HOST AN EMHC & READER WORKSHOP
EMHC and Reader Workshops – If you would like to host EMHC and/or Reader Workshops at your parish, please call Bernadette Moore in the Office of Liturgy at 407-246-4860 or email liturgy@orlandodiocese.org.
SWINE FLU (H1N1) PRECAUTIONS
May 1, 2009
To: Priests, Deacons, Directors of Liturgy
From: Bishop Thomas Wenski
Re: Swine Flu (H1N1) Precautions
Several questions have been forwarded to my office this week about the H1N1 virus. I thank you for the precautions you may already be taking within your parish. In addition, I ask that you review this information and take these precautions to help mitigate the effects of the Swine Flu and other health dangers.
Please note the following announcement for the weekend liturgical celebrations:
Announcement Before the Celebration of Mass:
Because of the information presented by health authorities regarding the Swine Flu, follow these suggestions during the celebration of Mass as further safeguards against any serious disease.
- Please do NOT hold hands during the reciting of the Our Father.
- Share the Sign of Peace WITHOUT touching hands or kissing. This can be done with meaningful eye contact, smiles, and a bow of the head in reverence to one another.
Offering of the Precious Blood during the celebration of Mass is at the discretion of the pastor. Please be aware of your own population and if you anticipate a decline in parishioners availing themselves to receiving the Precious Blood, please adjust your quantities accordingly.
General Hygiene Practices for Priests, Deacons, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Hospitality Ministers, Altar Servers, and Ministers to the Sick:
- Remain at home if sick or showing any flu-like symptoms, even if scheduled for ministry.
- Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion must be encouraged to wash their hands before Mass begins. Use an alcohol based anti-bacterial solution before distributing Holy Communion.
- After the act of ablution, use an alcohol based anti-bacterial solution to sanitize your hands.
- Presiders and deacons should carefully wash their hands before and after Mass, and use an alcohol based hand sanitizer before distributing Communion.
- Hospitality Ministers (Greeters and Ushers) should be encouraged to carefully wash their hands and/or use hand sanitizer before and after their ministries of greeting others, taking up the collection, and passing out bulletins at the end of Mass. When reasonable, minimize hand contact with others.
- Wash Mass vessels using sanitizing soap and water.
- If a non-communicant comes forward during Holy Communion, avoid personal contact.
- For the Ministers to the Sick, instruct them about appropriate hygiene and use of hand sanitizers before entering a room and upon departure.
Proper hygiene and these simple precautions advised by the US Centers for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/) should provide sufficient defense against the spread of the disease experienced in other areas of the world. If a case of the Swine Flu is reported among your parishioners or in your own county, please notify my office by contacting Sister Elizabeth Worley, 305-450-6420 or eworley@orlandodiocese.org, or carol Brinati, 407-592-6902 or cbrinati@orlandodiocese.org.
In addition, if you are considering the closing of a parish office, school, or cancellation of any liturgical celebration, please contact Sr. Elizabeth or Carol Brinati before finalizing such a decision.
THE COLD AND FLU SEASON: SIGN OF PEACE AND COMMUNION FROM THE CUP
From the Director of Liturgy, Father Bob Webster:
At this time of year numerous “suggestions” come into both the Bishop’s Office and the Office of Liturgy regarding the “health dangers” of the Sign of Peace and Holy Communion from the Cup. The news media has been especially vocal about flu shots, the lack of flu vaccine, and the increased threat of the flu this year. To this end, the following pulpit and bulletin announcement should be announced and published several times each during the coming months to assist in this matter:
The Sign of Peace and receiving Holy Communion from the Cup during the Cold and Flu Season:
Many people offer suggestions that during the winter months, when people are susceptible to colds and the flu, that certain elements of the Mass be omitted. Among these suggestions are to eliminate both the Sign of Peace and the offering of Holy Communion from the Cup. Such elements are integral in the celebration of the Rite of Communion. First and foremost, the virtue of prudence should be used on the part of all who participate in the Liturgy.
Holy Communion from the Cup:
Due to other medical conditions, many members of our congregations are only able to receive Holy Communion under the species of the Blood of Christ. It is suggested that you refrain from receiving Holy Communion from the Cup if:
- If your immune system is impaired for any reason
- If you have cold or flu symptoms
- If you have fears of contracting an illness
The Sign of Peace:
Since the General Instruction of the Roman Missal does not specify a particular manner of offering a sign of peace, and since even under ordinary circumstances some people are not able to shake hands due to medical conditions, one might choose among a number of other options instead of shaking hands:
- Make a reverential bow of the head to the people around you and say, Peace be with you
- Simply say Peace be with you without any gesture
THE EUCHARIST - HIS SACRED HEART SET ON THE HIGHEST HILL
 Built in the 19th century, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris, more commonly known as “Sacre Coeur,” stands as a sign of God’s love on a hilltop over the “city of lights.”
The beauty and majesty of its structure overshadows the reasons for its construction. Perhaps its beauty and majesty is meant to serve as a magnet for the faithful to come and adore the one who is the source of all light; perhaps its beauty and majesty is meant to be an invitation for the seeker to come and explore. The origin of the building of Sacre Coeur is buried in French history as a sign of reparation and expiation of sins which were committed during the French Revolution when the Church, the Eucharist and the other sacraments were defiled.
It might seem to the mind and heart of the contemporary reader that such things could never occur in our midst and in this day and age, but indeed they are still present today. Unfortunately, we have sometimes become immune to some of the more subtle acts of disrespect which unknowingly occur each week. Every parish has to struggle with the issues of reverence, silence, dignity, decorum, dress codes and behavior. It is necessary to repeat annually a catechesis to the assembly on the most basic elements of the Liturgy.
Any successful catechesis on the celebration of the Eucharist and on the reception of holy Communion needs to touch both the mind and the heart. For as our mind grows in the appreciation of the Eucharist, so then will our hearts lead our bodies to appropriate ways to dispose our selves to celebrate with reverence the sacraments of eternal life.
The Second Vatican Council, in #10 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, places the celebration of the Eucharist (with the reception of holy Communion) as the “summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all the Church’s power flows.” As such, the Liturgy is nothing less than our participation in the paschal mystery of the Lord Jesus. As Saint Paul reminds us, “for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes (1 Cor 11:26).” We know that in the gift of the Eucharist is the true and real presence of the Lord Jesus.
High on the hilltop, Sacre Coeur serves as a perpetual invitation to put behind them the sins of the past, walk in the newness of baptismal life, and to come to feast at the eucharistic table of the Lord. It seems then, that in every age of the Church and the Church in every place, the highest “hilltop” needs to be found and on it constructed a temple built of living stones to both give honor and respect to this central reality of Catholic life.
To this end, parish communities (or deaneries) might do well to once again revive and explore the former practice of “40 Hours Devotion” which was a part of our devotional past. By setting aside two consecutive days each year, apart from Holy Thursday and Corpus Christi, the opportunity to ponder the mystery of the Eucharist might be able to draw the faithful to newer levels of devotion to the real presence of Christ.
As individuals, we might examine our own lives and ask ourselves the question, “Am I prepared and properly disposed to receive the lord Jesus in holy Communion?” Have I fasted, am I free from serious sin, have I participated fully in the celebration of Mass with reverence and devotion, am I reconciled with my sisters and brothers, am I receiving Holy Communion reverently and in accord with the Liturgical Norms?
Each of us is meant to be and have a Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) where the Lord may dwell. Each of us has the responsibility to both cherish the sacrament we receive and to safeguard the sacrament which has been entrusted to us. Just as the people of France built this majestic and beautiful structure for the expiation of sins, we are to be mindful that God has called us to become a majestic and beautiful Church, the holy and beautiful people of God!
Father Robert Webster is the Diocese of Orlando director of the Office of Liturgy.
CATECHUMENS AND CANDIDATES
What is the difference between a candidate and a catechumen? The following are definitions of some of the words and titles commonly used during Christian Initiation.
Candidate: A person who is already validly baptized in another Christian faith and is now preparing to be received into the Full Communion with the Catholic Church. Normally candidates, if not already validly confirmed, are confirmed before they receive Holy Communion for the first time in the Catholic Church.
Catechumen: A person who is not baptized and is preparing for full initiation through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.
Elect: The name given those catechumens who have celebrated the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent and are called to the Easter Sacraments of Initiation. The Elect-catechumens are called to celebrate these Sacraments at the next Easter Vigil.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA): The Liturgical Rite of the Roman Catholic Church which contains the rituals and norms by which people, both un-baptized and baptized, are brought into the fullness of sacramental life in the Church. The first part of the RCIA deals with the un-baptized and the second part of the RCIA deals with those who are already baptized. The term is used in a general sense to refer to the formational and liturgical process of entering the Catholic Church.
LITURGIAL DIRECTIVES FROM FATHER BOB WEBSTER
from a memo dated December 15, 2005. Click here to view the PDF file...
WHY ARE CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT BIBLES DIFFERENT?
This question raises the issue of the biblical canon. Originally, a canon (from the Greek kanon) meant a rod or stick that one used to measure length, and hence a criterion or standard.
Catholics and Protestants accept the same 27 inspired books as making up the New Testament. But when we turn to the Old Testament, some significant differences emerge.
The decision finally determining the exact number of books accepted, as inspired Scripture for Catholics was not made until the Councilof Trent in 1546. The Council fathers accepted 46 Old Testament books, following what appeared to them as a firm tradition of the Catholic Church from ancient times. The leader of the Protestant Reformation, on the other hand, rejected some books agreed upon at Trent.
The seven disputed books are: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees. There are also some sections of Esther and Daniel not considered inspired Scriptures by Protestants. Protestants call these seven books the apocryphal books. Catholics, however, call these disputed books deuterocanonical.
Fortunately, today, modern translations of the Bible are published in Catholic editions. These translations will include an imprimatur (assurance of a Catholic bishop that the text is in line with Catholic teaching) and the seven deuterocanonical books.
Source: AmericanCatholic.org, a website from the Franciscans and St. Anthony Messenger
TRIDENTINE MASS
As you may have read in The Florida Catholic e-scroll, or on the diocesan website, the celebration of the "Tridentine Mass" (the traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal) is now offered in the Diocese of Orlando. For a complete listing of these masses click here.
Local bishops have been given permission to allow this form of the Mass in directives published by the Holy See in 1984. In Ecclesia Dei, published in 1988 , the late John Paul II asked local bishops for their "wide and generous application". "To all those Catholic faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradtion, I wish...to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarentee respect for their rightful aspirations" (Pope John Paul II). Since 1984, more than 125 U.S. Dioceses have granted such permission.
There are other "churches" which purport to offer “traditional” Catholic Masses or “Latin” Masses. These churches are not affiliated with the Diocese of Orlando and are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and as such they are neither "traditional" nor "Catholic".You may wish to remindparishioners that they can only fulfill their Sunday obligation by attendance at a Mass in which the priest enjoys full communion with the Bishop of Rome and has the faculties of the local bishop. The diocesan directory lists the parishes of the Diocese of Orlando and the local Eastern Rite parishes in union with the Holy Father. Click here to view a listing of all Diocese of Orlando parishes.
|
