Catholic Sensibility

Universe Today covered Mr Gingrich’s comments from Florida:

By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the Moon and it will be American.

Love the moon base idea. I don’t think it would have to be American, and I’m very curious about how the former Speaker plans to pay for it. The current president couldn’t squeeze another $6B out of Congress for NASA. Does Mr Gingrich anticipate a Dem Congress willing to loosen up the purse strings?

USCCB spokeswoman says:

Irony is the word of the day.

The timing is not understood, according to the USCCB. Here in parish life, we all know that it’s all about Catholic Schools Week. Even in my parish which doesn’t have a school, as such.

January is a busy month. I do understand the timetable, even if I might harbor doubt on the content. The announcement on the HHS regulations precedes their implementation by a presidential administration by exactly one year, a somewhat closer association than Roe v Wade, but just by two days.

Getting back to the irony, I think that Catholics who interpret the president and his administration as anti-Catholic, yes; this honor is ironic. My daughter was explaining the three forms of literary irony to us the other night. I found this definition in wiki:

In dramatic irony, the author causes a character to speak or act erroneously, out of ignorance of some portion of the truth of which the audience is aware. In other words, the audience knows the character is making a mistake, even as the character is making it. This technique highlights the importance of a particular truth by portraying a person who is strikingly unaware of it.

So maybe there’s more irony to this than expected. People who have convinced themselves of a certain point of view seem strikingly unaware that it’s not about them. But in the political view, it’s about an issue of rights and responsibilities that trumps a conscience matter for a minority of citizens.

Honestly, I don’t know how people are going to extract themselves from this. Millions of citizens need health insurance. Health insurance reform is going forward, and if the president backtracks on his milquetoast commitment to it, he’s going to anger a lot of supporters. And it is undeniable that the people most upset about this weren’t likely to vote for him anyway. Not even if he pins a medal on a Catholic school teacher. As for how this turns out, maybe all of us Catholic Church employees are in line to get big raises to cover our old insurance premiums. Too bad the institution can’t take a page from the Knights and set up their own system.

Okay. So we’re getting close to halfway through this document, and perhaps a few of you have commented, “So what? It’s not the catechism.” What is the relationship between the two?

120. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the General Catechetical Directory are two distinct but complementary instruments at the service of the Church’s catechetical activity.

– The Catechism of the Catholic Church is “a statement of the Church’s faith and of Catholic doctrine, attested to or illuminated by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. (Fidei Depositum 4a)

– The General Directory for Catechesis provides “the basic principles of pastoral theology taken from the Magisterium of the Church, and in a special way from the Second Vatican Council by which pastoral action in the ministry of the word can be more fittingly directed and governed”. (General Catechetical Directory Introduction)

Both instruments, each taken in accordance with its specific nature and authority, are mutually complementary. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an act of the Magisterium of the Pope, by which, in our times, in virtue of Apostolic Authority, he synthesizes normatively the totality of the Catholic faith. He offers the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the first place, to the Churches as a point of reference for the authentic presentation of the content of the faith. The Catechetical Directory, for its part, carries that authority normally vested by the Holy See in instruments of orientation by approving them and confirming them. It is an official aid for the transmission of the Gospel message and for the whole of catechetical activity. The complementary nature of both of these instruments justifies the fact, as already mentioned in the Preface, that this General Catechetical Directory does not devote a chapter to the presentation of the contents of the faith, as was the case in the 1971 General Catechetical Directory for Catechesis under the title: “The more outstanding elements of the Christian message”. (General Catechetical Directory Part III, chapter 2) Such is explained by the fact that this Directory, as far as the content of the Christian message is concerned, simply refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church”, which is intended as a methodological norm for its concrete application. The following exposition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church seeks neither to summarize its contents nor to explain this instrument of the Magisterium. It simply seeks to facilitate a better understanding and use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in catechetical practice.

Does this strike you as adequate? The mission of 1972′s GCD was complemented by the 1992 Catechism. That mission was refined by the current document (1997) we’ve been examining, by fine-tuning its content and focus. Many of the principles of pastoral catechesis are considered the same or similar to that of twenty-five years prior.

Wrapping up the deacon’s role at Mass:

184. Once the Prayer after Communion has been said, the Deacon makes brief announcements to the people, if indeed any need to be made, unless the Priest prefers to do this himself.

185. If a Prayer over the People or a formula of Solemn Blessing is used, the Deacon says, Bow down for the blessing. After the Priest’s blessing, the Deacon, with hands joined and facing the people, dismisses the people, saying, Ite, missa est (Go forth, the Mass is ended).

186. Then, together with the Priest, the Deacon venerates the altar with a kiss, makes a profound bow, and withdraws in a manner similar to the Entrance Procession.

Commentary:

Announcements are made at the discretion of the priest.

“Bow down” is an interesting translation of inclinate vos. The first sentence of GIRM 185 is new to the 2000 edition.

Next up, acolytes (187-193), readers (194-198), and concelebration (199-251), the last of which I think we will take in giant gulps, unless there’s a crying out for detail.

Opening Prayer

Glory Be …

Scripture

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Intercession

God of Life, as Thomas was sustained by the Bread of Life, nourish me through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

Concluding Prayer

Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.