Newspaper Page Text
October 16,1980
PAGE 5
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Whose Sacraments Are They?
BY FATHER PHILIP J. MURNION
A young couple visits the parish rectory
to arrange their wedding. The priest
discusses Pre-Cana conferences with them
and gives them a booklet listing the choices
available to them in Scripture readings and
other parts of the wedding ceremony.
Two weeks later, the couple tells the
priest they would like the marriage to take
place at a reception hall. They also want to
use a selection from Kahlil Gibran’s popular
book, “The Prophet,” in place of Old
Testament selections.
The priest, who does not really know
either the young man or woman, is less than
enthusiastic about the two proposals. He
tells them that the church is the normal
place for the wedding to take place - unless
permission is secured from the bishop to
hold it elsewhere. This is given only for very
special reasons, he says.
The priest also explains that the readings
must be from the Scriptures. The man and
woman are surprised. They had assumed that
since a choice of readings was available to
them, they could choose some other reading.
An unusual occurrence? Hardly. But
many concerns and problems related to the
sacraments can be identified in this
all-too-familiar scene.
The entire experience causes the priest to
recall the maxim from his seminary days:
“The sacraments are for the sake of the
people.”
Most revisions of sacramental rites since
Vatican II were designed to make this
maxim more evident. The very fact that
various choices are offered to people in
liturgical matters underscores the church’s
desire to relate sacramental rites to people’s
varying situations.
However, there are limits to the choices
available because the sacraments also belong
to the church and are part of church
tradition. They are not private celebrations
of individuals.
God does continue to speak to us within
the context of our own lives. But the
inspired texts of the Bible have a special
place in the church and the sacraments.
In our story, the fact that the parish
priest and the couple planning a marriage
had no earlier contact with each other - did
not really know each other - made it
difficult to work through problems which
arose in the planning.
Similar problems are experienced when it
comes to celebrating the other sacraments,
as well. There are choices for people to make
about how and when baptism is to be
celebrated, in the manner of receiving First
Communion, in the reception of
confirmation, or in the rite for
reconciliation.
The fact that there are choices to be
made reflects an awareness of pluralism in
the church. The limit on the choices reflects
the desire to maintain unity and church
tradition.
There is a need, it seems, to distinguish
between making the sacraments more
personal and making them private.
Sacraments must be personal, but they are
not private. They are for the people but they
are of the church.
Careful preparation, good preaching,
participation by parishioners when possible
and appropriate music are often counted
among the elements that help make the
sacraments more personal.
But in our culture, “personal” can come
to mean “private.” It is easy to ignore the
demands of community or tradition and to
create our own independent worlds. When
sacraments become private, they can also
become “trendy.” They may even seem to
be trivialized, with about as much lasting
value as the daily newspaper.
In the case of the couple preparing their
wedding, there may also have been a need
for a different understanding of the value of
Scripture. Today many parishes are
searching for ways to foster appreciation of
the timeless message of the Bible.
A number of parishes have found that
when parishioners help plan the liturgy, they
often see clearly how the sacraments are
celebrations of the church community. They
often become more involved in the
community as well.
Undoubtedly there will continue to be
some differences of opinion about what is
appropriate in the liturgy. But, the
differences of opinion can probably be
worked out whenever the parish and its
people really want the celebration of the
sacraments to express God’s contact with his
community.
It may not be too much shorthand to say
that the celebration of the sacraments will
be what it should be if it is made clear that
the sacraments are
- actions of God,
- through the church,
- for the people,
- and if we try to make each celebration
as beautiful an event as we can.
/
KNO W
YOUR FAITH
(AH Articles on this page Copyrighted 1980 by N. C. News Service)
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God’s Folly
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
One faction of the splintered church at
Corinth proclaimed loyal allegiance to Paul.
Rather strangely, Paul says nothing directly
about the Apollos faction or the Cephas
(Peter) faction.
Perhaps he did not want to be trapped
into making, even implicitly, derogatory
remarks about either Apollos or Cephas, for
whom he had the highest regard. To do so
would make him guilty of the same
immature nastiness that was souring his
converts. But he does ask, with a touch of
irony: “Was it in Paul’s name that you were
baptized?”
Then Paul thanks God that he baptized
only a few of the first community members.
Paul’s reason for this seemingly strange
attitude is quite simple: “Christ did not send
me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.” (1
Cor. 1:17).
Over the centuries, the ministry of
presiding at the Eucharist and administering
the sacraments has come to be considered
the primary and distinctive function of the
Catholic priest. Sometimes this occurs at the
expense of the ministry of the word. The
sermon or homily is looked upon, sometimes
even looked down upon, as something quite
incidental.
However, the earliest Christian ministers
took very seriously their role as ministers of
the word. They devoted their energies to
this.
Still, if Paul has been sent to preach the
Gospel, he does not do so “with wordy
‘wisdom,’ lest the cross of Christ be rendered
void of its meaning!” (1 Cor. 1:17) This is
an indirect slap at the Apollos group, so
captivated by the smooth eloquence, the
logical consistency, the wordy wisdom of
the preacher from Alexandria.
The Corinthians must come to realize
that the Christian message does not derive its
truth and its power from the philosophical
reasoning of which the Greeks were so fond.
Its truth, its power to transform comes from
a most unlikely source according to worldly
standards: the cross of Christ. “The message
of the cross is complete absurdity to those
who are headed for ruin, but to us who are
experiencing salvation it is the power of
God.” (1 Cor. 1:18)
Nothing was more calculated to
demonstrate the uniqueness of Christianity
than the centrality of the cross. Nothing else
pointed up so forcefully the fact that God’s
standards, his way of doing things, are
almost incredibly different from the world’s.
With all the world’s vaunted wisdom and
philosophical speculation, it had failed to
recognize and acknowledge the most
fundamental truth of all: truth himself, the
one true God. So, “it pleased God to save
those who believe through the absurdity of
the preaching of the Gospel.” (1 Cor. 1:21)
The gentiles sought the well-reasoned,
logical, airtight philosophical demonstration.
The Jews, of a different mind-set,
demanded miracles - even though miracles
had never proved very convincing. Theirs
was that all too common attitude: “Show
me.
But, Paul offered another approach. He
explained, “we preach Christ crucified - a
stumbling block to Jews, and an absurdity to
gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews
and gentiles alike, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. For God’s folly is
wiser than men, and his weakness more
powerful than men.” (l.Qor. 1:23-25)
To illustrate this paradox Paul can point
to the people’s experience. Tremendous
things have happened to them and through
them as Christians. Yet, for the most part,
they are a pretty ordinary crowd, a typical
middle-class parish in a city.
This should make it clear that the
astonishing things the Corinthians have
experienced cannot be explained as the result
of human cleverness or wealth or power or
wisdom or anything else.
Everything leads to one inescapable
conclusion: “God it is who has given you life
in Christ Jesus.” (1 Cor. 1:30)
u
A COUPLE FALL IN LOVE and begin discussing plans options for their sacrament to each other but there are
for their wedding. Vatican II has left couples with many limits as to what they can do. (NC Photo by Bob Taylor)
How Can People Live Gracious Lives?
BY THEODORE HENGESBACH
I have noticed that my daughter Heidi,
13, and son T.J., 14, often act graciously
toward me even when I do not deserve it. I
may scold them because I don’t feel well or
because I had a tough day at work. Yet they
often respond with love. And they don’t
hold grudges against me in return.
Because the children are supportive and
act lovingly toward me, I soon feel sorry for
the way I treated them. Experiencing their
generous behavior, I am moved to alter my
undesirable, ungracious behavior.
This is striking because adults often do
not expect such gracious behavior from one
another. Much adult behavior is “tit for tat.”
Sometimes, people are even trained to live
fiercely competitive lives in a “dog eat dog”
world.
Yet God calls Christians to lead lives
shaped by grace, marked by behavior that is
gracious, generous, faithful and loving. Grace
provides the means to live this way. Grace,
then, is a favor from God which creates a
special relationship between God and people
- a special relationship with special results.
The sacraments are vital means of developing
the life of grace.
- Each sacrament reveals some special
aspect of God’s behavior toward us. And
each sacrament is a personal call to commit
ourselves to this same kind of behavior.
- The sacraments are ritual actions which
put us in touch with God and with each
other. They enable us to live in ways which
may fly in the face of those expected by the
ordinary world.
- The sacraments sustain and develop the
life of grace, a way of life shown to us by
Jesus.
- The sacraments make present the life of
grace, a dynamic force in our lives which can
transform the world.
Each time we participate in a sacrament
we are personally caught up in God’s love
and our lives are shaped by it.
1. In baptism, for example, God
generously shares his life with us. This
sacrament reveals that life does have
direction and purpose. When one is
immersed in the fresh water of baptism, life
is permeated with divine vigor.
Baptism initiates us into a community of
Christians. This sacrament expresses the
bond between God and people, on the one
hand. It also expresses the bond of
Christians with each other. Here people leam
how to live as Christians. Baptism acts as a
sign of our decision to live in unity with
both God and other people.
2. In the sacrament of reconciliation
IT IS THE SACRAMENTS which celebrates the divine force which
reveal and maintain the gracious life energizes human life. (NC Photo by
modeled by Jesus. Confirmation Carolyn A. McKeone)
(penance), God reveals his forgiving and
gracious behavior toward us. By the way he
responds to the sinner, both the sinner and
the total Christian community are
encouraged to go out and try again.
If God continues to act lovingly toward
us, how much more should we be gracious
and forgiving toward others?
3. The sacrament of marriage celebrates
the willingness of community members to
develop a particular sort of family life. At
home, family members are tied together by
affection. Family members engage in the
give and take of everyday living and, in the
process, learn how to treat each other in
loving, forgiving and gracious ways.
God’s relationship with people is often
explained by means of marriage images in
the Bible. God’s relationship with people is
mirrored in the relationship between
husband and wife.
People called to marriage are asked by
God to lead special lives of intimate,
committed love. Through the sacrament,
God gives us the means and the hope of
doing so.
It is delightful and poignant to fantasize a
world full of people whose behavior reflects
God’s behavior - the love shown to us in the
sacraments. What a different sort of world it
would be!
Discussion
Points
And Questions
1. According to Father
Philip Murnion, why is it
important for parishes to
differentiate between making
the sacraments personal and
making them private
celebrations?
2. Why is it helpful for
people to know their parish
priest before it is time to plan a
celebration for a wedding or a
baptism?
3. Discuss Father Murnion’s
statements that the sacraments
may be what they should be “if
it is made clear that they are
actions of God, through the
church, for the people, and if
we try to make each as
beautiful an event as we can.”
4. After reading Dr.
Theodore Hengesbach’s article,
discuss what the sacraments are.
How do they help people? Why
are they important for us?
5. How do the sacraments
encourage people to live a
certain kind of life, according
to Hengesbach?
6. What does Hengesbach say
the sacrament of reconciliation
teaches us? How does the story
about his children illustrate this
point?