Fr. Tom Collins: "Through Him and with Him and in Him" - The Great Forfeiture

Editor's note: A forfeiture is "the loss or giving up of something as a penalty for wrongdoing." Reflect on that definition as you read Father's column on the "Great Forfeiture." 

Our Lord and Savior gave Himself up as a holocaust on the altar of sacrifice as a penalty for OUR sins, the innocent Lamb of God. And yet, as Father points out, we do not lose Him in the giving up. In His gracious mercy He abides with us still in all the tabernacles of the world even til the end of time. 

Even during this time of pain and suffering and loss of the Mass, when so many churches are actually closed and locked, He remains with us. If they lock us out of our local church (as they've done to churches in Pittsburgh where my daughter lives) I will be kneeling on the steps outside gazing at the tabernacle through the glass doors and praying. May God have mercy on us in this time when the faith of many is wavering as they put their trust in the CDC rather than in Almighty God. Prudence is one thing; fear and panic is quite another.
                             

 THE GREAT FORFEITURE       by Fr. Tom Collins

Sunday Meditation: Enough Already with the Hordes of "Extraordinary" Ministers of Communion

Do we really need all these "extraordinary" ministers?

I went to the Tridentine Mass today in Front Royal at St. John the Baptist. It's my Mass of choice if I can do it. Why? It's reverent, filled with a number of large devout families many with babes in arms, and, perhaps best of all, it is quiet, a respite from a world that's "all noise" as Screwtape would have it. There is no loud choir laughing and chatting in the back before Mass starts. There is no cantor who can't sing from the rear but has to come up to the sanctuary to perform.

Aside from an occasional crying infant the Church is quiet. One can actually adore Our Lord in union with the community all of us silently worshiping together. In a world desperately in need of silence, that is a real gift! And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard a cell phone ring at the Latin Mass. Hmmm.... Are people more aware of what they are doing, perhaps?

A Tridentine High Mass for First Saturday

Yesterday, on First Saturday in honor of Our Lady, I had the blessing of attending a sung Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's in Charleston, SC with a beautiful Gregorian schola and the use of incense. It was the first time I'd been to a Mass like that since I was a teenager.

What struck me particularly during Mass was how it is so much about worshiping God, not celebrating the community or a performing priest.

Every liturgical action focuses on the Holy Sacrifice offered to God and our participation in that sacrifice. Those who say the congregation aren't involved are just silly. Is a student attending his professor's lecture not involved because he's silent? Is someone attending a symphony not engaged with the music because he's not a member of the orchestra?

Of course the congregation is involved -- more involved, in fact, than those who are focused on superficials like holding hands at the Our Father and singing Gather Us In.

A Priest Who Leads...Literally

I subscribe to bulletins online to see what's going on around the diocese at some of the best (and worst) parishes. This week, my first stop was at St. Raymond of Penafort which is always a joy. But this week it was a particular thrill when I read in the Pastor's Corner an announcement explaining that the Sunday 8:45 a.m. Mass will be celebrated ad orientam beginning September 15th. Fr. De Celles gave a  description of the history and meaning of this beautiful practice. You can read the entire article here, but here's just a bit:

The symbolic turning together in the same direction harkens back to the Early Christians who often prayed facing East, waiting for the second coming of the Son of God, like the rising of the Sun....In offering Mass facing toward the people I have often thought how strange it is that I would be praying to God while I was facing you. Think of that: you all face in the same direction together (toward the altar, the cross and the Eucharist), as you pray to God. So then why would I face you while I'm praying to God, and leading you in prayer and presenting your sacrifice to God. Facing with you always seems more natural, more prayerful, more uniting. 

Read the article; it's worth the few minutes and may enrich your understanding of the Church's wisdom. Incidentally, Vatican II did NOT mandate that the priest face the people, and, in fact, that posture is a clear temptation to say Mass a performance of the priest rather than as a sacrifice to God.

Here's a video of the Novus Ordo as it could be:

Narcissistic Priests Who Mess with the Mass

I'm working on an article for the summer issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. (I just sent out the Spring issue, but with our Texas kids coming for most of the summer, I will have little time to do it once we hit July. So I'm in my get an early start mode.) Doing research I came across an interesting article that attributes "messing with the Mass" to psychological narcissism of priests. I found it fascinating and convincing. It fits with the general narcissism of the culture. Need evidence? Spend a day on Facebook and see the thousands of photos young people put up of themselves often in provocative and suggestive poses. Attention-seeking is the epidemic of our me-me-me culture. Check out the article here and see what you think.

For the Sunday Vigil