I wish I had known about being an election official years ago. I’d been waiting to get on jury duty forever. But at my older brother’s encouragement, I volunteered to work the 2008 elections after I moved back to Iowa. I never felt more of an American as on that day. I’ve gotten the call to do the party primaries June 5th. Not being a member of either major party, I can’t vote tomorrow. But I’m happy to facilitate the voting for others.
That being said, I’ll likely miss blogging for the first time this calendar year. As you see below, I’ve put up the other Faithful Four post.
Don’t forget about the transit of Venus tomorrow. I won’t be able to join the local astronomy club for it, but I’m bringing binoculars and a white sheet of paper to the polling place so I can look in on the last Sun-Venus-Earth alignment till 2117. 5pm Eastern time, if I remember right. Hope it’s sunny where you are.
Who else is named in webs of deceit? Cardinal Bertone. Monsignor Georg Gänswein, the pope’s personal secretary.
Cardinal Burke is mentioned, but not as a leaker. More as a complainer. About those Neo-Cat liturgies. Like that’s his department.
David Gibson suggests this is not so much a leak, but a pour.
I was thinking of the acclamation for the Sprinkling Rite:
I saw water flowing from the right side of the temple, alleluia …
Monsignor Gänswein has been very close to the pope for his whole papacy. People close to B16 are obvious targets. As obvious as planting evidence in the Vatican apartment of a personal assistant. It’s hard not to get the idea that the pope himself is the target of this campaign. I saw one or two rumbles over the weekend that he might make an example of himself and resign. If so, someone has spent a lot of energy and wielded a lot of power to make it happen. Not sure I want those people in charge of the Church.
Our Faithful Four are set. Today’s match-up suggests that the Paschal Mystery is very much at the center of Catholic consciousness. I suspect readers here are more aware of it than casual Catholics. I’ve re-seeded the finals based on initial seeds in the white, red, green, and violet brackets.
A sprinkling rite is designated for the dedication of a church after the conclusion of any form of entrance:
48. When the entrance rite is completed, the Bishop blesses the water for sprinkling the people as a sign of repentance and as a reminder of baptism and for purifying the walls and the altar of the new church. The ministers bring the vessel with water to the Bishop, who stands at the cathedra. The Bishop invites all to pray, in these or similar words:
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this solemn rite of dedication, let us ask the Lord our God to bless this water created by his hand.
It is a sign of our repentance, a reminder of our baptism, and a symbol of the cleansing of these walls and this altar.
May the grace of God help us to remain faithful members of his Church, open to the Spirit we have received.
The ICEL 2003 text reads a little differently:
Dear brothers and sisters, as we solemnly dedicate this house, let us humbly call upon the Lord our God to bless this water, his creation, by which we shall be sprinkled as a sign of repentance and a memorial of baptism and with which the new walls and altar will be cleansed. May this same Lord support us with his grace so that, attentive to the Spirit whom we have received, we may remain faithful in his Church.
One sentence instead of three. Where before the sprinkling of the walls and altar was seen as symbolic of God’s action, in the new translation, it is brought out clearly that the sprinkling itself is the cleansing action
The text of the blessing is akin to the one used at the Easter Vigil, with a few extra allusions. Here is the 2003 prayer:
O God, through whom every creature comes forth into the light of life, you accompany human beings with such great love that not only do you nourish them with fatherly care but with the due of charity you mercifully cleanse them of their sins and constantly lead them back to Christ their Head.
In your plan of mercy you have established that sinners who descend into the sacred waters shall rise free from guilt, having died with Christ, and be made members of Christ and co-heirs of an eternal reward.
Sanctify + therefore with your blessing this water you have created, that, sprinkled on us and on the walls of this church, it may be a sign of the saving waters, whereby we are washed in Christ and made the temple of your Spirit.
Grant that, with all our brothers and sisters who will celebrate the divine mysteries in this church, we may come at last to the heavenly Jerusalem.
Through Christ our Lord.
Just so you know, the original Latin of this rite was not updated from the 1977/78 incarnation, unlike RCIA, funerals, and the pastoral care rites. And the Mass, of course. This English prayer is a bit more flowery, and presumably more faithful to the Latin original. Since the purpose of this series is not to analyze different configurations of ICEL, I’m confining my remarks to the general thrust of the text.
It’s a classic berakah structure infused with the actions of the Trinity. The bishop recalls the accompaniment of the Father and the tender compassion (Psalm 103 among many other passages) shown to his people. The second part suggests the Paschal Mystery as the apex of the salvation of humankind. The third calls upon the Holy Spirit. In the fourth section, the bishop makes one petition that points to two futures: those who will worship God in the new church, and the end of our pilgrimage in heaven.
Comments?
about Todd Flowerday
A Roman Catholic lay person, married (since 1996), with one adopted child (since 2001). I serve in worship and spiritual life in a midwestern university parish.
about Neil
Neil has been a blogging collaborator for the past several years on Catholic Sensibility. He brings his unique experiences from theology, spirituality, and the ecumenical sphere. Pay special attention to each one of his posts.
A sprinkling rite is designated for the dedication of a church after the conclusion of any form of entrance:
