The blog header depicts an important and yet mis-understood New Testament scene, Jesus flogging the money-changers out of the temple. I selected it because the faith that gives us consolation can also make us very uncomfortable. Both Divine Mercy and Divine Justice meet in Jesus. Priests are ministers of reconciliation, but never at the cost of truth. In or out of season, we must be courageous in preaching and living out the Gospel of Life. The title of my blog is a play on words, not Flogger Priest but Blogger Priest.
Just as we should come to Mass early so as to reflect upon our intentions and to prepare ourselves; at the end of the Mass we should not depart quickly. Ten minutes or so of reflection can have great spiritual value. We can reflect upon the great mystery within which we have had a part. We are moved by a profound gratitude. The dismissal is not the end of the story. It has been said that given the speed of digestion, for ten or fifteen minutes we are actual living tabernacles of the Blessed Sacrament. Once digested, and the accidents of bread are gone, then the substantial presence passes as well. However, the Lord continues to be present through grace. We are made spiritual temples of the Lord.
A famous Thanksgiving Prayer is that of St. Thomas Aquinas:
I thank You, Lord, Almighty Father, Everlasting God, for having been pleased, through no merit of mine, but of Your great mercy alone, to feed me, a sinner, and Your unworthy servant, with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not be for my judgment and condemnation, but for my pardon and salvation. Let this Holy Communion be to me an armor of faith and a shield of good will, a cleansing of all vices, and a rooting out of all evil desires. May it increase love and patience, humility and obedience, and all virtues. May it be a firm defense against the evil designs of all my visible and invisible enemies, a perfect quieting of all the desires of soul and body. May this Holy Communion bring about a perfect union with You, the one true God, and at last enable me to reach eternal bliss when You will call me. I pray that You bring me, a sinner, to the indescribable Feast where You, with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, are to Your saints true light, full blessedness, everlasting joy, and perfect happiness. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
A short Litany of the Sacred Heart was promoted by my old pastor, Msgr. William J. Awalt:
Jesus, Infinite Goodness, Jesus, Lover of mankind, Jesus, most patient,
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Make my heart like unto Thine.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, burning with love for me,
Inflame my heart with love for Thee and for those around me.
Pour into us, O Lord, the spirit of Thy love.
From anger and hate and from all evil wishes, O Lord deliver us.
Grant, O Lord, that every moment of this day in all my dealings with others, I may keep in my mind Thy words: “Whatsoever you do to one of them you do unto Me.”
Grant that I may rule all my dealings with others according to Thy command: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Grant that I may think of them as You think of them and me.
Grant that I may feel towards them as You feel towards them and me.
Grant that I may speak to them as You would were You in my place.
Grant that I may bear with them as You bear with me.
Grant that I may consider it a privilege “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”
Grant that I may look for opportunities of doing good to them in a kindly, humble way – seeing You, serving You, in them.
Place Your thoughts in my mind, Your love in my heart, Your words on my lips – that I may learn to love others as You love me.
Announcements can be made, especially on Sundays. Then comes the final greeting, “The Lord be with you” and the people respond, “And with your spirit.” Given that the Eucharist is the Risen Christ, the old maxim takes on a heightened significance, “You are what you eat.” Our spiritual food is transformative. Priest and congregants alike are to take the graces of this abiding presence into the world.
The priest blesses the assembled. Just as Mass begins with the sign of the cross, it ends with the same sign: “May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.” The admonition of Christ, “Take up your cross and follow me,” finds its realization here. As we go out the church doors, we are all marked with the Cross. That which was once a curse and sign of dreadful foreboding is now extended as a blessing and sign of joyful hope.
There is one final dialogue between the priest or deacon and the people. The dismissal is really a “sending forth.” There are four variations: (1) “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” (2) “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” (3) “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” (4) “Go in peace.” The people respond, “Thanks be to God.” There may be music at the end but it is not mandated.
Back when I was a boy I was told a story from WWII about a cathedral damaged by bombing in France. A number of American servicemen assisted the faithful in making repairs, restoring the pews and much more. The church rose again from the ashes and rubble. Then they turned to a statue of the Sacred Heart that had been damaged. No matter how hard they tried, they could not fashion proper hands for those destroyed. So they left the statue standing without hands, placing an adjacent plaque with these words: “I have no hands but yours.” Over the years I have heard virtually the same story but from Germany and England and even the United States. The third variation is dated around 1980 with a statue damaged by vandals outside a church in California. The words are taken from a poem by St. Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.” To this very day, the statue lacks hands.
As he did with the Collect, the celebrant introduces the Prayer After Communion. He says, “Let us pray.” Any silence and opportunity here for prayer is very brief. It may be enough to say “Thank you, Jesus” but not much more. The priest prays in the name of God’s people, the Church. He prays that the many fruits of the Mass just said will be efficacious. Who can say what miracles are made possible with each and every Mass. The sick are healed. The troubled are given peace of mind and soul. Sins are forgiven. Demons are exorcised. The weak are shielded from harm. We are nurtured and fed by the Eucharist so that we might have God’s life and holiness within us. We make all that has transpired our own by responding, “Amen.”
The priest takes Holy Communion and then it is extended to others. We are instructed to be in a state of grace for the sacrament. We are to fast from food and beverage for one hour before Communion. This does not include water and medicine. We are permitted to take the sacrament either standing or kneeling. We can receive it either upon the tongue or in the hand. We should always approach the sacrament with piety and devotion, recognizing the one who is present in the Eucharist. There should be a hunger or yearning for the sacrament. The sacrament of the Eucharist is frequently neglected because many fail to fathom its mysterious depths and meaning. Even some parents allow their children to be spiritually malnourished. Too many stay away. Too many no longer believe. Fortunately, there are still many parents mindful of their duty. They believe and extend what they believe to their children. Similarly, there are those who share their faith in witnessing to their neighbor. The greatest gift that any Catholic Christian could ever give is his or her saving faith in the Eucharist. Theirs is not a transitory love but a love that embraces the cross and eternity.
What happens in Holy Communion? We receive the one who is the Holy of Holies. God comes to us that we might be made more authentically human. Indeed, that which is human is divinized and made more than before. Christ grants us rations for the journey, a share in his resurrected life. We become flesh-and-blood tabernacles to his abiding and real presence. While the presence in the sacrament is fleeting, the divine presence endures through grace. The Eucharist is the manner of worship that God establishes and which brings light to the darkness. It makes our hope real.
While we accept the sacrament in time, it touches eternity. What we have done, we have done. Harsh words can never be taken back. Uncharitable acts can never be rescinded. Much in the way of our sinful history is irreparable. But nothing of goodness is forgotten either. We cling in conscience to the mercy that God promises and extends. We can be saved, but not because we are deserving or good (left to ourselves) but because God is good. Unlike the angels, we live in time and so can change direction. Redirected by providence and grace, the Mass allows us to then enter into an eternal NOW. Memory that sorely needs to be healed and often torments, transports us to those first recollections of kneeling at the altar rail. We see in the mind’s eye the child we once were, receiving with faith and incalculable innocence, the Blessed Sacrament. Where did time go? When baptized we were saints. How could we be so foolish? Why did we listen to bad companions? When did concupiscence get the upper hand and make us slaves to the flesh, inner contradictions to our very selves? Eyes have seen what they should not have seen. Can these eyes still look with adoration upon the upraised host? Hands have corrupted us by signs and deeds; how can we still extend them to Christ in his sacrament or to a neighbor in the sign of peace? Lips have exchanged veracity for deception; can they yet proclaim the truth that Jesus is Lord? Our bodies have embraced lust and deadly sins; can they once again manifest tenderness and real love? We need medicine from heaven. We require the real food or rations from the Promised Shore. Any particular Holy Communion is every Holy Communion— Sunday after Sunday, on weekdays, on holy days, at funerals, at weddings, etc. There is an eternal dimension to Holy Communion— the hundreds, the thousands, the tens of thousands of receptions. While the fallen away and spiritually starving can count on their fingers how many times they have taken Holy Communion; those who go to Mass daily might receive over 25,000 times in a lifetime. Their response to the minister’s words, “The body of Christ,” becomes an eternal AMEN. It is their yes to the self-donation and surrender of God’s Son. It is their acceptance of divine mercy. It is the password for entry into the eternal banquet of heaven. Akin to vows, we become engaged actors in the marriage of the Lamb. Always it is the Christ who suffers and dies once and for all. And yet, in Holy Communion we are given the risen Christ, body and soul, humanity and divinity.
The eternal NOW of God targets the elderly man in his wheelchair cradling the sacrament in his hand and finds him again in accord with the young child receiving the Eucharistic Christ on the tongue at the altar rail. Everything that Jesus is encounters everything that we are and all that we will become. Never underestimate the value of the family as the “little church.” The mind’s eye recalls good parents kneeling beside us as we pray and take Holy Communion. They make possible that day and all the days since. They show us the way by word and example. They close their eyes in this world and open them in the next. We know in faith that they have exchanged their pew for a chair at the banquet table of heaven. We remember them, we pray for them and desire to go where they have gone. They directly see the divine mystery that we know behind sacred signs.
The minister extends the sacrament and either says, “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ.” The communicant affirms the risen presence of Christ and responds, “Amen.” Truly, it is so— yes, I believe!
Great care must be taken with communion that no host be desecrated and that no broken fragments be lost. There is a particular ritual adopted by the Church for communion and it must be insisted upon at all times.
No matter what the mode of reception, Jesus remains truly present in the Eucharist. Communicants have the option of receiving on the tongue or in the hand. Once episcopal permission is granted, no priest, deacon, or extraordinary minister can strictly oblige one way over another. When taken by mouth the communicant tilts the head back and sticks out the tongue. Too often there are those who snap at the priest’s fingers or who fail to open their mouths.
While some critics claim that communion in the hand is a novelty that violates our Christian tradition. The truth is that it was the accepted practice for nearly 900 years. Over a long stretch of time, communion on the tongue replaces it, becoming the norm around 1000 AD. The communicant receives the host in his open hand, left over the right, steps to one side, picks up the host with his right hand, and immediately consumes the sacrament. He literally makes a throne for Christ the King. The communicant must not carry the host down the aisle (receiving it while in motion) or take it to the pew. The minister distributing the sacrament can rightly pursue the communicant and either compel reception or confiscate the host (if one obviously does not know what it is about). Children must be instructed very carefully. It may be preferable that they receive on the tongue to prevent embarrassing situations. The communicant does not cup his hands, side by side, a situation which might allow the host to slip to the floor. He does not slurp the host out of his hands. He makes no sacramental gestures, no matter how well-meaning, with the host. The communicant may not sign himself with the host. Further, if the communicant is holding something, like a purse or hymnal, then communion is received on the tongue. The situation is the same for those carrying babies. It is very disrespectful for the communicant to stretch out one hand and/or to pinch the host from the minister’s fingers. This violates the posture of receptivity that should be maintained by the communicant. Self-communication only comes after we have been served the host.
The permission for communion in the hand does not signify that it is the overriding preference of the Church. It is merely an option and communion on the tongue is still regarded as normative. No matter how one receives, there should be no rebuking of one another over it. The sacrament is to be a sign of Christian unity, not separation and contention. Obviously, communion in the hand brings with it a whole assortment of concerns that must be addressed. Any peril of profanation or hint of irreverence must be rebuked.
When there is INTINCTION, the dipping of the consecrated host into the chalice of the precious blood, communion in the hand is not permitted. The host, soaked from the precious blood, is placed directly upon the tongue. What the priest may do, the communicant may not. It is an abuse for the communicant to take the host and then to dunk it in the chalice held by the minister. When the precious blood is given from the chalice, the communicant first receives the host and then moves to the next station where the chalice is offered. The communicant is handed the chalice, takes a sip, and gives it back to the minister. The minister wipes with a purificator the area where the recipient drank and turns the cup for the next communicant. Under no circumstances whatsoever may the chalice be left on the altar for the communicants to serve themselves. The practice of giving the chalice ceased during the pandemic.
We must allow the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minister to place the host on our tongue or in our hand. When the latter option is chosen, the communicant should extend his arms somewhat and raise his hands to chest level. As for the former, the communicant should move close enough so that the minister need not reach out awkwardly.
Many Catholics feel unworthy to touch the host with their hands. This is well and good. We do not deserve to receive the host upon the tongue either. However, while we may come to the Lord in fear and trembling, we need to trust in the one who forgives his murderers from the Cross. Knowing our unworthiness to receive the Son of God, we say prior to communion: “O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Jesus in his boundless love gives himself to us, despite our venial sins and weakness. We need to remember that the God who made the tongue also made the hand. Both can be used to God’s purposes, or distorted in sin. Christ sheds his blood that we might be healed and made holy in body and soul.
There are various secret or inaudible prayers during the liturgy. When the priest takes communion, he says, “May the Body of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.” Similarly, with the chalice, he says, “May the Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.” When the vessels are purified, the minister says, “What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.”
It is often my practice to sit and pause after giving out Holy Communion. Instead of racing to get everything completed, this is an important time to ponder the gift of God’s Son that has been given us and how it should direct our lives. This is a good period for sacred silence and personal prayer. We need to exploit this opportunity for private dialogue with God. We should reflect upon the Word and Sacrament, assimilating what they have to offer and allowing ourselves to be transformed by grace. The Holy Spirit has been active in the liturgy but must also be effective in persons.
While many hosts are given out, each is the one Christ, whole and complete. While we are many, we are also one in Christ. Those who are properly disposed will find that the Eucharist is a medicine for healing and an antidote to sin. If we are born again in Baptism, this new life is nourished by Holy Communion. It deepens our incorporation into the Church of Christ.
We recall the critical words of St. Paul who tells us how he celebrates Mass and about the danger of factions in the community of faith:
“When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but since we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that your meetings may not result in judgment” (1 Corinthians 11:20-34).
Reverence for the Eucharist necessitates a concern for others, especially the poor.
Given Luke 22:18 and the Lord’s promise to abide with us until he comes again, there is a eschatological component to Holy Communion— we have not been abandoned, our Lord is food for the journey, one day we will see the mystery now hidden in the sacrament. Christ has redeemed us from the devil and conquered sin, suffering and death. The Eucharist is our encounter with the risen Christ, the one who has conquered the grave and has promised us a share in his life. Mindful of the appearance of the resurrected Christ to the men on the road to Emmaus, we are all pilgrims on a journey and the Lord reveals himself to us in the “breaking of the bread.” We read:
“But they urged him, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?'” (Luke 24:29-32).
After a genuflection, the priest holds the sacred host slightly above the paten or chalice while facing the people and says: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.” Along with the people, he adds: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
The words, “Lord, I am not worthy” express the existential state of all creation as dependent and unworthy of the gifts and divine mercy shown us. God loves us and saves us, not because we are good but because we are bad and he desires to make us good. At every Mass, we acknowledge that the Jewish Messiah is the Savior for all the world. We all play the part of the great believing Gentile, the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-11).
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Following or as the people sing or recite the Lamb of God litany, the priest bows with hands folded and says quietly one of a couple of prayers for personal humility and hope. An old pastor I knew would purposely tweak the prayers and say them louder than directed by the rubrics with the expectation that congregants might make them their own. While I would not make this deviation, congregants could certainly follow along in their missals: (1) “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, through your Death gave life to the world, free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood, from all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you.” (2) “May the receiving of your Body and Blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body and a healing remedy.”
The priest prays for unity with Christ. The Church teaches that the sacraments are effective, even if the priest is unworthy and in sin. However, in practice, the scandal of poor witness can do incalculable harm to the body of the Church. A faithful priest begs that he may so reflect the Lord that the people will welcome the presence of Jesus Christ both in the minister and in the sacrament.
Jesus is indeed the Lamb of God— a Passover Lamb for a new Seder in his blood. This oblation will not be for freedom from Egyptian slavery or from Roman oppression or strictly from any earthly bondage. His liberation is cosmic! Jesus is the Lamb of Victory over sin, suffering, death and the devil. He is the sin-offering satisfying for our redemption. He lays down his life for his own, his flock. More than a good shepherd, he is the alpha ram among the many sheep of his flock. John the Baptizer at the Jordon points him out to his followers: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:37). He urges the apostle John and Andrew (brother of Peter) to go to Jesus.
The apostles are well aware of the “lamb” that commemorates their protection from the angel of death and which brings about their freedom under Moses. Going back even further they would remember their father in faith, Abraham, and how God provides a sacrifice in place of his son, Isaac. John calling Jesus “the Lamb of God” strikes an immediate chord in his disciples. Jesus is the one whom they have been waiting. The pattern would be repeated again. Just as the meat of a conventional sacrifice is given to God, to those offering the oblation and to the poor; Jesus would make himself an acceptable oblation to the Father and a spiritual food for his people. Jesus is priest and victim. Jesus would die in our stead. Twice the people say, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us” and then with the third acclamation, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.” This is the peace that the world cannot give.
This is the home of the AWALT PAPERS, the posting of various pieces of wisdom salvaged from the writings, teachings and sermons of the late Msgr. William J. Awalt.
Blogger Priest 