Wounded in the house of them that loved Me

Vultus Christi ^ | 10-1-10 | Fr Mark Kirby

[mlizzy]

And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of your hands? And he shall say: With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me. (Zechariah 13:6)

Today I received this message from a friend in the state of New York :

"Four ciboria were sold/given to a local antiques dealer. All of them contained particles of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and one ciborium was from a church that closed in 1996. Imagine, Our Lord was in there for that long."

A Cancer at the Heart of the Church

How and why does this sort of thing happen? It causes me a piercing sorrow because it is emblematic of the widespread loss of faith in the adorable mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist that is a cancer at the heart of the Church.

The Erosion of Faith

Several years ago, in the context of a course I was teaching, I suggested that the erosion of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist was, in fact, fostered by a number of liturgical and disciplinary changes:

-- Minimalistic approach to the fast before Holy Communion.
-- The offering of the Holy Sacrifice by the priest facing the congregation.
-- The removal of the communion rail and obfuscation of the sanctuary as "the holy place."
-- The relegation of the tabernacle to the side of the sanctuary.
-- The reception of Holy Communion standing, and in the hand.
-- The introduction of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

Taken together, these changes sent a chilling message to the Catholic faithful (and even to confused clergy): "Folks, the Blessed Sacrament just isn't all that we thought it was."

The Protestantization of Catholic Worship

Let it be noted, en passant, that while all of these changes are a cause of scandal to Eastern Orthodox Christians, not one of them would be considered offensive to mainstream Protestants. When one begins to worship like a Protestant, one begins to believe like a Protestant.

Ignorance

The cumulative effect of these changes, compounded by a woefully deficient sacramental catechesis and by certain lamentable theological, liturgical, and moral sensibilities in seminaries during the 60s, 70s, and 80s, is the current Eucharistic Crisis. Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) remains, in most dioceses, a document that is virtually unknown. Pope John Paul II's Year of the Eucharist seems to have faded into oblivion; his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (2003), and his Apostolic Letter, Mane nobiscum, Domine (2004) seem not to have been assimilated at the parish level. Pope Benedict XVI's Sacramentum Caritatis (2007) is, in many places, unknown.

Adoration and Reparation

Adoration in a spirit of reparation is more than ever necessary. Where are the adorers and reparators who will console the Heart of Jesus, wounded by the irreverence, coldness, indifference, and sacrilege that He receives "in the house of them that loved Him," and in the Sacrament of His Love?

As for the much discussed "reform of the reform," might it not be a case of too little too late? Can anything apart from a Divine Intervention, a new sacerdotal Pentecost, obtained through the intercession of the Maternal Heart of Mary, bring about the change of heart that is needed?

[mlizzy]

Rock on, Fr. Kirby! Thank you!

[mlizzy]

Another spiritually "on fire" October, 2010, post by Fr. Mark Kirby, titled "My Friend" can be found at this link.

At the moment of the Consecration, he becomes all luminous: beautiful with an indescribable beauty. I feel him trembling with joy next to me. And then he becomes utterly silent; he becomes like a flame of adoration. At this moment he is never alone. All his confrères arrive and sometimes, just sometimes, one feels, but ever so slightly, the hushed movement of wings of light. They arrive, all of them together, to surround the altar and then, they adore, they adore, they adore.

[faucetman]

Love God, not religious trappings. You could all (including your priest) start by meeting outside in the park in your street clothes. Leave all your religious trappings in your church building as it is only a building and all that “stuff” is meaningless to God. Some of it may even be an abomination. Meet in his cathedral of creation, and you are more likely to have a spiritual experience than in some church made by man.

[mlizzy]

I’m not interested in any Catholic bashing in regard to this thread. I hope my fellow Catholics will ignore comments like yours.

[heylady]

‘The Protestantization of Catholic Worship

Let it be noted, en passant, that while all of these changes are a cause of scandal to Eastern Orthodox Christians, not one of them would be considered offensive to mainstream Protestants. When one begins to worship like a Protestant, one begins to believe like a Protestant”

I am a Protestant and found this remark quite amusing.

[mlizzy]

Let it be noted, en passant, that while all of these changes are a cause of scandal to Eastern Orthodox Christians, not one of them would be considered offensive to mainstream Protestants. When one begins to worship like a Protestant, one begins to believe like a Protestant”

I am a Protestant and found this remark quite amusing.

I was a Protestant myself ... for 33 years.