The Mass in Slow Motion – The Incensation of the Gifts

The Incensation of the gifts and altar. Holy Smoke! Here we go again. Out comes the incense. Actually, most Sundays in most parish you won’t see this. Incense as we have discussed before is used only on more solemn occasions in most parishes. There is no norm restricting it only to more solemn occasions but this does seem to be the case. Recall that incense is a symbol of prayer as we see from the Psalm “Let my prayer rise like incense and the lifting of my hands as an evening offering.” (Psalm 141:2) Incense is also a “burnt offering.”  In the Old Testament many of the animal offerings were either partially or wholly burned up in a fire. In effect, to burn something was to give it to God. The notion may seem primitive, but consider the basic facts. You put something in the fire and it is burned and much of it turns to smoke and rises up, that is goes up, to God. The rising smoke is a symbol of the gift going up to God. In the offertory context of the Mass this aspect of the burnt offering is most evident. Our prayers, and our sacrifices are going up to God as a fragrant offering. So this is holy smoke: a prayer and an offering.

So at this point in the Mass the gifts of the altar and the altar itself may be incensed. Afterward the deacon or other minister may incense the priest and the people.  Here too note something important. As we discussed earlier, we are not only offering bread and wine (and money) we are offering our very selves. Hence it is appropriate that the people be incensed along with the other gifts.

The priest puts some incense into the censer and blesses it silently with the sign of the cross. The altar is incensed in this manner:

  1. If the altar is freestanding, the priest incenses it as he walks around it.
  2. If the altar is attached to the wall, he incenses while walking first to the right side, then to the left side.
  3. If there is a cross on the altar or near it,the priest incenses it before he incenses the altar. If the cross is behind the altar, the priest incenses it when he passes in front of it.

History – We have already discussed a good bit of the history of incensation. (HERE) This will largely suffice for here. However, there are some particulars of the incensations of the gifts that remain to be discussed. The History of the incensation of the gifts is first traced outside of the Roman liturgy.  It is most precisely the fruit of the Carolingian liturgy in Germany and France. As late as the 9th century the use of incense  at the offertory was unknown in Rome. There was the practice of burning incense in fixed stands as well as carrying it processions. However there was no elaborate incensing of the gifts such as we know it today. By the 11th century however, the act of incensation was a part of the offertory in Roman usage. With this act came to be elaborate prayers and recitation of psalms. There was a prayer when placing the incense in the thurible, while swinging it and even when handing the thurible back to the deacon or thurifer. In addition to the gifts, the celebrant other concelebrants, the deacon and the people are all incensed as well.

In the Extraordinary form of the Latin Mass the use of incense is restricted to solemn high, and high (sung) Mass. Today the use of incense is always an option. While it is no longer required at a solemn mass, it is also no longer restricted to that form either. In addition, the manner of incensing has been simplified a bit. Some of the more elaborate directives about the manner of swinging it have been dropped. In addition, the prayers are no longer prescribed.

Pastoral implications – The incense as we have seen is a traditional symbol of our prayers and offerings going up to God. Hence, it is a vivid symbol at the time of the offertory. Likewise, the incense being consumed is an allegory of our self-giving to God. The practice of incensing the priest and the people is first of all a sign of respect. It is also a visual image of the fact that we are united to our offering upon the altar. Bread and wine are offered but so are our very lives. The use of incense at this time should not be considered another offering of its own but rather as a compliment to that which has already been offered. And remeber, breathe in that incense it is blessed! It is holy smoke and to breath in some (obviously in moderation) brings blessing!

Here is a video of the gifts and altar being incensed in the Extraordinary Form (Latin) of the Mass:

How Do You Solve the Problem of Violence? A Commentary on Superheros

 The following video features Fr. Robert Barron and his Commentary on Batman “The Dark Night.” Here he ponders the problem of violence and critiques the world’s notion of how to fight violence.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once remarked that if everything is going to be an eye for an eye, then we will have a world full of blind people. He also said, “Dark cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Similarly, hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Fr. Barron Makes a similar point from the Christian Tradition here:

The Location of the Taberbnacle

Within the Tabernacle in our Churches resides the true presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the reserved Eucharist. What a privilege to have our Lord’s true presence with us!

An odd thing has happened in recent decades as many parishes began moving the tabernacle from where it had been in the center of the sanctuary off to the side or even completely out of the Church nave to a side chapel. To many Catholics it seemed a “dethronement” or a casting aside of traditional Eucharistic piety. In more recent years many parishes and dioceses have begun restoring the tabernacle to the center of the sanctuary. I have noticed this especially here in the Archdiocese of Washington and I know that all our recent Archbishops have instructed the Sacred Arts Commission here to give strong preference for the Tabernacle to be in the center of the sanctuary.

When I went to my first pastorate, I found the tabernacle off to the side behind a screen near a side door of the Church. TO make matters worse for me personally, the original location of the tabernacle was replaced with a large chair for the priest. I was sitting where Jesus had once been. This broke my heart and I began a catechesis to prepare the people for the move of the tabernacle back to the center. Sure I know, the priest presider is a kind of sacramental presence of the Lord in our midst, but the Church documents are all clear to teach the the Lord is present preeminently in the Eucharistic species. After about a year we were ready to make the move. I remember asking the Choir to sing an old Gospel song the first Sunday Jesus back in the middle. The song I requested was “Jesus, You’re the Center of My Joy!” (See Video Below) It was a fitting song for an important restoration. My seat was now to one side of the sanctuary and I was most happy to step aside and make room for Jesus.

Bishop D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese recently promulgated norms for his diocese regarding this matter and once again I am pleased to see another diocese encouraging parishes to “make the move” and place the tabernacle at the center. You can read the whole document the good Bishop published here: NORMS FOR THE PLACEMENT & DESIGN OF THE TABERNACLE IN THE DIOCESE OF FORT WAYNE-SOUTH BEND. But here are a few excerpts:

The Church teaches that the tabernacle is to be situated “in a most worthy place with the greatest honor.” Pope Benedict XVI emphasized this idea in his Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis: “The correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ’s real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, the place where the Eucharistic species are reserved, marked by a sanctuary lamp, should be readily visible to everyone entering the church.”…In the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the Bishop has judged that the tabernacle is normally to be prominently located in the sanctuary of the church, along the central axis behind the main altar. Under this arrangement, the tabernacle should be at an elevated, open location in the apse area, or in another central place in the sanctuary that is equally  conspicuous.  Where a high altar with a tabernacle remains in place, it is appropriate to continue using this noble structure for the reservation of the Blessed  sacrament….This prescription is to be observed in all future construction or restoration projects involving places of sacred worship…In those existing places of sacred worship where the tabernacle is currently located elsewhere in the sanctuary or the main body of the church, a liturgical consultation with the faithful and with the Diocese should begin, regarding the possibility of moving the tabernacle to a central position in the sanctuary. Especially if the tabernacle in a particular church was central at one time and then was moved, it should be returned to its original location. ….

The church, which is “both the house of God on earth (domus Dei) and a house fit for the prayers of the saints (domus ecclesiae),” itself possesses a sacramental dimension—by its very structure it should aid worshipers to enter into an encounter with Christ. The honored presence of the Blessed Sacrament helps lend a Catholic church building its particular sacramental character….

Care should be taken to instruct the faithful that genuflection is the appropriate sign of adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, “whether reserved in the tabernacle or exposed for public adoration.” Before or after Mass, when the tabernacle is visible somewhere in the church, genuflection should be directed towards it.


You Formed Me And You Know Me – The Healing in Psalm 139

One of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible is Psalm 139 which speaks of God’s absolute and sovereignty over our lives. God made us, fashioned us, sees into the depth of our very being and knows every one of our days long before he ever made us.

The Psalm is clear that none of us are an accident or a mistake. Each of us is known to God, willed by God, loved by God unconditionally. God knew every good thing we would ever do, before we were made. He also knew every bad, sorrowful and hurtful thing we’d ever do but loves us anyway and made us despite this.

There is something intrinsically good about every human person, even the most troubling, we are willed and loved by God. God does not make us as an “experiment” as though he set us in motion and then stepped back to see the results. Rather, he made us, knowing everything in advance. We tend to sort people out and value them based on accomplishments or deficits. God just loves. Even the souls in Hell, those who choose something other than God, remain in his care. He still sustains them. God never destroys or annihilates any human person he has made. The souls in hell have chosen something other than heaven and God, they would rather reign in Hell than serve and worship in the Kingdom. God respects that choice but never withdraws his love.

Psalm 139 is also essential to the Pro-life movement for it states clearly that God knits us together in our mother’s womb. We are willed by God before one of our days ever existed. He calls us into being forms, “knits us” in our mother’s womb. We are wonderfully, fearfully made. Our dignity is not in our utility to others or the state. It is not in our convenience or abilities. It is not that others want us or do not want us. Our dignity is that we are willed and loved by God.

Here are excerpts from psalm 139. And then a beautiful video I stitched together from several sources showing astonishing ultrasound images of our development in the womb along with a beautiful song: “Psalm 139” by Pro Sound. The song is available at iTunes.

O Lord, You search me and You know me; you know when I sit and when I stand, you understand my thoughts from afar….behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me….You formed my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you that I wonderfully and fearfully made….even my bones were not hidden from you as I made and fashioned in secret….Your eyes foresaw all my actions and all my days were written in your book before one of them ever came to be.  (Psalm 139)

Enjoy this beautiful video depicting the handiwork of God as he fashions us in the womb.

On the Lord’s Team! Sports as an image of the Christian Life

St. Paul used the image of an athlete to describe the Christian life in Several places. Consider this one:

Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be  disqualified. ( 1 Cor. 9:25-27)

Clearly there are many virtues necessary to the athlete that are also of great necessity to the Christian:

  • Discipline – The athlete must carefully and persistently train the body. Without a clear and repetitive discipline the sport will not be mastered and neither will the body have proper stamina, strength and coordination. Athletes train every day and work to perfect their mastery of the sport. So too must Christians undertake a clear discipline and persistently train in the ways of faith through prayer, scripture, sacraments,  moral virtue and self mastery. The Christian must practice every day.
  • Persistence – The Athlete must follow discipline all the time, not just occasionally. To fail in persistent training not only jeopardizes good performance but it risks injury. So too for the Christian. We cannot expect much progress with an on again, off again regimen. Without a persistent good habit of prayer, scripture, sacraments and practicing of moral virtue the Christian not only stunts progress  but also risks injury (sin).
  • Rules – every sport has rules that must be accepted and followed. The athlete is not free to reinvent the game. They must play by the rules or risk exclusion and disqualification.  S0 too the Christians must play by the rules set by God. If we are going to be on the winning team and secure the victory we have to abide by the rules. To refuse this is to risk being disqualified. We are not free to reinvent Christianity as so many try to do today. There is only one playing field and one game. Follow  the rules or be ejected.
  • Alert for Injury – A good athlete listens carefully to his or her body and any signs of injury. If injury is detected they see the team doctor quickly and take measures to heal as quickly as possible. Further they avoid injury by learning proper form, stretching etc. So too for the Christian. We must monitor ourselves for injury and upon discovery of even minor injury we should consult our team physician, the priest and get on the mend quickly. Further we should avoid injury by learning proper Christian form (moral life) and avoiding what ever leads us to sin (a kind of stretching to avoid moral injury).
  • Teamwork – many sports involve learning to work together for the goal. Athletes cannot merely seek glory for themselves, they must have the good of the whole team in mind. They must learn to work with others toward the common good and overcome any idiosyncrasies or selfishness that hinders the common goal. So too Christians must strive to overcome petty and selfish egotism and work for the common good,  learning to appreciate the gifts of others. The team is stronger than the individual alone. Life is about more then just me. When others are glorified so am I if I am on the same winning team.

Well, you get the point. Why not add a few of your own thoughts on how sports is a good analogy for the Christian life?


The Seven Deadly Sins

Do you know what the Seven Deadly Sins are? It is a great value to know and begin to understand these deep drives of sin in us. The more we can know and distinguish them the more we can grow in self knowledge. We can begin to understand better how we “tick.” Further, being able to know and name these seven deep drives of sin helps us to know their moves and gain mastery over them. As they stir deep within us we can see evidence of their stirrings and begin to take greater authority over them.

Too many Christians know little about twisted nature of sin. They just know they’re a little messed up (or alot!) and can’t seem to figure out why. Have you ever gone to the doctor, not knowing what was wrong and left feeling better just because you finally knew what ailed you had a name and a cure? Being able to name our demons is an essential part of growth and healing.

Fr. Robert Barron has just published a 100 minute DVD on the subject of the Seven Deadly Sins called  Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues. I would like to recommend you get it and learn all you can about these root sins and the virtues that help us to overcome them by God’s grace. I have ordered mine and will tell you more of it when it arrives and I get the chance to view it. You can order it as well by clicking on the title above. At the bottom of this post is a brief video  in which Fr. Barron describes the intent and structure of the DVD.

Briefly stated though here are the Seven Deadly sins listed for you:

  • Pride – love of self perverted to contempt or hatred  for one’s neighbor. It is to love and esteem oneself more than is proper and at the same time to denigrate the goodness of others. Pride also stirs us to reject lawful authority of others over us including God and refuses appropriate submission.
  • Greed – The excessive desire for wealth and possessions. It is not wrong to desire what we need but through greed we hoard things and acquire far beyond our needs or what is reasonable, and we fail to be generous. Through greed we can also come to see the things of this world as more precious than the things of heaven.
  • Lust – Usually thought of as excessive or inappropriate desires or thoughts of a sexual nature. It is not wrong to experience sexual desire per se but Lust moves  this to become excessive (all that matters), or for the object of it to be inappropriate (e.g. sexually fantasizing about someone other than a spouse).  More broadly, lust is thought of as an excessive love of others that makes the love of God secondary.
  • Anger – Inordinate and uncontrolled feeling of hatred and wrath. It is not always wrong to experience anger, especially in the presence of injustice. But anger here is understood as a deep drive which we indulge and wherein we excessively cling to angry and hateful feelings for others. This kind of anger most often seeks revenge.
  • Gluttony – The over-indulgence in or over consumption of anything to the point of waste. We usually think of food and drink but gluttony can extend to other matters as well. This sin usually leads to a kind of laziness and self-satisfaction that has little room for God and the spiritual life. Over indulging in the world leaves little room for God and the things of the spirit. Gluttony may also cause us to be less able to help the poor.
  • Envy – Sorrow or sadness at the goodness or excellence of another person because  I take it to make me look bad or less excellent. If I envy someone I want to diminish or undermine their excellence. Envy is NOT the same as jealousy. If I am jealous of you, I want what you have. If I am Envious, I want to diminish or destroy what is good or excellent in you. St. Augustine called Envy THE diabolical sin because of the way it seeks to eliminate excellence and goodness in others.
  • Sloth – Sorrow or sadness at the good things God wants to do for me. Most people think of sloth as laziness. But what sloth really is, is an avoidance of God. I fear or dislike what He can do for me so I avoid him. Some avoid God by laziness, but others avoid him by becoming workaholics, claiming they are too busy to pray, get to Church or think about spiritual things.

Please consider getting the Fr. Barron Video. Learning of these deep drives of sin is essential for spiritual growth.

Here’s Fr. Barron’s brief into to the DVD:

Last One Out Turn Out the Lights! – The serious consequences of low Mass attendance, low birthrates, and, my own politically incorrect solution.

I’ve been catching up with news from other nearby dioceses. The Diocese of Allentown Pennsylvania recently decided to close 44 of its  140 parishes. The Diocese of Scranton closed 90 parishes last year. Similar things are happening all over the country. Luckily here in Washington, nothing yet in terms of parishes, although schools have closed.

What is happening? The Catholic Population has almost doubled in 60 years. Yet Churches and schools close. How is this? Well, consider that in 1950 more than 80% of Catholics attended Mass every Sunday. That number has dropped to below 30%. The number is probably lower in urban areas of the Northeast and higher in the Midwest. This is a grave loss of faith and the fact is we cannot sustain what previous generations gave us on 30% attendance.The younger generation coming of age has much lower attendance numbers generally below 20% . Stated soberly we are in serious trouble.

Regarding our schools, birthrates among Catholics have plummeted. When I was a kid back in the 1960s it was common for families to have 5 or 6 kids. Today one or two is the norm. We seem to be contracepting and aborting ourselves right out of existence. If it wasn’t for our vigorous Latino immigration, the Catholic Church in America would be in far more serious trouble. More on birthrates in a minute.

The decision that the majority of Catholics have made to no longer attend Church has consequences. Many once filled Church buildings have grown empty in recent years. At a certain point a parish is no longer sustainable financially. Neither are schools, hospitals, and seminaries.

Usual Solutions: Some will argue that the Church needs to “update” to attract more members and lighten up on her moral teachings. But look at the main-lne Protestant Churches who have done that. They are in worse shape than we. Departing from Biblical truth is not the answer. We DO need to work on our liturgies, priests need to be better preachers, and we need to reinvigorate an evangelical spirit among Catholics.  But in the end we simply have to state it plain, we have experienced a wide spread loss of faith and that is why there is such a drop. Preaching and liturgy weren’t great in the past either but we still packed em in. This is ultimately about a loss of faith. 80% to 30% is a huge drop. We cannot sustain what we had with this kind of a drop. There are consequences. Closed churches were once filled to standing room only and are sad evidence of the non-sustainability due to the current attitude among Catholics who think Church attendance and support is not a necessary component of being Catholic. We need to reinvigorate the notion that it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday. The New Catechism teaches this clearly (cf CCC #2181). We also need to reconnect people with the necessity of the sacraments for their salvation. For example Jesus says “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and Drink His Blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53). Thus, to be away from Holy Communion is a kind of spiritual suicide.

Politically Incorrect Solution – We also need to have bigger families. Sorry to be politically incorrect but Catholics and Christians in general are simply being replaced. The Muslims have big families we have tiny ones. You do the math. It is almost as if God is saying to us, if you do not love life, then you will be replaced by others who do.  Contraception in the end is a form of cultural suicide. Abortion that tags along with it has also devastated our numbers.

In the end, it is about faith and being faithful to God’s House. Either we all are faithful and we thrive or we are not and we start shutting down. Further it is about loving life. Either we marry, are fruitful and multiply, and thus thrive or we turn away from life, decrease and die. If we fail to choose life, then last one out turn out the lights.

OK, So here it is fellow Catholics: Be faithful, be fruitful. Sow abundantly and reap abundantly. Get to Mass every Sunday. Get married (first), then have lots of baies and raise them Catholic!  🙂   It’s not brain surgery is it?  God has a plan and it’s not that hard to decipher.

Here’s a graph of mass attendance by age and another of why people say they miss Mass. You can double click on the graphs below to enlarge them.      SOURCE: CARA

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The Miracle of Life

Spread the Word. Deep inside we all know that this is a baby and that abortion is wrong. Deep inside, beneath all the rationalizations, everyone knows. Behold in this video the miarcle of life.