Last Sunday bulletin I wrote about how Advent is a time of “adventure,” a time of new discoveries and overcoming fear. I preached about hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation
for Jesus Christ coming to us in the Eucharist, in the celebration of his birth at Christmas, and when he comes again in glory – of which no one knows the day nor the time – and thus how we should always be vigilant in staying in God‟s grace, especially helping those who are exploited.
Out of love for us, Jesus warned us not to become complacent about his coming in glory, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.” There will be “signs in the sun, the moon…. and on earth nations will be in dismay… People will die of fright in
anticipation of what is coming upon the world…”
Yet, because we faithful are practicing our Catholic Christian faith by staying close to Christ in the sacraments, especially by regularly making a good confession and receiving Holy Communion worthily, worshipping him on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation, following the divine truth and serving him in the vulnerable, we will be ready to do what Jesus says to do: “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”
In fact, every time we come to Mass we experience Jesus Christ born on the altar in the Eucharist, and we approach him knowing that his glorious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity has come to us from heaven and he longs to fill us with his heavenly life. When we receive him with fervor we are motivated to advance his Kingdom, the Church, with the help of our leaders, the Pope and our Bishops – the successors of St. Peter and the apostles – who have God‟s authority to govern and maintain the truths of the faith, liturgical laws, as well as giving the church spiritual fathers to assist them – the validly ordained priests under their authority.
Jesus Christ said to St. Peter, “… you are rock and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever your bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Mt. 16:16-19. The power of the keys is also given to the other apostles, (Mt. 18:15-18), of whom the bishops are successors.
This authoritative love and truth help us stay in the Church and on the path to heaven. This was reaffirmed by Monday‟s Gospel from Matthew about the centurion who sought Jesus to heal his servant lying in agony. Jesus is willing to come and cure him, but the centurion replied, “ "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 under me. And I say to one, "Go,‟ and he goes; and to another, „Come here,‟ and he comes…”
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.‟” Mt. 8:5-10.
Jesus Christ affirms that listening to legitimate authority is essential for living the life of faith. Thus, in my Sunday homilies I tried to convey that it was essential that we obey our Archbishop Hebda who spoke to his priests at a recent gathering on the divine liturgy that we should follow the norm of receiving Jesus Christ in the Eucharist standing erect, reflecting the advice of Jesus‟ Gospel, “stand erect, and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”
When pressed on the issue by another priest at the gathering, Archbishop Hebda conveyed his confidence that the faithful would listen to him, since he is the chief liturgist in this archdiocese, and that we should follow the present norm of standing as a united community of faith: to kneel at the consecration of the Eucharist (Christ‟s birth on earth sacramentally through the hands of a validly ordained Catholic priest who promises to obey his bishop) and to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with a humble, grateful and worthy heart by deeply bowing before the Lord and then receiving him while standing erect.
Of course, there are exceptions to this norm when for instance the elderly or disabled faithful are ready to receive Holy Communion but cannot bow or stand. Some context: When I arrived here at Holy Trinity Parish a few people sometimes would kneel in front of me to receive Holy Communion. It was awkward because that is not the norm and the faithful behind them were sometimes disrupted in their approach, prayer and deep bow. And so, after writing about the situation in the bulletin for two weekends, I placed some kneelers to the side to accommodate those who chose to kneel, since sometimes they left before I was able to greet them to discuss the situation with them. It was not a serious matter in my mind.
However, since I clearly heard Archbishop Hebda‟s desire to return to the American bishops‟ norm of standing, I have remedied the situation with the help of Jesus‟ Gospel “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” Presently, I know most every regularly attending parishioner and most of the faithful remain for the final blessing and greet me after Mass; but I realize that I had contributed to this dual standard of reverent gestures in receiving Holy Communion and for this I apologize, since Communion should unify us more
deeply.
Last Sunday‟s homily was not my best, but some parishioners did find it moving, especially commenting about the need to end human trafficking in our state – a cry from heaven to
help stop the exploitation of women and children. Other parishioners have questions for me about the reception of Holy Communion and hopefully this article helps address these questions, and I will entertain questions when I am able.
Meanwhile, let us enter the spirit of Advent, a time of adventure, of discovering something new, of embracing the sacrifices of Christ and his Church to prepare all of us, and all his
children, for a joyful Christmas of celebrating Christ‟s birth, and a blessed life that leads to heaven through Christ and his saints within the Church.
Peace through Christ and Mary,
Fr. Thomas McCabe
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