Bishop Doherty's Columns

 

 

The Catholic Moment, July 10, 2022

Worship, truth, communion cups

Our Presbyterate welcomed Father Paul Turner for our annual convocation in June at the St. Joseph Retreat and Conference Center in Tipton. A priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, his knowledge about Mass and liturgy is extensive. He is an able teacher and listener. It is interesting to me how little additions (accretions) creep into Mass, whether extra gestures, or prayers, or bells that are not proper to what the Church prescribes. Sometimes it is not the priest but lay parishioners who insist that certain additions are nice or adding to reverence. While there are certainly valid options among our prescribed prayers, and certain interchangeabilities of Prefaces and Eucharistic Prayers, there are standards that we observe for the sake of communio, of being able to enjoy a recognizable order at Masses within a parish, a diocese, and in our churches worldwide. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the local bishop as “chief liturgist” has authority to direct various facets of worship in his diocese. Two days after our convo, a Vatican bulletin announced that Father Turner was named a consultor to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

It has been a tough few years for truth. When facts are discounted in reports about churches or our governmental processes and elections, both religion and social order are threatened. When I was ordained, part of my role was explaining the reality of spiritual things that could not always be seen or measured. Today’s young clergy have to defend the truth of what can be seen, heard, weighed, counted or measured. We cannot help people and situations that we refuse to see: untruth in political discourse, racial discrimination, social media innuendo about clergy or layperson reputations, death tolls due to tobacco use, civilians with battle-grade firearms and magazines, increasing wealth disparities, upswings in street drugs, disparities in access to mental health care, exclusionary gerrymandering. And then there is the New Yorker cartoon with children huddled around a birthday cake and candles. One is saying to the wish maker something like, “Unless it’s for tackling climate change, every other wish is pointless.” One of the nuggets from the Global Synod listening efforts asks us to see what young adults are seeing – so as to better understand some of the perceived disaffection with organized religion and democratic processes. Hope needs truth, and we will not have one without the other. For sure, our baptismal calling strengthens us to carry truth and hope. Please remember the motto of the Christophers:  “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

Return of the communion cup? I talked with our Presbyteral Council about this at our meeting on June 7. I expected to get a thumbs up for a Labor Day restart. The consensus among these men urged delay. Two things you should know. First, many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion have elected to step back because they are concerned about getting sick. If they are caregivers to children or elders, their caution is understandable. So quite a few parishes lack sufficient volunteers. Second, most Catholics are unaware that communion cups must be purified after each use. This is prior to washing and drying them. The rule here normally stipulates that a deacon or priest does this. If I have six used cups, I am to be sure that the Precious Blood is consumed, then I pour some water in one cup, swish it around, and pour it into the subsequent cups, then I drink the remaining water. At the time of the meeting, two of our priests were isolating. I am writing this from my own COVID isolation. One of our priests died of COVID. We were two priests short in filling our June parish assignments. So, our faithful priests have their own wish to stay well, not just for Mass but to be able to visit hospitals, nursing homes, and minister to the dying.

It is my directive that all of our parishes, and all of our priests, withhold the communion cup from the assembly (our proper term for the congregation) for the time being. Because our priests trade and travel among our parishes within the diocese, it does no good for some places to observe health cautions and others not. Even though another diocese might have restarted, I have to look at what is possible in our diocese. When a priest has to quarantine, another priest must pick up his load. Presently, it is already difficult for some of the men to take their sabbatical day or find a sub so they can make a retreat or go on vacation.

The Church teaches that receiving Holy Communion “under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace.” (Catechism 1390). We can be grateful for this until we can again receive under both kinds, if we choose to. For now, we can be consoled by again gathering together where Christ is also present in his priest and in our assembly. And in the proclamation of the Word. Part of the work of the national Eucharistic Renewal will be fostering greater awareness of the centrality of the Word of God in our liturgies (Catechism 1100). Attentiveness to Scriptures enlivens our prayer, and unity with Christ and each other, whether we do so in the church where we live.

What is the bishops' conference? (June 18, 2017) [ text]

Seminarian appeal, priest assigments, Pentecost  (June 4, 2017) [ text]

Social doctrine taught by the Church (May 21, 2017) [ text]

Suicide and '13 Reasons Why' (May 14, 2017) [ text]