Dear readers,

I would like to talk to you about the ‘Little Flower Parish’ (Regina, Saskatchewan). On this parish’ bulletin we learn that Father Bill Mahoney is ‘Priest Moderator’, and Sister Mel Hruska is ‘Parish Minister’. The way I understand these titles is that the Sister, being ‘Parish Minister’, is doing pretty much everything the Parish Priest used to do in the old days, and Father Bill is there to ‘moderate’ her eagerness, so that she does not go as far as saying the words of Consecration on the bread and wine. You will understand why I say that when I will bring to your attention one of the main features of the Sept. 3rd 2006 parish bulletin... Let me just reproduce it verbatim:

“LAY PRESIDED SERVICES/SEPT. 9&10: On the weekend of 9 & 10 September, father Bill will be away from the parish. On this occasion we will be substituting Lay Presided Services in place of the two regularly scheduled Saturday/Sunday Masses. For some, the natural tendency might be to seek out another church where Mass is being celebrated. Yet there is an important need for parishioners to show their loyalty and support for their own parish community even when their priest is unavailable. According to the directives of the Church and the local bishop, attendance at these Lay Presided Services fulfills the obligation to keep the Lord’s day holy. You can be confident that those leading these services will do so with the utmost of reverence and prayerfulness. Please support them in their ministry through your active participation and prayerful encouragement”

Isn’t that sweet? Sister Mel will replace Father Bill for the ‘Saturday-Sunday’ and the ‘Sunday-Sunday’ services! Bill the Moderator will be relaxing somewhere and therefore will not be there to ‘moderate’ Sister Mel. She will have the whole sanctuary for herself. So please go and “encourage her by your active participation...” And you’re lucky: she guarantees you, a week beforehand, that she will display an “utmost reverence and prayerfulness”. I just wish I could promise that to my faithful! I should maybe ask her what her secret is... And what does mean the warning about the necessity of showing one’s parish his loyalty and support, by not going to another one where there might actually be a Mass? To go to Mass on Sundays, isn’t it what Catholics are supposed to do? Or maybe to have your money is more important than your receiving the graces of Mass and Holy Communion? They say the Church and the local bishop have decreed that attendance to these ‘Lay Presided Services’ fulfills the Sunday duty...

I checked in the New Code of Canon Law, and by Golly! It’s there! But it is cunning. Indeed, Canons # 1246 n.1, 1247, and 1248 n.1 reaffirm the traditional doctrine on the subject, namely that Sundays and other special days are feasts of obligation for all Catholics, that these are bound to participate at Mass on those days, and that this obligation is fulfilled when they assist to a Mass celebrated in any Catholic Rite. So far so good... The snag is this: Canon # 1248 n. 2 says: “If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is especially recommended that the faithful take part in the liturgy of the word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place...” I must admit I feel a little bit dumb when I read this one. I just cannot figure where the logic is. Take some time to read it again... It gives two reasons why one is no longer bound to go to Mass on Sundays and Feasts of Obligation, and when he should fulfill his duty by attending a ‘liturgy of the word’ (it is no longer the Word): 1-When there is no priest available to say Mass, (okay, I understand that one...) 2- When there is any other grave cause. Now this is my problem: What kind of grave cause could we have, if the priest is available to say Mass at the parish? Sickness? Car breakdown? (These causes were traditionally admitted). But then, if you cannot attend Mass because of such causes, how can you be asked to attend a liturgy of the word in your parish church or in another sacred place? Moreover, there should be no liturgy of the word at your parish church, because, remember, the priest is available to say Mass. The only way I can figure these ‘any other grave causes’ that would make a faithful attend a liturgy of the word in his parish is this: 1-The priest is available to say Mass 2- But he is too lazy to say Mass, so he lets a ‘Parish Minister’ do a liturgy of the word and he tries to look interested; or he is sleeping and nobody can wake him up; or he isn’t sober enough to find the ‘table’... If you find a better understanding of Canon # 1248 n.2, please let me know…

What it comes down to, is that we have a typical Vatican II procedure. First, we reaffirm a traditional Catholic truth. Second, we deny it in practice. In Canons # 897, 898, 899, the New Code expresses beautifully the traditional doctrine on the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and so on. Canons # 1246, 1247, 1248 n.1 do the same about the obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays and Feasts of Obligation. But Canon # 1248 n.2 wrecks all these nice words with a very practical directive: The faithful should attend a liturgy of the word in their parish if there is no priest available, or if he is there but there is “any other grave cause” that renders the obligation to hear Mass impossible to fulfill.

The September 3rd 2006 bulletin of Little Flower Parish gives us a concrete example of how the New Code of Canon Law has an impact on the everyday life of modern Catholics. It basically gives them the following message: Yes, Mass is good, but a liturgy of the word is just as well. This is exactly what Luther was saying at the beginning of his separation from the Church. And, after a while, the reading of the ‘word’ was everything! They would use the words of Christ (“when two or three of you are together to pray...”) to say that He is present on Sundays because people are gathered together to pray, and because He is there in the Scriptures... And this is exactly what the introduction of Paul VI’s Missal says (‘Institutio Generalis N.7’). Canon # 1248 n.2 is just another proof that the Modern Church is becoming more and more Protestant in spirit and in deed. Thanks be to God He gave us the understanding about this terrible crisis in the Church! ?