This makes me think...

The Christian faithful are to hold the Most Holy Eucharist in highest honor, taking an active part in the celebration of the most august sacrifice, receiving this sacrament most devoutly and frequently, and worshiping it with the highest adoration. In explaining the doctrine about this sacrament, pastors of souls are to teach the faithful diligently about this obligation.


--- Code of Canon Law - par. 898

The Teenaged Saint Remembered in the Eucharistic Prayer

A young teen from the 4th century inspires both the Church calendar, and Eucharistic Prayer I. Read all about St. Agnes in my column at Patheos this week.

Need Joy? Sunday is your answer. My latest at Amazing Catechists...

Here's what this article at my column at Amazing Catechists is about:

Sometimes, the joy busters of life get the better of me. But not lately.When I delve into the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I really get a sense of the joie de vivre of Catholic life. Something that has had a real and  practical application for my life is finding the joy of Sundays. After all, Sunday was the day that Jesus was raised from the death… and in so many ways, a thoughtful observance of Sunday can breathe life back into the other days of the week for me. 

Tucked in the middle of a longer summary about Sundays, I came across this tiny, yet powerful phrase: the day of joy. I was immediately struck by how often I have revered Sunday as an obligation and a day of rest, but have not always consciously entered into it as a day of joy, save for major feast days.  As it turns out, that is just one aspect of a bigger idea that describes Christian joy as proper to Sundays.

Read the whole thing.

Among Women ReadHER 12.17.11 Adventing,Christmas poems and blessings...

Among Women ReadHER

12.17.11

Alphabet for Christmas (a poem)
By Misty Nagel at her blog, Misty's Morning
Love-i-ly!


Celebrating Advent: An Advent Wreath Carnival Link Up
By Sarah Reinhard at Snoring Scholar
Simply sharing the advent wreaths from readers. It's nice to see what other folks do at their family table, or putting their wreaths at other focal points in their homes. Go check out Sarah's most recent visit to Among Women 116 where she shares her Advent book, Welcome Baby Jesus.


Why Religion is Not About Being Good
By Marc Cardaronella at Evangelizing Catechesis
Marc's spot on with this post.... especially in the season of 'bein' naughty or nice'.


Why Are the No Catholic Mom Bloggers in this Top 100 List
By Jennifer Fulwiler at the National Catholic Register
Things to think about in terms of the new evangelization...


A Mom's Holiday Playbook
By Erika Higgins at CatholicMom.com
I missed this article from a few weeks back. This idea may be too late to implement this year, but you might still get started. It's a simple way to "plan" to get through the holidays. I'm sure you could design your productivity apps on a phone to do similar things for you.


A Blessed Christmas!
By +Archbishop Timothy Dolan at his blog at the Archdiocese of New York
This is Bible and Catholic trivia that I've known for years, but I'm pleased that His Excellency pulled it all together in one handy article... making connections like this: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Hebrew word for 'house of bread.' Thus, on His birthday, we approach the Eucharist to receive this “bread of life” in Holy Communion." (I love learning stuff like that!)


It's All About the "O"
By Daria Sockey at her blog, Coffee and Canticles (The Divine Office in your Life)
The "O Antiphons" that is! They start today! 

Why Did the Magi Cross...

By Meredith Gould

That Meredith, such a kidder! A giggle.

image credit

The Advent of our Attentiveness - my latest at Patheos

In this, my final column in the series on the new Roman Missal, I pick up on the themes of the early Gospels in Advent, and the response of the Centurion, whose words we make our own as we respond to the invitation to partake of the Eucharist. Here's the heart of it:

The Gospel, echoing the Prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist, speaks ofthe raising of the voice -- proclaiming -- not just watching. For Advent isalso about speaking and doing… of reacting to what one knows to be true. 

These words beckon a holy disposition… not only watchful waiting, butof solemn preparations and vocal proclamations telling of our love for the OneWho is to come. The One who is soon to arrive in our midst bringing his powerand his glory. 

In this, the final article in this column’s series on the people’sresponses in the updated Roman Missal,we discover at the words we utter as we prepare to receive Jesus in theEucharist. 

They have everything to dowith a careful watchfulness and a proper preparation for a divine encounterwith the Lord. The same Lord, who, remarkably, comes via the Incarnation as oneof us, just as surely as he surpasses us in wisdom, power, and glory… comes tocure us, forgive us, and save us.  

He is Jesus: the One God recognized even by a pagan Centurion (See Mt 8: 5-13) … Whose beloved servant wasparalyzed and suffering, yet whose faith anticipated the touch of Jesus to cometo the rescue.  

Indeed, it is the Lord who comes to us in this holy visitation at Massin word and sacrament. 

In the old translation we prayed: Lord, I am notworthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. 

In the new translation we pray: 

Lord, I am notworthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soulshall be healed. 

The Centurion’s watchful eye had taught him everything he needed toknow about Jesus, whose very words contained the power. And so he petitionedJesus to heal his servant. As Jesus acquiesced, prepared to come directly toperform the healing, the words of the Centurion’s faith and humility admitsomething profound. Jesus’ great power and authority is so potent that he needonly speak it, and the healing will be manifested. 

And so, our new prayer at this point in the Mass is this directiteration from Matthew 8:8, theCenturion’s response to Jesus: Lord, I amnot worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and myservant shall be healed. Only we will not pray for a servant’s healing, wewill be praying for our own. 

What more appropriate prayer might we make during this holy season ofAdvent? 

Here's the whole thing.

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Among Women ReadHER 11.26.11 Mass Translation, Mass Confusion, Mass Participation...

Among Women ReadHer

11.26.11

When Thanksgiving is Filled with Turkeys
By Fr. James Martin SJ at Patheos.com
A bit late for the actual holiday, but soooo much of this is applicable to the forthcoming Christmas celebrations!


Sharing With Others
By Rachel Balducci at Testosterhome
A little bit on the joy of girls, and a little bit of loving on the strangers we meet.


31 Elaborate Marriage Proposals
Posted at MentalFloss
Hey, I'm just happy that people STILL want to get married, despite the high stats on cohabitation, and people who eschew marriage! (Altho', theologically and biologically speaking, I believe we are made for marriage, and the ultimate marriage feast of the Lamb, but I digress...) Don't know how many Catholics are represented here, but surely a few clever romantics!


Saying Good-Bye to the Old English Translation of the Mass
By Patrice Fagnant MacArthur at Spiritual Woman
It's ok to say you will miss the old translation. It's healthy, even, to say that this will be hard for you, for us. 


Pope Benedict XVI on Children and Prayer
By Lisa Hendey, at Faith and Family Live
So simple, so true, so easy to share. (So often folks think of B16 as this giant theological intellectual... and *ahem* he is... but he is also a great, humble, Papa who speaks to the moment, even with children.)


Jesus' Eager Desire: Our Participation at Sunday Mass
By Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston (as found in The Pilot)
Excellent catechesis for everyone everywhere (not just us folks in MA) on our relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist, and our relationships with the people in the pews next to us in our parishes. Long letter, but worth it. Share it with your loved ones.


Did you see the pilot episode for the sitcom Mass Confusion? If not, you can catch it on demand at Catholic TV.

Ready or Not Here Comes the New Translation of the Roman Missal. Lotsa Tips Here!!

Well, the clock is ticking toward the First Sunday of Advent on November 27. On that Sunday, the English-speaking churches of North America and elsewhere will begin using the updated or "new" third edition of the Roman Missal for its daily and Sunday Masses. We've not had such a large change in language since 1973 -- and that's before a lot of today's Catholics were born. So there's a period of transition ahead of all of us. And many folks are still not aware of the coming changes, so please help to spread the word.

This third edition of the New Roman Missal is not a change to the Rite of the Mass, but it has several changes to the wording of the prayers we are accustomed to within the liturgy. Therefore, things are going to feel and sound a little strange for a while until we all adjust.

Here at Among Women we talked about the New Missal with Jaymie Stuart Wolfe in the context of bringing familiarity with the changes to our families, most especially to our children.  Listen to Among Women 114 for discussion about the new missal.

I've also been doing a series at Patheos on the changes coming to the people's responses in the New Missal. You'll find the latest installment, "It's Not a New Mass, It's a New Translation", focusing on the Sanctus ("Holy, Holy, Holy") and the Mystery of Faith here. But here's an excerpt...

New Translation:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

There seems to only be the slight change in the opening line of the Sanctus, where the word “hosts” replaces the phrase “power and might.” 

This prayer comes at an important transition within the Mass, preparing our hearts to join with the priestly offering of the Eucharistic prayer. This hymn uses the thrice holy Hebrew superlative, praising the infinite and almighty God in heaven. The New Missal’s switch to using the word “hosts” more accurately reflects the Scriptural origins of this prayer. 

This hymn to God is taken directly from a heavenly vision from the prophet Isaiah. (See Is 6:3). What’s more, the vision vividly describes not just some angels present at the heaven liturgy; the word “host” refers to an army of angels lifting praises to God. 

“Host,” you may recall, also references the many angels who lit up the sky with their praises on the first Christmas night when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The shepherds were greeted by a multitude of “the heavenly host (Lk 2:13.)” 

This simple change in wording conveys powerful imagery and the truth of what is dynamically present to us in the liturgy. 

The Sanctus is the prayer of angels and we are privileged to join in their song. Heaven and earth are -- indeed -- full of God’s glory. And at this point in the Mass, we are but moments away from when heaven reaches down and touches earth in the form of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Go read the rest here.

Here are the other articles in the Patheos series:

The Translation: A Renewed Understanding of Love 

Missal Changes, Part One: Defined By Prayer (On the Opening and Penitential Rites) 

Mass Changes, Part Two: The Gloria and the Creed 

It's Not a New Mass, It's a New Translation (Part Three: The Sanctus and the Mystery of Faith) 

Other helpful resources:

Resources available for free: 

USCCB: Welcoming the Roman Missal 

Changes in the People’s Parts 

Catholic TV’s series: “Preparing for the New Roman Missal” – video recordings of a symposium for priests. 

Liturgy Essentials from Pauline Books and Media  - I especially like Sr. Anne's 7 min video on her insights on the New Missal.

Life Teen's Video Series Introducing the New Missal 

OSV’s Roman Mission revision readiness plan – helpful suggestions on how to  prepare for the new translation. 

Podcast: iPadre - Fr. Jay Finelli interviews Fr. James P. Moroney, an expert who is traveling the country introducing the New Roman Missal.  

Resources available for purchase: 

Books on the Missal  -- even for kids! -- from Pauline Books and Media

A New Translation for a New Roman Missal – DVD set featuring talks by Fr. James Moroney of Vox Clara. 

The Mass Explained -- book by Fr James Moroney 

The Church’s Common Treasure – A booklet produced by the USCCB containing 11 essays exploring the history and purpose of the new translation.

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This makes me think... about Jesus in the Eucharist

"The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed” (1 Cor 11:23) instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and his blood. The words of the Apostle Paul bring us back to the dramatic setting in which the Eucharist was born. The Eucharist is indelibly marked by the event of the Lord's passion and death, of which it is not only a reminder but the sacramental re-presentation. It is the sacrifice of the Cross perpetuated down the ages.This truth is well expressed by the words with which the assembly in the Latin rite responds to the priest's proclamation of the “Mystery of Faith”: “We announce your death, O Lord”.


The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious – among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work. Nor does it remain confined to the past, since “all that Christ is – all that he did and suffered for all men – participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times”.


When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord's death and resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present and “the work of our redemption is carried out”. This sacrifice is so decisive for the salvation of the human race that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after he had left us a means of sharing in it as if we had been present there. Each member of the faithful can thus take part in it and inexhaustibly gain its fruits. This is the faith from which generations of Christians down the ages have lived. The Church's Magisterium has constantly reaffirmed this faith with joyful gratitude for its inestimable gift. I wish once more to recall this truth and to join you, my dear brothers and sisters, in adoration before this mystery: a great mystery, a mystery of mercy. 


What more could Jesus have done for us? 


Truly, in the Eucharist, he shows us a love which goes “to the end” (cf. Jn 13:1), a love which knows no measure.


---Blessed John Paul II, from his final encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia



H/T Bad Catholic

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About the everyday sacrifices... my column this week at Patheos

The gift of doing a weekly column like this is that provides me a place to revisit themes that have grown stronger in my own life over time and take them to a deeper place. For example, this week's column....


Sacrifice -- the kind that serves another -- binds us intangibly to the wonderful wounded Christ whose own power transforms our humble service in all our relationships -- work, families, marriages -- and helps to perfect it, so it look like His. And we find this most truly when we lay it all down every week as an offering in the Holy Sacrifice of Mass...  before the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. 


Here's a bit: 

Sacrifice for another, it might be said, is perhaps the ultimate “yes” that one can offer another person, and unto God. 

Sacrifice acts on behalf of another, putting them first, not furthering one’s own cause. It entails interrupting or delaying our own plans, desires, trajectories, goals and even giving something we may be afraid to lose… our time, money, comfort, power or prestige… for the sake of another who may or may not be worthy of it. 

True sacrifice is a profound offering… a mix of generosity, magnanimity, humility, love, and selflessness.

We sure do appreciate it when someone else shoulders our burden in the muddiness of life, or has our back when the fight is on, or stands in the gap between what we can and cannot do for ourselves. 

In the midst of being on the receiving end of another’s loving service, we often have no idea to what depth they chose to intervene on our behalf. And it’s often not until long afterwards that we have an opportunity to respond in gratitude to what’s been received.  

There's more, here.

My latest column @Patheos discusses some of the coming changes to the Roman Missal

Here's my latest column at Patheos.  This is beginning to examine some of the changes coming to the new Roman Missal, and how it will affect our prayer at Mass. Here's a snippet: 

The way we pray defines us, not just as individuals, but also corporately as a Church. A well-known Latin axiom Lex orandi lex credendi reminds us that the law of prayer is the law of belief, and indeed, our way of prayer shapes and typifies our beliefs. This is why the celebration of Eucharist is so central to the worship of Roman Catholics; our entire Creed comes together in the Mass.

To that end, bishops and clergy, Scripture and Latin scholars, poets, musicians, liturgists, and others have spent years revising a dozen drafts leading up to the release of this new translation, and the finished product offers a wonderful opportunity for renewal within the entire English-speaking Church—a chance to delve into what we say when we pray, with rekindled concentration.

It's important to note that while some of the words we pray will change, the familiar Rite and Order of the Mass will not.

Within the audible or spoken parts of the Mass, we have the priest's prayers and the prayers of the people. Changes are coming to both.

Read the rest. 

Among Women Podcast #102: Finding God on Campus

Among Women 102 welcomes college students, Kate Gohn and Kate Ryan, women of the Class of 2012. Together we explore themes of friendship, finding Christian community, going to Mass, and trying to grow in faith in an urban campus setting. They also offer a few tips to incoming college freshmen on being committed to one's faith.

Also profiled is Blessed Pierina Morosini, a young Italian martyr for the faith who is a patron for rape victims.

This note: AW will be on hiatus until July 13.

My thoughts on this B-B-Big Church, over at Catholic Mom today

I'm over at one of my favorite websites^^ in the world today, Catholic Mom! And it's a little ditty about our world-wide connectedness as Catholics, as well as world-beyond-heaven connections...

My 21-year old daughter tells me she loves going to Mass at the Oratory in London. She says its a little bit like at home in some ways, but different, you know?  She went to Mass in Ireland recently and experienced the same thing. She loves the catholicity she finds. And I love it when I see one of my children come to experience a truth of our faith in a tangible way.  Indeed, we are part of a big church – much bigger than we dare to really imagine on any given day.

Soon my family will meet my daughter in Rome before she ends her semester abroad. I expect similar connections to be discovered in the Masses we will attend at St. Peter’s Basilica. There will be thousands of pilgrims there, and we’ll experience the Mass we’ve come to know at home in a new way: in Latin and many international languages during the high holy days.

I know just how my daughter feels. It is wonderful to discover that we are members of this amazing global Catholic Church. It is astounding to think that, at every moment of the 24-hour day, a Mass is being offered somewhere, touching every hemisphere.

There's more to it, here.

This makes me think...

"Go, the Mass is finished." This means, not "OK. You have discharged your weekly obligation. Now go live Monday through Saturday as you wish, then come back and worship for another hour."  Rather it means "Go -- and carry with you, out of this church into your daily routines, all that you have meant and done here."  That is, here in the Mass you knelt before the Lord, and by your gestures you placed yourself under his Cross (you crossed yourself how many times?), and you spoke words which declare your readiness to obey his Word, and you partook of the Great Offering itself when you received the Host and sipped from the Cup. What did all this mean?


Well, among other things it identified you as his child, his servant, his priest; and as such you identified yourself as someone who is prepared to make his whole life (household chores, driving in traffic, sitting in committees, doing schoolwork or factory work, being with your family and friends) an offering to God, which is what we human beings were created to do. You are not your own. Your work is not your own. Your world is not your own. It belongs to the Most High; and our highest dignity as Homo sapiens is to "return" it all to him as an oblation, consciously, volitionally, intelligently. 


---Thomas Howard, If Your Mind Wanders at Mass

I'm over at Patheos today... the word is Ordinary Time -- but it's anything but!

From today's column, A Word in Season, a look beyond the ordinary:

The beauty and the richness of Ordinary Time, as seen in the perennial green vestments and décor, gently remind us that all life is now infused with grace. Like the evergreen amidst the winter snow, the life of faith is alive inside of us. Ordinary Time is steeped in the knowledge and the witness that we are not alone. That God is still with us. That this is good, but it is not all that will be. 

Ordinary Time brings with it a kind of daily hope, not only of "the more" to come in the afterlife, but of "the more" of God's Word and Presence that inhabits the everyday.  

The cry of John the Baptist in this Sunday's Gospel is the same reminder that we hear following the consecration at every Mass: 

        Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away this sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29) 

The extraordinary God comes to us under the ordinary auspices of bread and wine, by the power of his Word. The bread of heaven and the cup of salvation are now part of our ordinary circumstances. And though we may have witnessed this time and time again, it is anything but ordinary.

Read it all. 

In my Inbox today: The Catholic Mass

Here's a day brightener found first thing this morning via email, courtesy of my sister Pam:

It Makes Me Think...

In the Eucharistic Prayer [at Mass], we hear that Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, made it his Body, and gave it for our salvation. One way of identifying with this is to pray, "Lord, take me. Bless me. Break me. Make me a part of your saving, sacrificial gift for the world's bodily and spiritual needs." Having offered ourselves to the Father in union with Christ, we practice active participation in the Mass in its highest form.

This inner drama at each Mass contribute to the process of our spiritual transformation into Christ. It all takes time. When we receive Communion, we need to remember that we are not changing Christ into ourselves. Jesus is transforming us into himself. This requires a proper understanding of the Real Presence of Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine. It is not simply a symbol that merely points to Jesus. Nor is Christ's presence just a projection on our part in the sense that make him present when we receive him. As Pope Benedict XVQ told the young people gathered at the Twentieth World Youth Day:"The Body and Blood of Christ are given to us so that we ourselves will be transformed in our turn. We are to become the Body of Christ, his own Flesh and Blood.

We all eat the one bread, and this means that we ourselves become one. In this way, adoration... becomes union. God no longer simply stands before us as the One who is totally Other. He is within us, and we are in him. His dynamic enters into us and then seeks to spread outwards to others until it fills the world, so that his love can truly become the dominant measure of the world." (Benedict XVI, Homily at Marienfeld, Twentieth World Youth Day [August 21, 2005]).

The consecrated bread has become Christ's Body. The consecrated wine has become Christ's Blood. Jesus is substantially present in a way that is entirely unique. This happens by the power of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the priest's or bishop's acting in the person of Christ during the Eucharistic Prayer. At Mass, when we are offered the Host and hear the statement "The Body of Christ," we answer, "Amen," that is "Yes, I believe."

Only Jesus can transform us into himself. Our inner receptivity is critical. To receive love, we need to be open to it. The sacrificial gift of self at every Mass is the best way to be continuously transformed into Christ. Then in Christ we become bread for the world's bodily and spiritual hungers.


----The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2006.

Dying With the Confidence of a Saint

What the Church and the saints teach us about Christian death. My latest article on the Catechism, over at Today's Catholic Woman.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.