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Thirty-First Sunday of the Year
5 November 2006
Dear Friends in Christ,
Three liturgical matters for your information:
- On each Sunday of my sabbatical I will continue to offer the Mass Pro Populo (allowing Fr. Smith to offer a different intention at the 11 am Mass until I return), but in addition to that Sunday Mass, I will of course continue to celebrate Mass each weekday. This means that I am able to accept Mass intentions to be celebrated in Washington, and if you would like to request one of those Masses, you can do so by calling Mary Williams at 271.8422 ext 112.
- The law of the Church permits each priest to celebrate Mass only once each day, with grudging permission granted for a second Mass if the need is great, and a third Mass forbidden except for the most serious reason. The priests at St. Mary’s often say two or more Masses each day, not all of them at St. Mary’s, and with my absence in the next seven months, an insuperable burden would fall on the priests who remain if we attempted to maintain our present schedule. Accordingly, we are obliged to eliminate the 7 am Mass on Wednesday only and the 8 am Mass on Saturday. The 7 am Mass will remain on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the noon Mass will remain Monday through Friday. Moreover, Mass is offered at 8:30 am on Wednesday when our school is in session, and parishioners are welcome to attend that Mass at the back of the church.
- When we receive Holy Communion under either species or kind (the Sacred Host or the Precious Blood), we receive the entire Christ: Body and Blood, soul and divinity, and for this reason, it is not essential to receive Communion under both kinds to receive fully the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Last week the Holy See revoked the special permission which allowed lay Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to purify the sacred vessels used to distribute the Eucharist, and the Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship suggested that where this change would create logistical difficulties, the practice of extending the chalice to the people be ended. Accordingly, we will no longer distribute Holy Communion from the chalice at St. Mary’s, except for rare occasions like the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. The only exemption to this change will be for those who have celiac disease and cannot ingest the gluten contained in wheat hosts; such persons should speak with the parish priests to make special arrangements for receiving Holy Communion. Finally, despite this change for Mass, our lay Communion Ministers will continue their ministry of bringing the Eucharist to the sick and the homebound, a great service of charity for which we are all grateful.
Father Newman