ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

  A PRIEST PROMISES TO OBEY HIS BISHOP A man is usually ordained a deacon six months to a year before ordination to the priesthood.  During the rite of ordination to the diaconate he makes three solemn promises before God and the bishop.   The first promise: “In the presence of God and his Church, are you resolved, as a sign of your interior dedication to Christ, to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind ?” The second promise: “ Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours for the Church and for the whole world ?” The third promise: “ Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors ?” Faithfulness to each of these promises is essential to the success of a man in holy orders.  However, only one of these promises is formally repeated in the rite of ordination to priesthood, whic

HAPPY SUNDAY (AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!) It happens every seven years.  The second greatest feast of the liturgical season falls on a Sunday.  Sunday, of course, is the primordial celebration of the Church.  It is the weekly solemnity and takes precedence over almost every other feast.  In fact, the number one feast of Christians is Easter, and it always falls on a Sunday.  Every Sunday is, in fact, a little Easter, a celebration of the death and Resurrection of the Lord.  But this Sunday the focus of the liturgy is on the event that made Easter possible – the Birth of the Savior.  Without Christmas we could not have Easter. In every Mass we adore Christ truly present.  He becomes present to us in the Eucharistic elements, inviting us to receive his Body and Blood under the form of bread and wine.  He is there in the holy Sacrament, in both his human and divine nature, but for our sake he veils himself so that we may not run and hide.  In the first chapter of the Book of Revelation the

  SAINT PAUL’S INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO RECEIVE COMMUNION The first instructions which the faithful received about how to receive Holy Communion is found in the eleventh chapter of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  Apparently, there was inappropriate behavior by some of the Christians in Corinth when they would gather for prayer.  He writes, “I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good.”   This is an important point.  Poorly celebrated liturgy does more harm than good.  Receiving Christ unworthily also does more harm than good.  It appears that the Corinthians would gather together for a meal before they celebrated the Eucharist.  There were no churches at that time and the liturgy would be celebrated in someone’s home, which would make for a less formal seating arrangement than what we have today.  Paul heard that the people were divided, with the wealthier sitting apart and not sharing their food.  You can feel his frustration when he writes,