Archives for April 2012

In this week’s blog, “how we pray” is the theme, focusing on The Sign of the Cross, which is one of the most ancient Christian ‘formulas’, reflecting the Trinity, contained already  in the New Testament and in the writings of St. Paul. The Sign of the Cross is a physical shape that represents the very core of the message of salvation; it directs us towards the saving work of Jesus Christ; the words we say as we make the sign of the Cross remind us of the doctrine of the Trinity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church delves more deeply into prayer to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in sections 2664-2670. Below, Shelley Burnett shares her own witness on the responsibility of teaching our children this beautiful prayer that is core to our faith. Shelley, a former English teacher and now, full-time mother, resides in Bristol with her husband, Dan, along with their three young children. 

When I was in college studying education, they told us that a person understands things best when she has to teach it to others. I found that to be true in my job as a teacher (let me tell you about dangling participles), but also in my role as a mother. Being a parent is all about teaching – the hows and whys, rights and wrongs, and ins and outs of life. And as a parent, often times, “Because,” is just not enough of an answer to the questions of young ones.

One of the things we have been recently trying to teach 2-year-old Gavin is how to make the Sign of the Cross. Currently, it involves repeatedly smacking his forehead and chest. On the other hand, 5-year-old Noah, has mastered the motions. Now it is time to move on to teaching him about its significance. And this is definitely not on of those questions where, “because” is an acceptable response.

It’s amazing how children can force us to delve deeper into things. It’s so easy to let something that is routine remain just that – routine. The Sign of the Cross is one of those things that we do so often it could easily (and sometimes does, if I’m being truthful) lose the significance that it possesses. Or perhaps I sometimes fail to take the time to give it the value it deserves. I make the sign, speak the words, but is it an active or passive gesture? I understand it’s significance, but do I really let that wash over me every time I make the Sign of the Cross?

So now I am in the midst of trying to reacquaint myself with everything that this symbol is. I learned some new things in my explorations. The Sign of the Cross isn’t mentioned in the Bible or the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a literal sense. However, the Catechism does talk of the way of prayer, which directly relates to the trinity we invoke through the Sign of the Cross. First, prayer only has access to the Father if we pray “in the name” of Jesus. In praying to Jesus, we are invoked to follow the way of the cross. Finally, the Holy Spirit, Master of Christian prayer, draws us into prayer and teaches us to pray through Christ Jesus.

Funny how a symbol not mentioned elsewhere has become so ingrained into our prayer tradition. What powerful symbolism it holds, reminding us of the Holy Trinity, the Cross on which our redeemer willingly hung to save us from sin, and serving as a reminder of the crosses in our own lives. Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must take up their cross and follow me (Luke 9:23).

I now endeavor to make the Sign of the Cross intentionally, not simply out of habit. And I hope to teach my children the power and significance it holds.

 

“How We Celebrate,” is the second section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and includes many teachings on how we worship — the liturgy, and the Eucharist, which is considered the source and summit of our Catholic faith. According to the CCC # 1073, “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.”   As we continue with this blog series, LeAnn Rogan discusses the term, Transubstantiation, and what happens at Mass when bread and wine is consecrated. LeAnn, along with her husband, Mark, have been active parishioners and leaders at St. Anne since 1999.  They reside in Racine, Wisc., with their two teenagers, McKenna and Adam.

Transubstantiation –“ a 50 cent word” my Catholic gradeschool principal, Charlie Cooper, used to call it.  This was a compliment to the word, of course, meaning it was worth more than the “two cents” adults would chime in when you hadn’t solicited them for advice, and worthy of our serious contemplation.   Mr. Cooper was warning us that this was both a difficult word to spell and to understand.

In eighth grade I admit I didn’t fully wrap my head and heart around it.  I remember telling my mother as much and she just smiled and let me have my opinion cautioning me to patiently await some enlightenment later in life.  It came!

In my 30s I learned something new about Transubstantiation while earning my certificate to teach Catechesis of the Good Shepherd near Washington, D.C.  Yes, you can “teach an
old dog new tricks,” and I confess I’m still learning new things well into my 40s.  While the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Transubstantiation as:

The scholastic term used to designate the unique change of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. ‘Transubstantiation’ indicates that through the consecration of the bread and the wine there occurs the change of the entire substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ, and of the entire substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ- even though the appearances or ‘species’ of bread and wine remain (1376).

It was the work of the late Italian Sophia Cavaletti with pre-school-aged children that really drove home the meaning of Transubstantiation for me.  Here’s a brief synopsis of what I’ve learned happens during the Consecration and Epiclesis at Mass, the time in which the priest raises his hands to Heaven where the Gift originates and the Church asks for the Holy Spirit’s power to hover over our earthly gifts of bread and wine changing them into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

While the bread still looks like bread, and smells like bread, and tastes like bread, it has been changed, in its essence, into JESUS! While the wine still looks like wine, and smells
like wine, and tastes like wine, it has been changed, in its essence, into JESUS!  Wholely and truly Jesus!  Miracles only happen where there is faith and only the faithful can see Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.  What appears to be bread and wine is, in fact, a changed (trans) substance, not only made up of flour and water and grapes, but of Jesus’ own flesh and blood –not a symbol of His flesh and blood, but truly Jesus Himself come to be with us, in us, to change us, too!

I want to be “transubstantiated”, a changed substance.  Oh you’ll keep on seeing LeAnn, but at my essence I will be a new creation, a better me, wholely and truly a child of God in and of the Body of Christ.  I don’t want to be a symbol of LeAnn; I want to be the best LeAnn I was made by God to be.

Receiving Holy Communion at Mass helps me to be mindful of this change I am seeking, strengthens me for the journey toward becoming my best self in Christ.  Growing in our understanding of the tenets of our Catholic faith like Transubstantiation gives us the language, the vocabulary, to talk about what we believe.  Talking about the truth of the Catholic faith can help it to grow in our own hearts even as those truths take root in new hearers of His word.

Be the catalyst for someone new to hear a 50cent word.  See you at Mass!

All are welcome and invited to participate in daily Mass.  Click here for schedule: https://saint-anne.org/worship/daily-mass-schedule/

Our blog series continues. We’ve now heard from Fr. Bob and several contributors on the four sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:  “what we believe,” “how we worship,” “how we live,” and “how we pray.”  Each week, we will focus on one of these sections — either with a personal witness story or some perspectives on a particular teaching. We continue on this path with some thoughts from Les Stahl, music director, St. Anne, on “what we believe” regarding divine providence.  According to the CCC, #302, “God carries out his plan through divine providence…guiding his creation toward perfection.”   Les is a professional composer and musician with a rich history in leading productions, liturgical music and worship programs.

“I Believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”

Oh boy, here we go. We casually say these words every Sunday, and it’s easy to just let the words fall out of our mouths as simple memorized recitation. But it is a powerful phrase, packed with more meaning than our casual Sunday brush with it might allow. And one worth unpacking.

The new IPhone has a digital assistant known as “Siri.” You’ve seen the commercials: you can ask your phone anything and it responds with an answer. “Where can I find a good pizza?” and it comes back with a list of restaurants in your area. “How do I get home?” and directions with a map immediately appear on your phone. I asked it “What is the meaning of life?” Depending on “her” mood she comes back with several answers: “To think about questions like this.” (a tip of the hat to Descartes). “I find it odd that you would ask this of an inanimate object.” “I give up.” (probably the safest answer).

To the question “Who is the Creator?” Siri responded with “God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe.” Okay now we are getting somewhere. What is meant by preserving the universe?” Answer: “Creation has to do with the origin of things while preservation has to do with their continuance. The Bible says that the same God created the universe in the beginning is presently preserving it.” Okay, simple enough.

Catholics call this Divine Providence (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 302). Although creation has its own perfection, it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created “in a state of journeying” (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call “divine providence” the means by which God guides his creation toward this perfection.

The witness of Scripture makes it clear that God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children’s smallest needs: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’. . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” God has a
plan for creation and is working it out.

But here is the hard part: God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of co-operating in the accomplishment of his plan. This is where human failings enter into the equation.

One other phrase we casually recite by rote every Sunday in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done.” That is the meaning of life. Our faith is based on the principle of living a life in consonance with God’s plan. We are invited to be a part of God’s plan by surrendering to it rather than assuming we are the center of the universe, not God. God uses our cooperation. In his goodness, God gives us our free will and the opportunity to cooperate in his plan. Our lives are to be lived in abandonment to divine providence.

We hear the stories of saints and think: “All well and good for them, but I can’t possibly be as holy, selfless, humble, _______ (fill in the blank).” And as for all those folk in the Bible, set before us as examples, there is no way I can live up to their lives. But it’s not their journey that God wants for us; it’s our journey that matters. “We know that in
everything God works for good for those who love him.” The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth. If our lives are a constant commitment to “the journey” we are in sync with God’s plans for us. As we are his creatures, we are graced with God’s perfect love that teaches us the way home to Him.  His only desire is for his beloved children to be reunited with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Hebrews 12, verse 1 and 2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

There is a saying: “Let Go, Let God.” For us the letting go that we most need to do is a type of surrender. We try to keep a tight grip on things that are out of our control. This is like trying to grip the water flowing in a river. Put your hands into the river. If you try to get the water by grabbing it and clenching your fists, it goes right out of your hands. If
you relax and open, gently cupping your hands, the water flows into your palms. By relaxing, opening, and trusting, we can hold onto more of what is precious to us. By letting go, we open ourselves to becoming in sync with divine providence, God’s plan for us.

No one gets to the heart of the mystery of life, or has the key which will unlock all the doors of divine providence, unless we work to live our lives as part of God’s plan. Without that realization, life is an unsolvable riddle.

Back to Siri: “Do you have all the answers?” She irreverently answered: “A fine question. Now can we get back to work?” No one has all the answers, but we can work on it.