My son and I have a disagreement. Like many young people, he prefers to go the Latin Mass or extraordinary form as they call it.  I don’t like it because it is such a throw back to the days before Vatican II. I really find God in a rousing type of Mass. In Vatican II’s Novus Ordo, I feel like we are all in it together. My son likes the quiet, the candles, the incense and a language he can’t understand. He says that it makes him feel like he is touch with the majesty of God. Is there a common bond we can find?

Dad Dancing in the Aisles.

Dear Dad,

First of all, congratulations that you have a son who is so filled with faith and the majesty of God. Although we call the 1962 Latin Mass the extraordinary form, it doesn’t mean extraordinary in our sense of the word as better or “new and improved. It means that it is a permitted alternative. In other words, it is outside the regular or “ordinary” order of things. For example,  priests and deacons are the ordinary ministers of the Eucharist. When lay people are given permission to distribute the Eucharist they are, technically, extraordinary ministers.

Actually, you are both right. The liturgy of the Eucharist, the Mass, has both the transcendent or upward dimension toward God’s majesty AND the outward dimension of God Incarnate in the people who are all part of the Body of Christ. His dictis, (Latin for these things having been said), the official mainstream standard for the Latin (Roman) Church is the Novus Ordo or the Vatican II Mass. (Novus ordo means new standard or order.) The Vatican II Mass shows us that the Church is the people of God on their pilgrimage. Like the Israelites, we follow along a desert path led by God but finding Him in the struggles of engaging with contemporary life and culture.

The concept of the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass, the Mass from the Council of Trent in the 1500’s, is all about the Church as a monarchy having all of the answers. The priest can say the Mass all by himself without anyone present. Vatican I in the 1860s said that the Church is a “perfect” or complete society unto itself. It is self-contained and separate from contemporary society. Vatican II, which was essentially a conservative movement, went back to the early Church and St. Paul, which was all about reaching out to the unbelievers, the gentiles, and bringing them to Christ. Before the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, there were no church worship buildings, no high altars, and certainly not “pagan” type statues that could be taken for the idols all around them.

Vatican II reformed or renewed our approach to the liturgy in Sacrosanctum Concilium. (More Latin here for Most Holy Council.) Other major documents about the Church itself, Lumen Gentium  (Light of the Nations) and the church in the modern world Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope), are all in agreement that the God of majesty is present in Word (scripture) and sacrament (Eucharist).

The challenge in the Novus Ordo or standard Mass is to make sure that you can celebrate as a community led by the Deacon as the image of Christ the servant who proclaims the Word and elevated to heaven by the priest who is the image of Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, the Sacrament of God. The grace is to celebrate and manifest the “Jazz” of the transcendent God and the “Latin” (the majesty of God) in our communities in church buildings, the oppressed and marginalized, and in secular society, as well as the environment and all of the wonders of the night sky.

Here is a little more technical presentation about the upward and outward dimensions of the Eucharist.

Shrink Wrapped Religion

Death

Blessings,

Theologika

I was invited by a friend to go with him to Mass at his church. I really like what I see in the Catholic Church and I would like to become a member. What do I need to know and how long does it take?

Looking into this.

Dear Looking,

That’s great. The Church is always happy to welcome others. It is not like community service organizations or club in which you take out a membership by learning something about the organization and paying your dues. Christians are called to be Christians from all eternity. Whether you are being called by the Holy Spirit to die and rise in Christ in Baptism and to live a life of love for your neighbor as yourself is something only you can come to in the deepest reflection of your heart with the help and guidance of Catholic Christians who will walk with you. This process takes whatever time it takes. It can take up two years or longer. Sometimes it is shorter depending on how you feel and think about your calling. This process is called discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit or discernment for short.

You didn’t mention whether you were baptized or not. If you are already baptized in another Christian church, most of the time the Catholic Church will recognize that baptism. A baptized Christian has already entered into the death and resurrection of Christ and is profoundly related to other Christians. An already baptized person would enter the Church by coming into full communion.

People who are not baptized enter the Body of Christ through the ancient process of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults or RCIA. People start at an inquiry stage and find out more about what it means to be a Catholic christian and what it means to live in Christ spiritually and in their lifestyles. This is not a class in which you learn certain things intellectually. Obviously you receive information, but it is meant to inform your heart and soul as opposed to just going into the memory centers of your brain. If you and the people (the RCIA team) who are walking with you on this journey feel that you are being called to move forward, you become one of those being instructed about the sacred mysteries (spiritual revelation) of encountering and living in Christ. The Greek word for this is Catechumen.This stage of the journey is about moving toward life in Christ in the assembly of the baptized. The old English word that we use for the assembly is church. If you and the representative of the assembly feel that you are being called by the Holy Spirit to Baptism, you become one of the chosen or the Elect.You would then move on toward the three sacraments of initiation or becoming a Catholic Christian. These sacraments (or sacred mysteries in Greek) are baptism, confirmation, and first holy communion and you would generally receive them at the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection at the Easter Vigil ceremonies the night before Easter Sunday, Holy Saturday evening.

Non-catholics who are already baptized move toward coming into full communion by professing their acceptance of everything that the Catholic church teaches. They move on to preparing for the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist or Holy Communion.  The time this takes depends a lot on how much you already know about the Christian faith, the Catholic Church and how much that is reflected in the way in which you live. For non-Catholics who teach the Bible and the faith to others and mirror their faith in their lives, the time it takes to come into full communion is shorter. Again this depends on the discernment of the person involved and those Catholic Christians accompanying him or her on this journey of faith.

What are the sacraments of initiation? Someone told me that I was not a full-fledged Catholic because I have not been confirmed and I have not made my first communion. I thought that just being baptized in the Catholic Church made me a full member of the Church.

                                                                        One third a Catholic?

Dear One Third,

You have already died and risen in Christ in your Baptism. Confirmation is about being anointed in the Holy Spirit. First Communion or Eucharist is about being a part of the Thanksgiving (Eucharist in Greek) banquet in which we are nourished and enter into the saving work of the Risen Christ. This  is really what it means to be a Christian. It is a call to community of those who have died and risen in Christ. It is being empowered and overwhelmed by the Spirit of Love. It is offering and sharing the communion sacrifice as a community that nourishes us and continues to save the world though our union with God’s ongoing saving activity. Basically, being a Catholic Christian involves our resurrection to a new life, being transformed by the radical love, being anointed by God, and sharing in and making real God’s ongoing saving of everyone from a final death, despair and hopelessness.

You are already part of the Mystical Body of Christ which is the assembly of all of the baptized. You are part of the world-wide Catholic family on earth and those who have gone before us in the Faith. Originally, people entering the faith were already grown and received the three sacraments at one time at the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection on the evening of Holy Saturday, the night before Easter Sunday morning. Entire families entered the Church and the family’s small children and babies also received these three sacraments. Over the centuries these sacraments got spread out over time for infants, small children, and even adults in the western or Latin church, as opposed to those ancient churches in eastern or Greek cultures.

In the west, the ancient Church of Rome is led by its bishop the Papa (father) or Pope as we say in English. By the turn of the 20th century the Roman Church in many parts of the world the order of the sacraments had been shifted. Baptism was for infants born into Catholic families. As children came to the age of reason or knowing right from wrong around age seven they went to confession or reconciliation to get their sins forgiven before they received their First Holy Communion. Confirmation was pushed off more toward adolescence. That is why many Catholics have not completed their initiation. Many times these sacraments are seen as ceremonies marking different passages in life. So some people talk about “collecting their sacraments” much like earning merit badges in scouting or collecting diplomas in education.

Sacraments are all about a profound encounter with Christ. In general, evangelical Christians do not claim to have sacraments in the Catholic sense. They focus on accepting Christ as their personal Lord and Savior as an individual choice or experience. This can happen at an “altar call” in a Christian assembly or revival, but the communal dimension of entering into Christ in his Mystical Body is often minimized. Since evangelical beliefs and practices as well as Calvinism are so strong in American culture, we often perceive of our journey in faith as something that is individual. In the tradition of the ancient churches the focus is on being called to encounter and live in the Risen Christ in the Christian assembly.

Since the Second Vatican Council (1961 – 1965) some dioceses (areas under the care of a bishop) in the United States have returned to linking the sacraments of initiation more closely. So some areas now have Confirmation at the age of reason followed by First Holy Communion.

As a fully initiated Catholic Christian, you enter more deeply into fullness of being alive in Christ. Sometimes people like yourself who have been baptized but have not received Confirmation and First Eucharist (Holy Communion) are put together with the un-baptized in the Rite of Christian Initiation for adults or RCIA. This can create some confusion since Baptism, even Baptism in another Church, makes you radically different from people who are not baptized. You might need a lot of the same instruction and the non-baptized may make you more aware of the beauty and meaning of the faith, but you are already part of the Mystical Body of the Risen Christ. Many parishes will provide a separate program to prepare you for confirmation and First Holy Communion.

Hopefully, you are part of a Catholic community or parish. You might want to check in with them to see how they can lead you to complete your full initiation.

Dear Theologika,

Why has the Church changed the name of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) to Reconciliation? Isn’t it supposed to be about doing penance to make up for our sins?

Mary

Dear Mary,

The sacrament of Reconciliation has a long history, dating back to the 3rd century or earlier. It began as a way to deal with people who had committed one of three very serious sins — adultery, murder, or apostasy (denying the faith) — yet had repented and wanted to return to the community. They could not be baptized again, because baptism is a one-time experience. Yet these actions all seriously upset and damaged interpersonal relationships within the Christian community. A process of returning to membership in the community was developed that involved public admission of guilt and public penance. At the end of this process, the sinner was formally re-admitted to the community. It was a way of “cleaning the slate” for people who needed a sort of reboot for communal life. It was a process of reconciliation between the individual and the community.

As centuries passed, the sacrament developed into one that could help those whose sins were not quite so dramatic and public. Private confession came from the practices of Irish monks. Eventually, as a result of the Jansenist heresy, which said that we were too sinful to receive communion, formal reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance even came to be seen as a prerequisite for receiving Communion. This influence continued into the 20th Century.

As part of the re-examination of the sacraments that occurred before and during the Second Vatican Council, the focus of the sacrament of Reconciliation was returned to roots more ancient even than those of the third century: Jesus’ actions in forgiving sins freely and lovingly without imposing heavy burdens on the sinner. (In many cases, Jesus then healed of the physical ailments for which the person had come seeking help, further lifting the person’s burdens.)

What then is reconciliation all about?

The word itself is defined as “to walk together.” Reconciliation occurs between and among individuals and groups of people. The relationships that have been damaged need to be repaired so people can again walk together in peace.

Sin is the name we give to the actions that damage relationships between people, as well as between people and God. The word in Greek means to make a mistake or to miss the target, as an archer does who reaches into his quiver, pulls out an arrow, shoots, and misses. The entire process is implied in the Greek word used by the writers of the Gospels. As humans, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the target of acting lovingly. We hurt each other and ourselves when this happens. We don’t hurt God, because God is love — plain, pure, and simple. But our relationship with God gets hindered because of the wound to our own selves that results from breaking our connection/relationship with the source of our being.

Love always reaches out to heal relationships. Love always forgives. Love always offers mercy. Mercy is all about relationships and their healing. Relationships get healed as people are reconciled. Nevertheless, this healing of relationships is not easy. Doing penance as an individual does not necessarily heal relationships or help un-do the harm that has been done. A process of “restorative justice” can be very helpful in healing relationships, especially when the harm has been particularly serious. But even in more minor cases, concrete actions to restore what has been taken or broken can be the first step. The one who tears a fellow student’s hat in the course of teasing him can, for example, help mend the hat. The one who paints graffiti on a wall can help clean it off. The one who breaks a dish in anger can work to earn the money to replace the dish.

The change of the name of this sacrament from Penance to Reconciliation reflects our understanding that only mercy and reconciliation can truly heal the hurts that separate us and lead to death.  Just as Jesus always offered mercy, so we are called to offer mercy — personally and and as a society. Mercy transforms lives and worlds when it flows from God to humans and from each of us to others. Reconciliation allows us to walk together again in God’s love.

Blessings,

Theologika

For more information on Jansenism,  see how St. Vincent de Paul, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and St. Claude de la Colombière promoted a renewed focus on the love and forgiveness of Christ, including devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Why do Catholics typically have a crucifix in their homes and churches rather than crosses?

Just Wondering

Dear Wondering,

For Catholics, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are all part of the mystery of salvation, the Paschal Mystery. No part of Christ’s life can be ignored or papered over as we contemplate the great gift of God’s coming as a human in order to repair the divide between human and divine life. The crucifix reminds us of the totality of this commitment of love and faithfullness of our incarnate God, our God who became one of us. Jesus could have backed out of his mission at any point along the way to Calvary, but he didn’t. He remained faithful to his calling, his mission: to proclaim liberty to captives, release to prisoners, and to preach good new to the poor. It was this faithfulness and personal integrity which lead him to the cross. But through that death, Jesus was not defeated. The Father raised him up from death. Death was forever destroyed and humanity re-united to the divine love from which all creation flows.

Many Christian churches have only a cross in the sanctuary. The cross by itself is meant to remind us that Jesus’ story didn’t end there. He is no longer hanging defeated on the cross. He is risen. Another alternative form of the cross makes this even clearer: the risen Jesus is seen in front of the cross with arms outstretched in blessing.

There is room for each of these ways of depicting Jesus’ sacrifice. As Catholics, we generally find the crucifix in our churches, especially the older ones. But in some communities the crucifix does not have as prominent a position as in others. Either option is permissable.

                                                                                                                    Blessings,

                                                                                                                   Theologika

Image is of the crucifix in St. Patrick Church, Spokane, WA.

I read an article about a project analyzing which of the three great Middle Eastern religions is more blood-thirsty. It said, in part:

Fifty-eight percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam. And with that comes a laundry list of misinformation about the faith’s holy text, the Quran. 

But a recent project by data analyst and research marketer Tom Anderson turns one common misconception on its head: that the Quran is more consumed by blood thirst than the Christian Bible. Using text-analysis tools developed by OdinText, Anderson determined what percentage of the Bible was devoted to discussion of violence and then compared those results to that of the Quran.

What’s your take on this?

Steve S.

Dear Steve,

One of the thoughts that I’ve had is that these three “books” — the Hebrew Scriptures, The New Testament, and the Quran — are not really comparable as literary works. The Christian and Hebrew scriptures are libraries with more than one kind of literature. There are histories, sayings, poems, novels, and stories to explain creation and the nature of God’s constant activity in human history. The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, The Torah (the law or teachings), chronicle not only creation but also battles with Pharoah and other empires, as well as skirmishes with other tribes and the struggles within the tribes of Israel. These struggles are even woven into the second part of the Hebrew Scriptures: the Prophets. These ancient writings, which inspired both Jesus and Mohammed, deal with more violent content as well as vulgar language, nudity, and sex. The key is focusing on the message. To love God is to love your neighbor as yourself. Judaism and Christianity are religions of the heart in which God saves people from themselves if they are open to love and goodness — God’s grace. Ethical behavior follows from this conversion of the heart.

The Quran is the work of the Prophet Mohammed and is not an edited collection of different types of literature from different times, languages, and cultures. Islam is a religion of ethical behavior which causes and shows your submission to the one God and His Prophet. Believers follow a set of rules and earn their salvation. One of the big messages is that everyone is to submit to Allah and observe his commands. Love, justice, and mercy figure into the equation. Just like Christianity, you can interpret Islam to justify violence, conquest, and exploitation. The big difference is that Islam responded to persecution in its early years by armed resistance. It also spread in the West with the Arab conquest of North Africa and Spain.The other difference is that Islam did not blend with other cultures as easily as Christianity did under the influence of St. Paul.

Returning to the original project you cited, we might consider looking at other works of literature using similar criteria. For example, if you were to run a simple word search for violence or themes of violence, you would find abundant examples of it in Gone With the Wind, War and Peace, and Mein Kampf. But what are these works of literature saying? How are people interpreting or “reading” them?

Jihad was originally a concept of a Holy War of self-defense to protect the young Islamic community. Suicide is not acceptable within Islam, but somehow suicide bombers have come to be considered as martyrs by some. Many Moslems object to this. Jesus said “love your enemies,” but Christians have slaughtered, enslaved, and tortured people in His name. The big question is whether we are inspired by our religions’ bigger messages of peace and enlightenment or are we captives of the literal meaning of their words.

So … the truth of our faith is in our hearts and our deeds.

Blessings,

Randy for Theologika

P.S. For those interested in a deeper analysis, an excellent history of the development of these three religious traditions is A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong.

I heard someone refer to the domestic church. What is it?

Wondering

Dear Wondering,

The domestic church is the church in your home.

We often think that prayer, worship, and acts of charity and justice happen only outside our home in the wider church community and its leadership or hierarchy. However, the church like charity begins at home. The Second Vatican Council reaffirmed this ancient teaching, referring to the Christian home as the domestic church. It is the fundamental unit of the church community.

The domestic church is the place where we first experience love, prayer, and the Risen Christ. The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has a number of tips for nourishing and growing the church in your home. Families should pray together. Meal time, bed time, in the morning when waking up – all are good times for prayer. Parents should teach their children about Jesus and the Gospel and should be good examples of love and forgiveness. Families should go to Mass together on Sunday and help out the less fortunate.

Ideally, in our lives in family, we share in the life of the Trinity — the life of love.

Blessings,

Theologika

Why is there all this bother about social justice? I’m a good Catholic. I go to Mass and confession and say my prayers. Why do I need to worry about social justice too?

Perplexed in the Pews

Dear Perplexed,

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he gave a two part answer. The first is to love God with all of our strength and the second part is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So who is my neighbor? Jesus tells several stories about this, including the story of the Good Samaritan who takes pity on a man who was beaten and robbed and left by the side of the road. Other people had passed him by and pretended that they didn’t see the man. The only one who took pity on the man was a Samaritan, a man despised by good Jews of the time because of an accident of birth.

In his description of the final judgement, Jesus again makes clear the importance of caring for our fellow human beings. It is in feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, and offering other forms of service that we serve him.

The message of Jesus echoes the message of the Torah and the Prophets. We can’t say we love God when we don’t love our neighbor. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God speaking through the prophets tells people that he doesn’t want burnt offerings. God wants people to take care of each other. We are to be merciful to people, whether they deserve help or not, because God loves them and has made us all in the divine image. As God’s children, all humans have a special dignity and infinite worth.

There is really no way that being faithful to our religious duties makes any sense unless we live the love of God we profess by making that love real. As we know in our everyday life, love is so much more than words. The same holds true in our lives of faith. The “proof of the pudding” is in our concern for all of God’s children.

Blessings,

Theologika

Why is there this big devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Don’t people realize that Jesus loves them unconditionally?

Dear Unconditionally,

Unfortunately, many people don’t experience unconditional love when they are growing up. Sometimes they can even grow up with a notion of God as a stern, judgmental parent. They get caught up in the question of whether God is all loving or all just. They haven’t been taught that no one can be just without being loving. God is what we are called to be — forgiving and compassionate. As humans, we get hurt, hold grudges, and wait for our chance to get “even.”

The disciples asked Jesus how many times they should forgive others. They suggested seven times, but Jesus said “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22), a poetic way of saying that there is no limit. It doesn’t matter what we have done or failed to do, God is always there for us. We may turn away, but God never does.

Devotion to the loving truly human and truly divine Jesus has existed from the early centuries of the faith because various people have had trouble accepting an all loving God. Many times Christ the King is lowered to the condition of an earthly king full of violence and vengeance. When we read stories of the last day and the final judgement, we find images of Christ as a victorious earthly general killing and conquering his enemies.  These apocalyptic or “end time” stories are part of a message of strength and encouragement for believers who are suffering persecution. God will rescue those who love Him.

The point of these stories is to remind us that our acceptance or rejection of God’s love has very good or very bad consequences for us. The choice is ours, but God always wants the best for us, an end brought about by our accepting His love. That’s the point of the story about the lost or prodigal son. (Lk 15:11-32). God is always hoping that we will come home, like the father in the story who goes out to the road every day hoping to see his lost son. Despite all of the foolish and sinful things the lost son has done, his father rejoices when he returns. He doesn’t judge him. He doesn’t punish him. Father and son have suffered enough.

Devotion to the Limitless Love of God — the Sacred Heart — became important in the 1600s when Catholic and Protestant movements focused on the brokenness and crookedness of humanity and how far we are from God. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and St. Claude de la Colombière promoted a renewed focus on the love and forgiveness of Christ. Since Christ is truly human and truly divine, Jesus loves us with in a completely human way with unlimited Divine love, a love that continuously overflows in creation, redemption, and resurrection. We can always come home. The arms of Jesus are always outstretched to hug us and hold us close to His Sacred Heart. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10.)

Blessings,

Theologika

Why do Catholics worship the Virgin Mary?

Wondering

Dear Wondering,

This is a common misunderstanding of the devotion Catholics have for Mary the Mother of God. Catholics do not worship the Virgin Mary. Catholics, like other Christians, only worship the One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St. Mary is unique among all of the saints and for this reason we venerate (honor) her. According to Holy Scripture, Mary freely chose to be the mother of the savior and that is why we call her the Blessed Mother. Mary was God’s choice to be the woman who would give birth to the truly divine and truly human man, Jesus of Nazareth.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#969-972) tells us that Mary’s importance is due to her relationship with God in the Divine work of salvation. Throughout her life Mary grappled with understanding God’s promise in the midst of the life of her son Jesus. “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) This is why Catholics and other ancient churches see Mary as the model of faith and charity. She is the first disciple and the model for all of the rest of us, since she is completely human. We see in her the model of the complete acceptance of God’s love and grace. As the mother of God, Mary is also the mother of all the faithful. She is the mother of the Church.

Mary prayed with the men and women in the upper room after her son’s ascension and received once again the Holy Spirit with them. Her example of faithful prayer in the midst of a mother’s concern for her son, and her anguish and grief at his public torture and death, is a model for all of us dealing with pain, suffering, and grief in our lives. The resurrection and ascension of her son was also mystifying for this Jewish woman who believed the promise of God brought to her by the Angel Gabriel and who freely accepted the Word of God made flesh within her by the Holy Spirit.

We know that Mary has not ceased her prayer. Caught up with all of the saints in the glory of God, Mary has a special place in God’s heart. As her children, we know that we can come to her and she can help us by her love and prayers to walk with her son on His journey of salvation for all of us.

Blessings,

Theologika