Masses Today

6.30 Frank Cunnane, (Anniv)
11.00 Nora Duggan, (Anniv)
6.30 Fr. Joseph Curtis, (Anniv)



SUAIMHNEAS, RENMORE






THE SECOND HAND GOD

The second-hand God is the God that somebody else - school, Church, parents -has passed on to you. If it is never assimilated, if that God is never really met in your own heart, it will never be your God, but somebody else's God. Your prayer to such a God would tend to be routine and have very little heart in it. It is a performance, rather than an encounter.

-FRANK WALLACE, SJ, Encounter Not Performance, (Australia: E. J. Dwyer) p. 10.




AS I WAS SAYING...

A Dublin priest, Padraig McCarthy, wrote an article recently that may be relevant to discussions we have been conducting recently here in the Augustinian. He was writing in the context of 'priestless parishes'.He proceeds to explore the many images of the Body of Christ in a very practical way:

What should happen if a congregation cannot have their celebration of Mass every Sunday? Perhaps a rural congregation with a Christian identity going back over 100 years? The Body of Christ gathering in that community. Should they have no option but to get into their cars and go to the nearest large town or village? They do this in any case for so many other purposes. Wny not for Mass?

If there is no priest in a parish, and he is 'replaced' by an assembly conducted by lay ministers of the Word and the Eucharist, what of the canonical obligation 'to hear Mass on Sunday'? So do they get into their cars and drive off to 'get Mass' in the nearest town? Through this type of 'leakage', the local community, the body of Christ, is being sabotaged. Is this not declaring the death of that living cell of the body of Christ? Could it be that obligation here is tearing down rather than building up the Body of Christ?

In our recent discussions on the renovation of our own Church here, some people became almost fixated on the location of the tabernacle. (see article by Richard Hurley later). I think we have -in practice at any rate- reserved the image 'body of Christ' exclusively for the Eucharist. St. Paul insists on a broader view: 'Now you are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it.' (1 Cor 12:27) St. Augustine is more explicit still on the matter:

If then you are the body of Christ and his members, it is your sacrament that reposes on the altar of the Lord. It is your sacrament which you receive. You answer 'Amen' to what you are yourself. Be then a member of the body of Christ to verify your Amen. (Sermon 272)

Augustine throws the challenge right back to the individual members of the community: go out from here and live that vision; go out from here and become in fact what you already are in faith: the body of Christ.

I do believe that, in time, we became too narrowly focused on the Eucharist. Catechisms spoke of the Real Presence when speaking of the Eucharist alone. By implication, the presence of Christ in any other form was regarded, subconsciously perhaps, as 'unreal'. The presence of Christ in the scriptures (the Word of God) was entirely ignored in the post-Reformation conflicts. The presence of Christ in a non-communicating assembly was not that obvious. And, of course, the presence of Christ in the neighbour was not to be taken all that seriously!

Future circumstances will force us to rediscover the local gathered community as the body of Christ. It will not be easy to get across the message that you may actually be diminishing the body of Christ by rushing off to the nearest town to 'get Mass' and to fulfil your Sunday obligation. The times ahead will certainly be different; they may even be interesting. But a whole new way of thinking will be required.

-Dick Lyng.




LOCATING THE TABERNACLE

Basic to an understanding of the nature and function of the church building is an understanding of the liturgical assembly. The lack of appreciation of this aspect of church design has had a retarding influence on the development of church architecture in Ireland and consequently on liturgical awareness and practice.

Irish Catholics have a firm belief in the Real Presence in the tabernacle. This belief is so strong that it dominates the mind when they assemble for Mass. When the tabernacle dominates the sanctuary it overshadows the celebration, and the concept of the presence of Christ in the priest and the assembly is completely obscured during the celebration of the Eucharist.

This is contrary to the whole spirit of the Liturgy and also leads to serious design complications for the architect. The result is likely to be an architecture of separation supporting a divisive liturgy. In my view this is one of the major reasons why post- Vatican II liturgy suffers so badly in communication and presentation. What I am saying has serious implications, but it is simply this: there is an inherent contradiction between the requirements of the renewed liturgy and the way we design our sanctuaries, particularly so when the tabernacle is in a prominent position.

Every church building has a dual role; the physical function it is created to serve and the symbolism it should express. The main thrust of post- Vatican II liturgy concentrates on the assembly -the people coming together to worship, to celebrate.

This single idea radically altered the concept of the assembly from that of being silent onlookers to one of active worshippers who gather around the altar to celebrate the Eucharist with the priest. This corporate dimension of the liturgy demands an expression of unity within the building - unity between the assembly and the sanctuary area and where the altar is located. Unity of priest and people calls for a change of relationships within the building which the liturgy of the pre- Vatican II days did not require.

The accent on corporate liturgy demands a much more positive plan which would allow a real expression of unity within the building. Word and Eucharist are to be celebrated amongst the people, not just in front of them.

-Richard Hurley, Architect.




MEMORABLE QUOTES






OSCAR ROMERO

Oscar Arnulfo Romero was installed as the archbishop of San Salvador on February 22, 1977, amid growing social and political tension in El Salvador. During his tenure as archbishop, Romero evolved from a conservative bishop to an outspoken voice of the poor.Since his assassination on March 24, 1980, Romero became a martyr for the all the dispossessed of Central and South America.

Born on August 15, 1917, Romero grew up in poor living conditions without electricity or running water. As a young man, he began his career as apprentice to a town carpenter. However, he soon abandoned this trade to attend the seminary in the city of San Miguel. He eventually found himself at the Gregorian University in Rome where he was ordained in 1942.

Upon his return he became very active, filling numerous roles as secretary of the diocese, pastor of the cathedral parish, and chaplain of the church of San Francisco. He became editor of the diocesan newspaper in 1971. Romero was named archbishop in December of 1974. He rejected the traditional bishop's palace and lived the remainder of his life in a hospital.

Shortly after his appointment, his friend, Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande was murdered. Romero suspected he was murdered by 'death squads' agents of the government trained by the United States. Romero spoke out against the murders in public masses and in radio broadcasts. Increasingly, he became 'the voice of those with no voice'. He was now the church's spokesman for liberation theology, a doctrine that justifies the church's involvement in political conflict on behalf of the dispossessed. It was for this belief that Romero was assassinated by one of the very death squads he spoke out against.

Although a full investigation was never carried out, Romero's murder is widely believed to have been on the orders of Roberto D'Aubuisson. D'Aubuisson was 'security spokesman' for the government and founder of the National Republican Alliance. He appeared numerous times on Salvadoran television during which time he accused Romero, among others, as being a subversive agent against the government.

The political and social conflict that Romero dealt with had been brewing in El Salvador for the better part of a century. The struggle between the classes dates back to 1932 when the peasant uprising was put down by the military amid great bloodshed. The uprisings are a result of the disproportion of wealth, with 90 per cent of the land owned by 14 families only. These families are aligned with the government and the military, while the majority of the country lives in poverty. While there have been democratic eIections for the presidency of El Salvador, many believe that these were rigged.

Romero was a prolific author. His texts were aimed, not at theologians, but at his peasant flock. "I am bound, as pastor to give my life for those I love, that is all Salvadorians, even those who are going to kill me." Two weeks after publishing these words, on January 24th 1980, he was shot dead as he celebrated Mass at the hospital where he lived. Romero was without doubt a saint. His 'cause for canonisation' is being investigated today.






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