During the homily and before Mass starts the page is read by many in the Congregation. For many parishioners, this is the only bit of formation, catechises, teaching they will get apart from the priest's homily. You would think that both the writers and the parish priests would hope the sheet is as inspiring and informative as possible, to capture the moment. It is concerning, therefore, that so many parishes offer what is, dare I say it, wishy washy drivel, week in week out.
Take this Sunday's as an example, Corpus Christi. On such a feastday it would be great to read about the Eucharist as the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, the physical presence of Jesus on this planet that strengthens and nourishes us. It would be great to be reminded of the importance of Eucharistic adoration where we can encounter Jesus in an intimate way. Instead we get this account from hermit Rachel Denton:
When I first made my commitment to hermitage life, there was some debate as to whether the Blessed Sacrament could be reserved in the hermitage. In the end, and despite the enormous privilege, I decided against it...
My understanding of the Real Presence is one of a moment, an event, rather than the (limited) physical presence of a person or thing...
Christ is with us in all moments of life. This is the moment in which the hermitage seeks to exist in its entirety, in the garden, or the kitchen or the workshop, or the bath. To hold the Blessed Sacrament in reserve in the oratory seems, for me, to draw the focus away from that wider tabernacle - to suggest there might be a better place to be than here, a holier time than the moment which is now.
I admire anyone who gives their life to prayer for the world. I simply couldn't do it. But I'm afraid Rachel's account is simply not the message we need to be giving people. To me, not having the Blessed Sacrament in that situation is simply bonkers. If we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist than surely it makes sense to encounter him as many times as possible? We can't go on feeding the laity poor examples like this.
3 comments:
I totally agree!
And while we're on the subject of the Sunday + side of the newsletter 14/6/09, how about Fr Denis McBride's attempt to make working fathers feel guilty about not being with their children enough, whilst saying nothing about working mothers doing the same thing? It is equally true of working mothers that "by the time he returns home late in the evening, he has neither the will nor the energy to share much with them."
I've deleted your comment because it has nothing to do with the post subject.
To touch on your point, yes, there have been terrbile cover ups and mistakes made over horrible child abuse cases in the Church. I hope and pray that the new rules and procedures in place in England in particular will prevent it from ever happening again.
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