Bp. Serratelli's chairmanship will be notably different than that of his predecessor (whose name rhymes with Fish-person.)
...St. Luke ends his gospel with the Emmaus story in which the two disciples recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread (Lk 24:30-32). He begins Acts of the Apostles with this picture of the infant Church: “These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Clearly for the evangelist, the Eucharist is the Presence of the Risen Lord building up the Church in the unity of faith and love.
(Note the fact that they 'recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. That's significant.)
...To every priest is given the great privilege of celebrating the Eucharist by virtue of his ordination. The priest presides at the Eucharist in persona Christi.
Therefore, every priest has the obligation to celebrate the Liturgy in such a way that he provides a witness of faith to the sacredness of the gift given to the Church by her Lord. He is to be faithful to the Church’s norms for the Liturgy so as to be at the service of communion, not only for the community directly taking part in the celebration, but also for the whole Church. [And so that 'Christ may be recognized in that celebration...] The Mystery of the Eucharist “is too great for anyone to permit himself to treat it according to his own whim, so that its sacredness and its universal ordering would be obscured” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 52).
...In each particular Church, the diocesan bishop has a most serious responsibility before God for the faithful celebration of the liturgy.
...Recognizing this serious duty placed upon me, I ask every priest in this diocese to follow The General Instruction of the Roman Missal as well as Redemptionis Sacramentum, issued in 2004 by the mandate of Pope John Paul II.
...Since the people of God have the right to the Liturgy as the Church has established, both instructions are to be followed in their entirety.
...and so on.
Moving from Trautman to Serratelli will be like going from b/w to color TV. Big, Wonderful, difference!
HT: Fr Z
"Moving from Trautman to Serratelli will be like going from b/w to color TV."
ReplyDeleteNot just to color but to HD widescreen digital w/ stereo sound (theater style).
Unfortunately he can't force the other bishops to do what they should, only set the example & we need to pray others follow.
Yes, excellent letter from Bp. Serratelli - something that all bishops should have been saying for the past 40 years.
ReplyDeleteFollow the rubrics! You don't have the right to change one word of the Propers of the Mass! Use the proper vestments, the appropriate sacred vessels!
Ordained ministers should help with distributing Holy Communion. EMHCs may be used ONLY when there's a real need (which in my experience is very rare).
Of course all of this has been set down before (GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum, Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, etc.) and been routinely disregarded (Cfr. Ab. Mahony et al.).
So, can we expect a similar exhortation from Ab. Dolan? Don't hold your breath...