Notebook
The Pope’s recent document, clamping down on the Tridentine Mass, has made difficult reading for some Catholics. The document issued by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI authorising that Mass (which Pope Francis has now overridden), also made difficult reading for another band of Catholics.
Pontifex
The key thing to remember, however, is that neither document was really about the forms of liturgy permitted. For both Popes, the key issue was unity within the Church. The Pope’s title of ‘pontifex’ makes him a bridge-builder, charged with promoting and maintaining unity among Catholics. The guidance both Popes have given is aimed at strengthening that unity.
When Benedict XVI launched Summorum Pontificum in 2007, his aim was to keep adherents of the Tridentine liturgy on board as members of the Church. He went to great lengths to see that their way of worshipping God was to be respected and preserved, and gave them every opportunity to have the Mass they loved, yet within the fold of the Church. Unfortunately, this did not work out in practice. The Vatican’s questionnaire to the world’s bishops brought evidence of much unhappiness at ground level about the divisions that had been caused. Pope Francis’ response reflected this.
In all our prayers for ‘Unity among Christians’, we sometimes forget that unity among Catholics comes first. The Pope cannot forget this. Any student of Church history can point to the fragmentation which disunity has brought among the family of believers. The Great Schism of 1054, which divided the East from the West, did a thousand years of damage. And necessary and all as Martin Luther’s opposition to Church abuses was, the splintering of the Body of Christ that resulted from the Reformation is another reminder of why unity is the better road.
Second Reading
Coincidentally (or providentially) this is what the Second Reading last Sunday was all about. Writing to the Ephesians (4:1-6), Paul reminded his flock to do all they could to preserve the unity of the Spirit, by the peace binding them together. “Bearing with one another in complete selflessness” was to be a mark of believers. That teaching remains a key challenge, to this day.
And the challenge affects not just the people at the top of the Church, but each of us, wherever we find ourselves. The greater good trumps our local divisions. Anything that splits a community is harmful, whether it’s devotion to a certain church or church area, a GAA team, a small section of a parish. I spoke in that way at one AGM of the local GAA club. I addressed the criticisms of people that can arise, the dissatisfaction members can feel when their ideas are not respected. I appealed to the greater good, the instinct that draws in members in the first place. This challenge applies no less to believers, Catholics, parishioners. We are to do all we can to preserve the unity, locally: St Paul, help us in this!
Welcoming Grandparents’ day
Grandparents’ Day went down a treat (last Sunday) — especially when we rehabilitated the title to “Grandparents’ and Elders’ Day”. Somehow the title ‘elder’, with the suggestion of great vats of acquired wisdom available for sharing, hit the mark better than the (sometimes-frail) elderly. The resources sent from Rome were very suitable and helpful, especially the suggestion of prayers for elders who died in the pandemic and the lighting of candles for them. All we need now is for a major card company to get on board and we’ll have a global hit! Thank you, Pope Francis, for this inspired idea.
Full steam ahead for sacrament enrollments
We cannot celebrate First Communion or First Confession at present, but that doesn’t prevent us from enrolling children for the sacraments. Normally, that enrolment would take place last autumn, but we couldn’t do that in 2020 because we were in lockdown. During this June and July, we have been enrolling children at Sunday masses in this parish, a few at each Mass, ensuring a lovely mix of old and young. Our school trained them well in the academic year, now it’s up to their parents and parish to help them prepare spiritually for the great events — whenever they are celebrated.