church I began to ask questions about the protestant faith that I could not find answers to. It was déjà-vou all over again! When I was a young adult Catholic, I could not find the answers to question I had about the Catholic Faith either.

What were my questions? Well I will give you just three of the many.
1. The Evangelical church believes that ‘once saved always saved’. Yet, the more familiar I got with scripture I found instances that cast great doubt on this premise. Where is the Truth?
2. The Protestant church believes that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial, a symbolic remembrance of what happened 2000 years ago when Jesus paid the ultimate price for all of our sins.
3. The Protestant church believed that somewhere along the line in the first 3 or 4 centuries, the Catholic Church strayed from the true faith and it didn’t surface again until the Reformation of the 16^th Century. It was then the true Church ‘surfaced’ in its fullness and grew into the Protestant faith. Where was the Church hiding during those ‘obscure’ years?

Once again, only now as a middle-aged adult I found myself questioning my faith. I questioned its validity just as I had done to the Catholic faith of my youth. I found myself reading scripture with great intensity.  I prayed and prayed asking God to please help me find some truth.  He had answered me so many times in the past; I knew that if I kept searching I would find the answers.  I began to read world history hoping to find something.   That led me to Church history and to my astonishment; I discovered some of the church fathers.  The prayer and study of both History and Scripture began to bear fruit for me.  In the letter to the Ephesians 2:12 Paul writes, “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” This verse not only cast doubt on the notion of ‘once saved always saved’… but here the apostle was saying that we should continue to ‘WORK’ it out, also dispelling the premise that ‘WORKS’ had nothing to do with salvation… but that it is was by Grace alone. To make a long story short, I also noted in the beginning of the book of Revelation that John writes the letters to the seven Churches.  He uses words and phrases like… ‘Do not be luke-warm, or I will spew you out of my mouth’; and ‘be careful that I do not strike your name from the book of life’.  Again… casting doubt that once we are saved, we are always saved.  The Protestants would argue that if your name were stricken from the ‘book of life’ that you were never really saved in the first place.  You must not have made a real commitment to Christ.  This did not make sense to me. This all required much more prayer, studying, and reading on my part.  After about 2 years or so, I concluded that in fact, that we are SAVED by Grace but not by Grace alone.  GOD took the first step and offered salvation to us by Grace; and that as we who choose to cooperate with it, we then go about on working it out.  Look at Ephesians 2:10 the Apostle goes on.... “For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” In short the Grace of God and our cooperating with it to do the works and will of God will bring us to salvation. IT is both FAITH and WORKS. The two are so closely knit together that they are in-separable. The Grace comes in... because it is through God's Grace that initiates that salvation. WE respond by choosing to cooperate with it, or we can refuse to work with it.

Secondly, as a Protestant, I believed that the Lord’s Supper was a symbolic memorial. IT was not until I started reading the writings of the first popes and bishops of the church that I began to look at the Bread of Life discourse in Chapter 6 of John’s gospel in its true light. The Protestant church teaches that there were many heresies that surfaced in the church during the 3^rd and 4th centuries.  Therefore, the ‘true’ faith became obscure.  I myself could never really put my finger on just where and when that happened. Once I started reading church history and almost a year along into my studying, I came across references in the third century to what was called the “Didache”. THIS document was instrumental in my returning to the church. It detailed “the Way” of the Twelve, the Teaching of the Twelve APOSTLES. It “blew me out of the water” … so to speak. It lays the foundation as to how one should live the "Way" of the Christian Faith, and How not to. It goes on and details what the Apostles taught about “The Thanksgiving” what we call the Eucharist. This document was forged while there were still some of the Apostles living.  It was passed around the Church world and was considered sacred writing.  Although it did not make it into the cannon of Scripture, it was still a very important and instrumental document of the early church.  The ‘Didache’ gave me EARLY confirmation as to what the Gospels and the Catholic Church Teaches about the Lord's Supper.  It confirmed that the Apostles themselves believed the ‘Thanksgiving’ was a sacrifice that was made present ... the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Finally, I would like to address my third concern about where the church was during those obscure years between… let us say the 4^th century and the 16^th centuries; until the Reformation.  Well, I have to admit I never really got around to finding where the church was.  Why you might ask?  Well my friends, it was because as I read about History and found documents and writings of the early church fathers there was no need.  Again… why you ask… because much of what I was reading was the Apostolic Tradition of the Catholic Church.  In finding it, reading it, praying about it, I discovered that the Church was never hidden, never obscure, never was it obscured from the eyes and ears of man. The CHURCH has stood firm and sound on Peter, the ROCK, and the Gates of Hell have not and will NEVER prevail against it.  I discovered for myself what the Protestant Church in fact denies; that you cannot have just Scripture alone.  You must have the living, breathing, Spirit led Magisterium of the Church as guide.  Without that rich Apostolic Tradition that was passed on by the Apostles, you only have half the Story.  It must be set in the Context of that authoritative History; otherwise, it will be subject to whoever and whatever direction the winds of change will be blowing. The Catholic Church with the Holy Scripture that she gave us, along with the Apostolic Tradition handed down by the Apostles spans more than 2000 years. YES, that history contains evil men, greedy men, savage men, and self-righteous men, men in need of reform and especially in recent years with the grave sin of the sex abuse scandals.  ALTHOUGH, Christ has used these ‘unclean vessels’ of poor reputation and character to guide The Body of CHRIST, the Church was always been visible and INTACT. Please, if you have never read of the Church Fathers, Doctors, early Popes and Saints who pledged their lives for YOU, The Holy Church… then you owe yourself the time to do so.  Because, only after reading and truly understanding it all will you discover the FULLNESS and the context of Scripture and Tradition that make up the full deposit of the Catholic Faith.  I am convinced that the FULLNESS of the Christian faith is found only in the One Holy Apostolic Church... the Catholic Church.

 My Friends, there are those among us in the Catholic church and outside of it, who believe the Church is to ‘old fashion’ to ‘out of touch’, that it needs to come out of the ‘dark ages’ and  come into the light of the 21^st century.  Let me say this…we do not own the Church and its teaching, it is the gift from Christ Himself; given and revealed to us through the Apostles.  Therefore, we cannot change nor can we improve upon it.  Doing so would only distort and demean the very truths about our faith.  The Catholic Faith has stood the test of time and space in its ENTIRETY; and it will stand until the day the Lord Himself returns. The tenants of Sacred Scripture and Seared Tradition do not belong to me; they do not belong to you.  They belong to the Entire body of the Church, the Communion of Saints.  The faithful who have gone before us have preserved it for more than 2000 years so that today we will have it in its FULLNESS.  It does not just belong to our generation.  We are just the vessels who hold it for a while, until we too, pass it on to the next generation preserving it in its entirety.  May God Bless and Keep the Catholic Church this day and always.

Until Next time May God Bless and Keep You,

BloggerBill

Please check out this link entitled… “Inheritance”. I found it very interesting. http://www.youtube.com/user/RealCatholicTV#p/u/1/6t-oydfasVc