Born on this day…
1245 - King Philip III of France (d. 1285)
1553 - Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, queen of France (d. 1601)
1651 - Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French priest/theorist/saint
1662 - Queen Mary II of England (d. 1694)
1770 - David Thompson, English/Canadian explorer (Columbia River)
1858 - Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison, 1st lady (1889-1893)
1901 - Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian-born economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1985)
1909 - Juliana, Queen of Netherlands (1948-80)
1910 - Al Lewis, actor (Leo-Car 54, Grandpa-Munsters)
1912 - Eve Arden, actress (Connie-Our Miss Brooks)
1917 - Bea Wain, US singer/radio host (Lucky Strike Hit Parade)
1918 - W Donald McNeill, tennis champ (US Open-1940)
1925 - Johnny Horton, American musician (d. 1960)
1926 - Cloris Leachman, actress (Last Picture Show, Phyllis)
1931 - William L [Bill] Clay, (Rep-D-MO, 1969- )
1933 - Willie Nelson, Abbott Texas, country singer (On the Road Again)
1938 - Gary Collins, actor (6th Sense, Home Show)
1939 - Ellen Taafe Zwilich, (1st woman composer Pulitzer 1982)
1943 - Robert L Livingston, (Rep-R-Louisiana, 1977- )
1946 - Donald Schollander, swimmer (Olympic-4 gold-64)
1947 - Robert Scott, (Rep-D-Virginia)
1953 - Merrill Osmond, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie & Marie)
1957 - Duane G Carey, major USAF/astronaut
1957 - Aviva Chomsky, American historian, daughter of Noam Chomsky
1959 - Lauren Howe, LPGA golfer
1965 - Adrian Pasdar, actor (C Oliver Resor-Feds, Top Gun)
1973 - Akon, American R&B Singer
1975 - Elliott Sadler, American race car driver
1981 - Emma Pierson, British actress
1982 - Kirsten Dunst, actress (Interview with the Vampire)
1985 - Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American singer and call girl
1988 - Molloko, SD Zoo, 1st Californian condor chick conceived in captivity
On this day in history…
1789: George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.
1803: The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France.
1812: Louisiana became the 18th state.
1859: The novel "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens was first published in serial form in a literary magazine.
1900: Hawaii was organized as a U.S. territory.
1900: Train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers. (The event was immortalized in song.)
1926: “Brave Bessie” Coleman of Houston, TX, died when her plane failed to come out of a nosedive. She was the world’s first licensed black pilot.
1939: The New York World's Fair opened.
1945: Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker.
1970: President Richard Nixon announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia.
1993: Top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a man who ran onto the court during a match in Hamburg, Germany.
1997: ABC aired the "coming out" episode of the sitcom "Ellen," in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, admitted she is a lesbian.
2001: Chandra Levy, a federal government intern, went missing. Her remains were found more than a year later in a Washington, D.C., park.
2003: Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian prime minister. International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a "road map" to peace.
2003: The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.
2004: Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him. (He was later acquitted.)
2004: Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting.
2005: Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., originally claiming to have been abducted but then admitting she was a "runaway bride."
2007: A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets with bombs.
What Events Happened 1982
U.S.: All time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States; The largest cash robbery in History occurs in New York when $9,800,000 is stolen from an armored car; The First Issue of USA Today is published; Disney Futuristic Park EPCOT ( Experimental Community Of Tomorrow )is opened; Around 700,000 demonstrators gathered in New York City's Central Park protesting the proliferation of nuclear weapons; Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide kill 7 in Chicago September 29th; Doctors performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart designed by Robert Jarvik; Severe recession begins in the United States; The world's largest oil rig ( The Ocean Ranger ) sinks in the north Atlantic; The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC is dedicated
Argentina: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands / Maldives on 19th March, and the UK sends the Royal Navy, RAF and the Army and retakes possession of the Falkland Islands during the conflict the Nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano; Argentine Exocet missile sinks HMS Sheffield
UK: HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano; The Provisional IRA continues its bombing campaign in London and Mainland Britain; Laker Airways the first of the low cost airlines operating out of the UK Folds; Michael Fagan Brakes into The Queens Bedroom in Buckingham Palace; The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England is raised in the Solent on 11th October and taken to Portsmouth Dockyard where it is preserved and on show to the public; Channel 4 is launched in UK
Lebanon: Israeli forces invade Lebanon; Thousands of Palestinian refugees in refugee camps in West Beirut murdered by Lebanese militia
Egypt: Israeli returns Sinai to Egypt
Palestine: Yassar Arafat elected the President of the Palestinian National Council
Canada: The Serial killer Clifford Robert Olson is convicted and given 11 concurrent life sentences for the murder of 11 children in Canada
Russia: Leonid Brezhnev the General Secretary of the Communist Party dies of a heart attack while in office.
Mexico: Earthquake and a volcanic eruption at El Chichon in southern Mexico kill thousands
World: The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling
Cost of Living 1982
• Average Cost of new house: $82,200.00
• Average Income per year: $21,050.00
• Average Monthly Rent: $320.00
• Cost of a gallon of Gas: 91 cents
• New Car Average price: $7,983.00
• US Postage Stamp: 20 cents
Technological Advancements 1982
• First CD player sold in Japan
• The Weather Channel airs on cable television for the first time
• The Soviet Spaceship Vanera 13 lands on Venus and sends back color Photographs
• 20 million Elm Trees die in the UK through Dutch Elm Disease
• The First Commercial use of Genetic Engineering is Launched when human insulin produced by bacteria is marketed; Times man of The Year is THE COMPUTER
Popular Culture 1982
• Michael Jackson releases his second adult solo album, Thriller
• Graceland the home of Elvis Presley opens to the public
• The screen legend Grace Kelly / Princess Grace of Monaco dies on September 14th in car crash
Popular Films 1982
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Rocky III
• On Golden Pond
• Porky's
• An Officer and a Gentleman
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Poltergeist
• Annie
• Chariots of Fire
• Gandhi
Popular Musicians 1982
• Human League with " Don't You Want Me "
• Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder with " Ebony and Ivory "
• Olivia Newton-John
• Steve Miller band With " Abracadabra "
• Survivor with " Eye of The Tiger "
• Chicago with " Hard to Say I'm Sorry "
• Lionel Richie
Popular TV Programs 1982
• Magnum, P.I.
• Dynasty
• Falcon Crest
• Hill Street Blues
• Knight Rider
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The No Immigration Destination
Forty-nine states in this country are in a tizzy over what the fiftieth did. On Friday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the toughest anti-immigration law in the nation, which is set to go into effect by the end of July. The measure has reignited national debate over illegal immigration. Opponents are calling for mass boycotts of Arizona, which seems absurd considering the people of the state didn’t pass that bill, but the government. Boycotting Arizona could put people’s lives at jeopardy due to something they had no part in. President Obama is holding up the law as a prime example of state governments' "irresponsibility" on the issue, but any time a state government passes a law during a Democratic administration they find some way to deride it. And by Arizona passes this law it has therefore spurred federal lawmakers to speed up federal immigration reform, something that should have come about before national healthcare, if you ask me. The president of Mexico is angry, protesters have taken to the streets in many extremes, and critics have denounced the law as a blow to constitutional rights and an invitation to racial profiling. So this prompted me to see what, exactly, all the fuss is about?
The law requires police to ask for immigration papers from anyone whom they have a "reasonable suspicion" might be in the country illegally. Law-enforcement officials are also empowered to detain anyone they hold in such suspicion. It's also a state crime under the new law for immigrants to be found without immigration papers; individual citizens, meanwhile, can file suit against state agencies that fail to enforce the law. Police can detain and demand papers from anyone they have "lawful contact" with, but since the law defines illegal immigrants as trespassing when in any part of the United States, this gives the police the freedom to question people who are otherwise not breaking the law or engaging in suspicious activity. Those found to be in the state illegally can be thrown in jail for six months and fined $2,500, a harsher penalty than the federal punishment of deportation.
The argument is that this is a license for law enforcement to start profiling. Since roughly 30 percent of Arizona is Hispanic and about 80 percent of illegal immigrants are also Hispanic, critics say the law basically mandates that police engage in racial profiling (apprehending people based on their appearance rather than on any evidence that they may be in violation of the law). After she signed the bill into law, the state's Republican governor discounted this view, saying that she had worked hard to amend the bill with language to prevent enforcement from "solely considering race, color, or national origin in implementing the requirements of this section." Critics have countered that the bill doesn't say what might be grounds for detention apart from race, color, or national origin. Marco Rubio, a Republican Senate candidate in Florida, said that requiring people to carry documentation is "not really something that Americans are comfortable with, the notion of a police state." Call me extreme, but I’ve carried documentation of my citizen since my fifteenth birthday, when I got my first job. I’ve never felt part of a police state, but I have nothing to fear.
Governor Brewer has sought to allay many such qualms by signing an executive order for law-enforcement officers to receive special training in the new law's implementation. Part of that training, she assured her constituents, will be a primer in what constitutes "reasonable suspicion." Brewer said in the statement, "As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration, I am EQUALLY committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this statute ever be misused to violate an individual's rights.” Other supporters of the law see no cause to soften any of its strictures. State Sen. Russell Pearce, who authored the bill, told CNN that with its passage, "we're going to take the handcuffs off law enforcement, we're gonna put them on the bad guy. 'Illegal' is not a race, it's a crime."
Though a Rasmussen poll says 60 percent of Americans favor provisions like those in the Arizona law, the measure has sparked passionate opposition and debate. This is where I really missed having my friend Fernando in town. Not only is he Hispanic, but he loves to boycott stuff. Detractors of the new law are already planning to hit Arizona where it hurts most: the state's coffers. The city of San Francisco submitted a resolution today calling for residents to cut all business ties with Arizona. Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona is calling for a boycott of all conventions in Arizona, a striking stand for a lawmaker to take in his home state. The board of governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has canceled its convention in Scottsdale. It's far too early to forecast what the impact of a national boycott might be on Arizona's tourist economy. But there is a recent precedent: In 1992, the state caved on its refusal to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day as a holiday after boycotts that culminated in the loss of a lucrative deal to host Super Bowl XXVII in Phoenix. But when you take actions like these, you are not only taking money away from the state, but also from its residents who survive on such money. So I ask, if this law is passed by the few who represent the state, then why boycott the entire state?
To quote Meghan McCain, “I think unless you are from a border state and have actually seen firsthand the effects illegal immigrants have on your community, you can't truly appreciate the complexities of the problem and how it should be litigated.” I’m not necessarily a fan of this law, despite some of the things I might have said today. Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration. The concept that a law-enforcement official can stop an individual when “reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien, who is unlawfully present in the United States” is essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic. But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place. Due to the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona’s borders, all US borders in fact, along with the rampant drug smuggling that has gotten increasingly worse over the years, emotions have been running high. Thus far, I think that both Arizona legislation and the national media have done a poor job articulating the real problems with illegal immigration. And like all things in this country, partisan politics is getting in the way of actually solving the problem in an effective manner. When a flawed law is magnified through the prism of extreme partisan politics, it only looks worse. With President Obama calling the law “misguided” and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position. And this is only the beginning…
The law requires police to ask for immigration papers from anyone whom they have a "reasonable suspicion" might be in the country illegally. Law-enforcement officials are also empowered to detain anyone they hold in such suspicion. It's also a state crime under the new law for immigrants to be found without immigration papers; individual citizens, meanwhile, can file suit against state agencies that fail to enforce the law. Police can detain and demand papers from anyone they have "lawful contact" with, but since the law defines illegal immigrants as trespassing when in any part of the United States, this gives the police the freedom to question people who are otherwise not breaking the law or engaging in suspicious activity. Those found to be in the state illegally can be thrown in jail for six months and fined $2,500, a harsher penalty than the federal punishment of deportation.
The argument is that this is a license for law enforcement to start profiling. Since roughly 30 percent of Arizona is Hispanic and about 80 percent of illegal immigrants are also Hispanic, critics say the law basically mandates that police engage in racial profiling (apprehending people based on their appearance rather than on any evidence that they may be in violation of the law). After she signed the bill into law, the state's Republican governor discounted this view, saying that she had worked hard to amend the bill with language to prevent enforcement from "solely considering race, color, or national origin in implementing the requirements of this section." Critics have countered that the bill doesn't say what might be grounds for detention apart from race, color, or national origin. Marco Rubio, a Republican Senate candidate in Florida, said that requiring people to carry documentation is "not really something that Americans are comfortable with, the notion of a police state." Call me extreme, but I’ve carried documentation of my citizen since my fifteenth birthday, when I got my first job. I’ve never felt part of a police state, but I have nothing to fear.
Governor Brewer has sought to allay many such qualms by signing an executive order for law-enforcement officers to receive special training in the new law's implementation. Part of that training, she assured her constituents, will be a primer in what constitutes "reasonable suspicion." Brewer said in the statement, "As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration, I am EQUALLY committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this statute ever be misused to violate an individual's rights.” Other supporters of the law see no cause to soften any of its strictures. State Sen. Russell Pearce, who authored the bill, told CNN that with its passage, "we're going to take the handcuffs off law enforcement, we're gonna put them on the bad guy. 'Illegal' is not a race, it's a crime."
Though a Rasmussen poll says 60 percent of Americans favor provisions like those in the Arizona law, the measure has sparked passionate opposition and debate. This is where I really missed having my friend Fernando in town. Not only is he Hispanic, but he loves to boycott stuff. Detractors of the new law are already planning to hit Arizona where it hurts most: the state's coffers. The city of San Francisco submitted a resolution today calling for residents to cut all business ties with Arizona. Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona is calling for a boycott of all conventions in Arizona, a striking stand for a lawmaker to take in his home state. The board of governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has canceled its convention in Scottsdale. It's far too early to forecast what the impact of a national boycott might be on Arizona's tourist economy. But there is a recent precedent: In 1992, the state caved on its refusal to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day as a holiday after boycotts that culminated in the loss of a lucrative deal to host Super Bowl XXVII in Phoenix. But when you take actions like these, you are not only taking money away from the state, but also from its residents who survive on such money. So I ask, if this law is passed by the few who represent the state, then why boycott the entire state?
To quote Meghan McCain, “I think unless you are from a border state and have actually seen firsthand the effects illegal immigrants have on your community, you can't truly appreciate the complexities of the problem and how it should be litigated.” I’m not necessarily a fan of this law, despite some of the things I might have said today. Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration. The concept that a law-enforcement official can stop an individual when “reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien, who is unlawfully present in the United States” is essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic. But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place. Due to the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona’s borders, all US borders in fact, along with the rampant drug smuggling that has gotten increasingly worse over the years, emotions have been running high. Thus far, I think that both Arizona legislation and the national media have done a poor job articulating the real problems with illegal immigration. And like all things in this country, partisan politics is getting in the way of actually solving the problem in an effective manner. When a flawed law is magnified through the prism of extreme partisan politics, it only looks worse. With President Obama calling the law “misguided” and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position. And this is only the beginning…
Monday, April 26, 2010
Prayer as a focal point of Mass
After attending a sparsely populate Mass yesterday I came to the realization that if all the non-practicing Catholics out there starting coming to Mass on Sunday, it would be amazing. Mass would be going on non-stop all day, all around the world on any given Sunday. The churches would no longer have to beg for money during "pledge drives" and the various community and outreach ministries would not have to have fund raisers. The surge would be so overwhelming that you might actually see a decline in sin worldwide. Who knows? But, it is that type of big thinking that kept me working as a youth minister. All that pensiveness got me focused on the importance of the Mass as a Catholic tradition and so I decided I would write about it today. There are so many facets to the Mass that it would be hard to write about all of it in one setting, so I will cover the importance of prayer in Mass today. Next week, I may follow up with scripture in the Mass and the week after that I would like to write about Communion and the Eucharist as the focal point of the Mass. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.
First, let us review what the Mass is briefly. Mass is the term used to describe celebration of the Eucharist in the Western liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some largely High Church Lutheran regions: in Scandinavian and Baltic countries the Lutheran Eucharistic service is also known as "the Mass". The term is derived from the late-Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go, the dismissal is made"). The Council of Trent reaffirmed traditional Christian teaching that the Mass is the same Sacrifice of Calvary offered in an unbloody manner: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner... this sacrifice is truly propitiatory" (Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2). The Council declared that Jesus instituted the Mass at his Last Supper: "He offered up to God the Father His own body and blood under the species of bread and wine; and, under the symbols of those same things, He delivered (His own body and blood) to be received by His apostles, whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in commemoration of me, He commanded them and their successors in the priesthood, to offer (them); even as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught." The Roman Catholic Church sees the Mass as the most perfect way it has to offer latria (adoration) to God. It is also Catholic belief that in objective reality, not merely symbolically, the wheaten bread and grape wine are converted into Christ's body and blood, a conversion referred to as transubstantiation, so that the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the Eucharist (a.k.a. The Real Presence, which will be discussed at a later date). There are 5 parts of the Mass: Introductory Rites, The Liturgy of the Word, The Liturgy of the Eucharist, The Communion Rite, and Concluding Rite (some of which we will elaborate on in later weeks). Before the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII from 1951 to 1955, it was forbidden, except for Midnight Mass on Christmas night, to begin Mass more than one hour before dawn or more than one hour after midday. In the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus (1953) and the Motu Propio Sacram Communionem (1957) Pius XII permitted the celebration of Mass at other times. There are no longer any time limits. Furthermore, since the Second Vatican Council, the time for fulfilling the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation now begins on the evening of the day before (in theory, after First Vespers), and most parish churches do celebrate the Sunday Mass also on Saturday evening. By long tradition and liturgical law, Mass is not celebrated at any time on Good Friday (but Holy Communion is, since the reform of Pope Pius XII, distributed to those participating in the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord with hosts consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday) or on Holy Saturday before the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Okay, I will stop with the background on the Mass, but I hope this explains some things to you about the intricacy of it.
On to the topic at hand, prayer as the basis for the Mass. Some people ask, "Are Catholics a people of prayer? Don't the ritual and ceremony and liturgy of Mass get in the way of real prayer?" Some of the most important figures in the Catholic church led lives of reach prayer devotion outside of Mass, but I have no doubt that there moments of most intense prayer were during liturgy, at Mass, as they took Holy Communion. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal." How can that be? Well, why don't we think a minute how we react to the liturgy? Do we turn towards heaven as we listen to the proclamation of the Gospel? Are we going forward in love to receive the Eucharist? Are we full of joy as we sing the Great Amen? Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that the liturgy, the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist are all prayers to God - moments of intimate communion and communication with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, the liturgical and ritual life of the Catholic Church is filled with prayers and is a prayer to God.
Entering the Presence of God
Perhaps the most natural, even unconscious, act of prayer for Catholics is the Sign of the Cross. Making the Sign of the Cross as we enter the church for Mass orients us. It reminds us to who we are - baptized Christians and children of God - and focuses us on what we are doing - approaching God our Father through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. As Christians, we have been "conformed to Christ's death" (Philippians 3:10) in baptism and we desire to be transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Praying to Christ is a recognition of the relationship we have with him and a commitment to grow ever deeper in that life-giving union. Therefore we spend the time immediately prior to Mass in quiet contemplation, stilling our souls, and removing distractions from our hearts and minds.
Praying for Forgiveness
At Mass, after the opening procession, the priest blesses the people: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." United in faith, we acknowledge our sins and failings. The Penitential Rite is a prayer of confession: "I confess to almighty God…" But we don't just admit our sins, we confess who God is - almighty, just, and holy - and who we are - sinful creatures loved by God and in need of his grace. This requires humility, which is always necessary for prayer. If we do not appreciate who God is and how reliant we are upon Him, we will not pray properly. Prayer is relationship and good relationships must be based in honesty and gratitude. Without our acknowledgement of the holiness and power of God, we cannot share in the love and mercy of God.
The Prayer of Praise
Once we acknowledge our sin and frailty, we rejoice in prayer, praising God for who He is: "Glory to God in the highest! Peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory…" The God who is just is also merciful; He makes us a "holy and beloved" people (Colossians 3:12). The Gloria continues, of course, with praise for the Son and the Holy Spirit. All Christian prayer is Trinitarian, for each of the three Persons aid us in the life of prayer and our prayers are always oriented towards the Triune God. Notice that we ask of Christ: "Receive our prayer." As High Priest, Jesus intercedes before the Father in heaven on our behalf. Our prayer in the Mass is always joined to the prayer - the self-giving - of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hearing with Prayerful Ears
We don't usually think of prayer in the context of the Scripture reading, but we should. Hearing Scripture and praying are inseparable, especially within the Mass. Prayer requires openness to God's word and will; Scripture is God's Word and reveals His will for us, His children. The readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels ask for a response. In Scripture, as well as in the sacraments, it is God who initiates contact with us. "God thirsts that we may thirst for him." He desires to love us fully and to give Himself to us completely. Prayer is our "Yes" to the Triune God who is Love. St. Paul writes, "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God's thirst for us provides us the opportunity to know God and to experience His endless love. Our "Yes" to God opens the doors to prayer; it is prayer! Whether it is a cry of joy, exhaustion, or pain, prayer comes from the heart, so it doesn't need to be articulate or poetic - just honest and humble.
Faithful Prayer, Prayer of the Faithful
Is the Creed prayer? Certainly, for reciting it and contemplating it further establishes and deepens our relationship with God. Not simply a laundry list of beliefs, the Creed is a map of reality that tells us who God is and what the Catholic Faith is all about. In reciting the Creed we say to God, "We are yours - I believe these truths," and He responds by saying, "I am yours" in the Eucharist. The Creed is a prayer of faith, hope, and love: by faith we address God, in hope we look forward to our full communion with Him, and in love we live for His glory. The Creed articulates what we believe while shaping our minds and hearts. In the Prayer of the Faithful, we join together to pray for our world, our nation, our leaders, and for the Church. These are concrete expressions of our faith in God's work in the world. In humility we entreat, "Lord, hear our prayer," knowing that He faithfully answers those who call on His name.
Eucharistic Prayer
The Eucharist, the Catechism explains, "contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is 'the pure offering' of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and…it is the 'sacrifice of praise.'" The Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second half of the Mass, is a series of beautiful prayers full of praise, adoration, and joy. First, the priest prays over the bread and wine, acknowledging that these gifts will become for us "the bread of life" and "our spiritual drink." Then we join with the priest in asking God to accept "our sacrifice." What is that sacrifice? We joined to Christ and His perfect sacrifice! We are, St. Paul explains, "to present (our) bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).
The Eucharistic prayers are also full of praise. In them we thank God for his acts of salvation, especially the gift of "the Savior you sent to redeem us." These marvelous prayers contain the words of consecration and mark that moment when the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. No wonder the Eucharistic prayer ends with the Great Amen, our repeated expression of thanks and joy. Then, standing before our Lord, we pray as he taught us: "Our Father…" This is, St. Thomas Aquinas said, "the most perfect of prayers," for it summarizes the entire Gospel. It is also a prayer of unity, prayed together as the family of God, with the common hope of the coming Kingdom. The prayer of unity is then followed by the Sacrament of unity, the Eucharist. Our journey of prayer leads us home to the kingdom, to the intimate marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
The Catholic Life is Prayer to God
To be Catholic is to pray. We pray at home, in our cars, at work, in silence, and out loud. But in the liturgy, at Mass, in hearing Scripture and partaking in the sacraments, our prayer life reaches its highest and most sublime point. There, kneeling before the altar, with a "cry of recognition and of love," we offer ourselves in prayer: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Amen.
First, let us review what the Mass is briefly. Mass is the term used to describe celebration of the Eucharist in the Western liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some largely High Church Lutheran regions: in Scandinavian and Baltic countries the Lutheran Eucharistic service is also known as "the Mass". The term is derived from the late-Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go, the dismissal is made"). The Council of Trent reaffirmed traditional Christian teaching that the Mass is the same Sacrifice of Calvary offered in an unbloody manner: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner... this sacrifice is truly propitiatory" (Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2). The Council declared that Jesus instituted the Mass at his Last Supper: "He offered up to God the Father His own body and blood under the species of bread and wine; and, under the symbols of those same things, He delivered (His own body and blood) to be received by His apostles, whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in commemoration of me, He commanded them and their successors in the priesthood, to offer (them); even as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught." The Roman Catholic Church sees the Mass as the most perfect way it has to offer latria (adoration) to God. It is also Catholic belief that in objective reality, not merely symbolically, the wheaten bread and grape wine are converted into Christ's body and blood, a conversion referred to as transubstantiation, so that the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the Eucharist (a.k.a. The Real Presence, which will be discussed at a later date). There are 5 parts of the Mass: Introductory Rites, The Liturgy of the Word, The Liturgy of the Eucharist, The Communion Rite, and Concluding Rite (some of which we will elaborate on in later weeks). Before the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII from 1951 to 1955, it was forbidden, except for Midnight Mass on Christmas night, to begin Mass more than one hour before dawn or more than one hour after midday. In the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus (1953) and the Motu Propio Sacram Communionem (1957) Pius XII permitted the celebration of Mass at other times. There are no longer any time limits. Furthermore, since the Second Vatican Council, the time for fulfilling the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation now begins on the evening of the day before (in theory, after First Vespers), and most parish churches do celebrate the Sunday Mass also on Saturday evening. By long tradition and liturgical law, Mass is not celebrated at any time on Good Friday (but Holy Communion is, since the reform of Pope Pius XII, distributed to those participating in the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord with hosts consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday) or on Holy Saturday before the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Okay, I will stop with the background on the Mass, but I hope this explains some things to you about the intricacy of it.
On to the topic at hand, prayer as the basis for the Mass. Some people ask, "Are Catholics a people of prayer? Don't the ritual and ceremony and liturgy of Mass get in the way of real prayer?" Some of the most important figures in the Catholic church led lives of reach prayer devotion outside of Mass, but I have no doubt that there moments of most intense prayer were during liturgy, at Mass, as they took Holy Communion. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal." How can that be? Well, why don't we think a minute how we react to the liturgy? Do we turn towards heaven as we listen to the proclamation of the Gospel? Are we going forward in love to receive the Eucharist? Are we full of joy as we sing the Great Amen? Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that the liturgy, the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist are all prayers to God - moments of intimate communion and communication with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, the liturgical and ritual life of the Catholic Church is filled with prayers and is a prayer to God.
Entering the Presence of God
Perhaps the most natural, even unconscious, act of prayer for Catholics is the Sign of the Cross. Making the Sign of the Cross as we enter the church for Mass orients us. It reminds us to who we are - baptized Christians and children of God - and focuses us on what we are doing - approaching God our Father through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. As Christians, we have been "conformed to Christ's death" (Philippians 3:10) in baptism and we desire to be transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Praying to Christ is a recognition of the relationship we have with him and a commitment to grow ever deeper in that life-giving union. Therefore we spend the time immediately prior to Mass in quiet contemplation, stilling our souls, and removing distractions from our hearts and minds.
Praying for Forgiveness
At Mass, after the opening procession, the priest blesses the people: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." United in faith, we acknowledge our sins and failings. The Penitential Rite is a prayer of confession: "I confess to almighty God…" But we don't just admit our sins, we confess who God is - almighty, just, and holy - and who we are - sinful creatures loved by God and in need of his grace. This requires humility, which is always necessary for prayer. If we do not appreciate who God is and how reliant we are upon Him, we will not pray properly. Prayer is relationship and good relationships must be based in honesty and gratitude. Without our acknowledgement of the holiness and power of God, we cannot share in the love and mercy of God.
The Prayer of Praise
Once we acknowledge our sin and frailty, we rejoice in prayer, praising God for who He is: "Glory to God in the highest! Peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory…" The God who is just is also merciful; He makes us a "holy and beloved" people (Colossians 3:12). The Gloria continues, of course, with praise for the Son and the Holy Spirit. All Christian prayer is Trinitarian, for each of the three Persons aid us in the life of prayer and our prayers are always oriented towards the Triune God. Notice that we ask of Christ: "Receive our prayer." As High Priest, Jesus intercedes before the Father in heaven on our behalf. Our prayer in the Mass is always joined to the prayer - the self-giving - of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hearing with Prayerful Ears
We don't usually think of prayer in the context of the Scripture reading, but we should. Hearing Scripture and praying are inseparable, especially within the Mass. Prayer requires openness to God's word and will; Scripture is God's Word and reveals His will for us, His children. The readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels ask for a response. In Scripture, as well as in the sacraments, it is God who initiates contact with us. "God thirsts that we may thirst for him." He desires to love us fully and to give Himself to us completely. Prayer is our "Yes" to the Triune God who is Love. St. Paul writes, "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God's thirst for us provides us the opportunity to know God and to experience His endless love. Our "Yes" to God opens the doors to prayer; it is prayer! Whether it is a cry of joy, exhaustion, or pain, prayer comes from the heart, so it doesn't need to be articulate or poetic - just honest and humble.
Faithful Prayer, Prayer of the Faithful
Is the Creed prayer? Certainly, for reciting it and contemplating it further establishes and deepens our relationship with God. Not simply a laundry list of beliefs, the Creed is a map of reality that tells us who God is and what the Catholic Faith is all about. In reciting the Creed we say to God, "We are yours - I believe these truths," and He responds by saying, "I am yours" in the Eucharist. The Creed is a prayer of faith, hope, and love: by faith we address God, in hope we look forward to our full communion with Him, and in love we live for His glory. The Creed articulates what we believe while shaping our minds and hearts. In the Prayer of the Faithful, we join together to pray for our world, our nation, our leaders, and for the Church. These are concrete expressions of our faith in God's work in the world. In humility we entreat, "Lord, hear our prayer," knowing that He faithfully answers those who call on His name.
Eucharistic Prayer
The Eucharist, the Catechism explains, "contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is 'the pure offering' of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and…it is the 'sacrifice of praise.'" The Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second half of the Mass, is a series of beautiful prayers full of praise, adoration, and joy. First, the priest prays over the bread and wine, acknowledging that these gifts will become for us "the bread of life" and "our spiritual drink." Then we join with the priest in asking God to accept "our sacrifice." What is that sacrifice? We joined to Christ and His perfect sacrifice! We are, St. Paul explains, "to present (our) bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).
The Eucharistic prayers are also full of praise. In them we thank God for his acts of salvation, especially the gift of "the Savior you sent to redeem us." These marvelous prayers contain the words of consecration and mark that moment when the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. No wonder the Eucharistic prayer ends with the Great Amen, our repeated expression of thanks and joy. Then, standing before our Lord, we pray as he taught us: "Our Father…" This is, St. Thomas Aquinas said, "the most perfect of prayers," for it summarizes the entire Gospel. It is also a prayer of unity, prayed together as the family of God, with the common hope of the coming Kingdom. The prayer of unity is then followed by the Sacrament of unity, the Eucharist. Our journey of prayer leads us home to the kingdom, to the intimate marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
The Catholic Life is Prayer to God
To be Catholic is to pray. We pray at home, in our cars, at work, in silence, and out loud. But in the liturgy, at Mass, in hearing Scripture and partaking in the sacraments, our prayer life reaches its highest and most sublime point. There, kneeling before the altar, with a "cry of recognition and of love," we offer ourselves in prayer: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Amen.
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