Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Surprise! Just when you guys thought you were rid of me for awhile, I show up in the bulletin! I am gone this weekend. If all goes as planned, as you are reading this, I will be traveling with our young people in northern Italy. In fact, today were supposed to be in Venice. I will be praying for all of you at the various shrines and basilicas in Italy. Please keep all of us in your prayers too, especially for a safe journey for all.

This weekend, we finally get back into Ordinary time. Actually, we have been in Ordinary time for the last two weeks, but you would not have known it on the weekends, because we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Trinity two weeks ago, and then the Feast of Corpus Christi last weekend. This week we are “wearin’ the green”. We come back into Ordinary time on the liturgical calendar on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time.

Perhaps this weekend is a good opportunity to review the changes to the Mass that were implemented in the Spring of 2003 in the Diocese of Lafayette. I think we are still getting used to these as a Church. Yes, I know that there are other dioceses that haven’t implemented the changes yet. And, yes, I know that there are some that are saying that they won’t implement the changes that are called for in the new General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) document from Rome. I can’t do anything about what others are doing or not doing. I can only be obedient to what our Bishop is asking all of us to do. It has worked out very well, I think. There are good reasons for the changes. Most of them are really not new, but are designed to get us in line with the rest of the international Church.

First of all, during the Confiteor, (the prayer I confess to Almighty God…), which is probably our most regularly used version of the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass, we are asked to make the gesture of striking our chest over our heart. Now, this is not a punch. It is not CPR. It is lightly taking your hand, in a fist, and placing it over your heart. This is a penitential action and gesture. It is a sign of submission to God and His Mercy. Check out the text for this prayer in the Missalette. It even lets you know exactly when to make this gesture.

Secondly, we are now all asked to make a profound bow during the recitation of the Creed, when we come to the line “By the power of the Holy Spirit He became man”. This is our recognition of the great mystery of the Incarnation. Before, just the priest did this. Remember, during our celebration of Christmas, the great Feast of the Incarnation, we kneel down at that line of the Creed. Now, we should all be making a profound bow. This means, not a nod of the head, but a true bow from your lower back. The gesture is to help us to realize what we are saying and just how special what God has done for us really is.

Another bow that we are being asked to make is the bow to the Holy Eucharist just before we receive it. This is not a profound bow, but a simple one. It is a bending over as a mark of respect for the Eucharist. Our Diocese has reminded us that we are only to bow when we are directly in front of the Eucharist. We should not be bowing to the back of the person in front of us. We should bow. Then the priest or Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion should say “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ”. We should say “Amen” and then receive Holy Communion. This should be done for both the Body and the Blood. This is trying to get all of us to make the same act of reverence and respect for Jesus in the Eucharist before we receive Him.

And finally, the last change, and probably the biggest, is that we are to all stand for the entire Rite of Receiving Holy Communion for the entire congregation, then we kneel or sit together, after we have all received the Eucharist. If you are elderly, pregnant, sick, or in any other way unable to do this, then please do not. The Church is trying emphasis the communal nature of the Eucharist and the action of going to Communion. We don’t do it alone. We do it together as Church.

I hope these reminders are helpful. With so many new folks joining us from all over, it is good to review these new expectations once in a while. Have a good week! Happy Father’s Day to all of our dads!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

A frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.