CHRIST THE ONE PRIEST

Your Liturgy & Small Faith Communities Corner

Brief Instruction on the Liturgy:
Christ, who through the action of the priest, is truly the One offering the Mass. The liturgy, as the work of the people or the service of the people rendered to God calls for an "active and conscious participation. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no.14)” This means that we just don’t “attend mass” but must participate in the mass by responding to the prayers, by singing, by consciously listening to the Word of God and the prayers; paying attention to the actions (gestures) and symbols and receiving Holy Communion. When we are at mass, we try very hard to focus our minds on the action of Christ offering himself through the ministry of the priest. At mass our whole being must be so one with Christ that we are truly remembering and making present His death and resurrection. Our minds must not be wandering or thinking of other things such as shopping, or watching our favorite sports. (To be continued)

Art & Environment: Welcome to Isaura Ruiz into our Committee. Isaura volunteered to help with the sewing. Thank you Isaura.
Sacristy Ministry: We are in need of generous parishioners to be members of this new ministry. Functions: Occasionally clean and polish the candle stands; wash the priests’ vestments; keep the sacristy clean and orderly; and help water the plants around the altar. For more information, please contact: Isabel M. Dion, Liturgy Consultant, (Coordinator) at 951-924-1968. Please leave a message if she is out of the office to answer your call. Thank you.

Indoor Green Plants:Would you like to donate some indoor plants to replace some of the plants that we presently have and which need some sunshine? If you are so moved by this appeal please bring them on Saturday morning, July 14, and place them in front of the statue of our Lady of La Salette. We will arrange them for you. Leave your personal information (including email if you have it) and we will place it on the altar to include you in the Mass prayers. Thank you.

SMALL FAITH COMMUNITIES: We read in Acts 2:42 that the early Christian community prayed together, shared the Word of God; broke bread together; and supported one another. This was the small church that serves as a model to us today as the basic organization of a Small Faith Community. A Small Faith Community therefore, is a gathering of 8-10 people who devote some time to come together to share their faith by: 1) Reading and reflecting on the scriptures; 2) praying together; 3) sharing their faith stories; 4) and in response to God’s message and challenge take an action to help others.

We are in the process of forming a committee to help our Pastor implement this vision. We need you! Please call
Isabel M. Dion, Small Faith Community Consultant, for more information on how to become a member of this committee at 951-924-1968.

QUIBUSCUMQUE MISA LATINA PRAEDILIGENT OFFERTUR

QUIBUSCUMQUE MISA LATINA PRAEDILIGENT OFFERTUR

THE pre-eminent college drinking song of all time. The authorities of a pre-eminent Roman Catholic university in Germany where it was composed by a Dominican monk were not amused. He lost his job. But the spirit of his song remains after more than 225 years.

If you can't enjoy this, you have no business at a Latin Language Mass.

Would you have fired him?

Gaudeamus igitur
Juvenes dum sumus
Post jucundum juventutem
Post molestam senectutem
Nos habebit humus.

Ubi sunt qui ante nos
In mundo fuere?
Vadite ad superos
Transite in infernos
Hos si vis videre.

Vita nostra brevis est
Brevi finietur.
Venit mors velociter
Rapit nos atrociter
Nemini parcetur.

Vivat academia
Vivant professores
Vivat membrum quodlibet
Vivat membra quaelibet
Semper sint in flore.

Vivant omnes virgines
Faciles, formosae.
Vivant et mulieres
Tenerae amabiles
Bonae laboriosae.

Vivant et republica
et qui illam regit.
Vivat nostra civitas,
Maecenatum caritas
Quae nos hic protegit.

Pereat tristitia,
Pereant osores.
Pereat diabolus,
Quivis antiburschius
Atque irrisores.

(vers. C. W. Kindeleben 1781)

Istum judicium Benedicti decimi sexti pressionem sanguinem meum augmentare causat. Lex orandi, lex credendi per ipso violetur.

3rd ANNUAL SONshine SUMMER BIBLE STUDY CAMP

TRUST - UNITE - TRAIN - FOLLOW - LEAD --- 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5!

Agents for good in the service of God.

Boot training in the school of Jeremiah, Jonah, John and Jesus. Shout, sing, cut and paste, run and jump, learn the verse of the day.
Believe it or not, from 7:30 in the morning until noon time, 100 dynamic children guided and helped by about 75 adults and teen aged teachers, leaders and guides take the Bible verses about Trust, Unity, Love, Training effort and other spiritual ideas and put them into their hearts. The church grounds are over-run by waves of orange and blue shirts proclaiming that these are the recruits into Jesus' SONforce special service.

There are cadenced shouts of "I love Jesus, yes, I do; I love Jesus, how 'bout You?"

There are songs and hymns that become a part of the hearts and souls of the "campers". The Arts and Crafts room dedicates a few minutes of each session to encourage the campers to write their prayers for parents and other relatives on a piece of paper that will be offered at the morning Mass of every day.

The campers are children from the first grade through the sixth grade. They are from all parts of Moreno Valley, Riverside and Perris. They are all between 7 and 12 years aold. Well, that's the basic understanding. Actually, some of the children are between 5 and 7 years old, and others are 13 to 15 or more. Those who are between 5 and 7 are accompanied by their mother and we allow them to participate in the activities of the camp. There are other participants in the camp. The adults of the parish are also attracted to the environment. The event attracts a retired doctor who helps to keep children safe in case of untoward events; there are mothers and brothers and sisters who come to help, usually with the introductory question, "Is it too late to volunteer?" We accepted a brother and sister who would work for the five days, one being the substitute for the other!

The St. Christopher SONshine Summer Bible Camp has become a real total community event. Walking around the campus this year was like old times. 60% of the participants are at least in their second year. At least 35% are in their third year. At least 40% of the volunteers are in their third year. The impact of this event is in the reality of the action of Jesus in the St. Christopher community.

This is the initial story of the third annual SONshine Summer Bible Camp event at St. Christopher Parish in Moreno Valley, CA. Stay tuned for the wrap-up that will hit your computer next week.

BURNING QUESTION INFANT BAPTISM

The question of whether or not to baptize infants is one that polarizes the Christian community like perhaps no other. It is a discussion that pits one person's exegesis against another's. It is a discussion that cannot be resolved by "sola scriptura" apologetics because it requires the kind of compromise that neither side likes to make. Interestingly, as we pointed out in the introduction to the question, the positions taken in this question by the people in the pews are not purely based on religious conviction along Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant lines. Based on the above, ParishWorld.net is stepping off the ledge into the deep water with the following.

Those baptized in the Gospel, including Jesus
John was carrying the word that the time of the arrival of the Messiah was close at hand. He took his message to the Judean Wilderness on the shores of the Jordan River. There he repeated the call of the prophets who came before him, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew, chapter 3, verse 2)

It is said that many came to him and many were baptized. What is not clear is how many of them were Jewish and of the "Chosen People" who had already been circumcized and how many of them were from the "other nations" to the east of the Jordan. It is also not said whether or not they submitted to circumcision after their baptism. One thing is for sure, Jesus, who was one of those baptized certainly had no need to repent and certainly had no need of circumcision. Finally, it is not mentioned in the Scripture that infants were or were not among those being baptized by John.

Those baptized in the stories of Acts

The act of baptism is mentioned about a dozen times in Acts. In each case the event is one of conversion. In Acts it is narrated that some of the conversions are from Judaism and some are from members of the Nations. (Non-Jews) We are all familiar with the discussion about whether or not the non-Jews are to be or not to be circumcized. Nowhere in Acts nor anywhere else in Sacred Scripture is it mentioned specifically that infants were being baptized. This argument will continue until the end of time because there is no literal canonical Scriptural proof to be found that they were or were not.
Furthermore, Acts does not communicate a single baptismal event in which a newborn infant from a converted household was taken to the Christian community for baptism followed by a no-holds-barred, post baptismal party for half the town.


Therefore...

The baptism of infants is a religious development that includes events from apostolic times, no record of which has found a place in the canonical scriptures. Even my apologete friend, Mr. Gonzaga could not find a literal scriptural proof that a first century household included infants. He could not find any literal proof that an infant was every presented to the community after eight days to get baptized in a continuation of the Abrahamic covenant, substituted by post resurrection baptism.

Furthermore...


This does not mean that our declaration of Faith that Baptism is essential for salvation is incorrect. It also does not mean that our insistence on the necessity of infant baptism is unfounded and therefore not an article of faith. What it does mean is that the practice of infant baptism has been revealed to us as being an integral part of our faith by the continuous practice of baptizing infants for centuries, dating back to the age of the apostles. This practice is so pervasive in Christian communities that even many of our non-Catholic, Christian brethren cling to it just as we Catholics, Orthodox and Anglicans. There is no doubt that the early Church practiced infant baptism; and no Christian objections to this practice were ever voiced until the Reformation. The doctrine of infant baptism cannot be discussed in a "sola scriptura" apologetics environment, because there is no cold, hard "fundamentalist" evidence to sustain it literally in canonical scripture. That does not perturb us Catholics and Orthodox because we believe in the revelatory power of Tradition as our Jewish forebears.


ParishWorld.net says:


We cannot do better in this matter than to direct our readers to the INSTRUCTION ON INFANT BAPTISM issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith andapproved by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, October 20, 1980. We strongly urge you to read this document. It was produced while Cardinal Josef Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) was in charge of this Congregation.


Among many points that the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith makes are the following:

"It is beyond doubt that the preaching of the Apostles was normally directed to adults, and the first to be baptized were people converted to the Christian Faith. As these facts are related in the books of the New Testament, they could give rise to the opinion that it is only the faith of adults that is considered in these texts. However, as was mentioned above, the practice of baptizing children rests on an immemorial tradition originating from the Apostles, the importance of which cannot be ignored; besides, Baptism is never administered without faith: in the case of infants, it is the faith of the Church."

"Furthermore, in accordance with the teaching of the Council of Trent on the sacraments, Baptism is not just a sign of faith but also a cause of faith. It produces in the baptized "interior enlightenment," and so the Byzantine liturgy is right to call it the sacrament of enlightenment, or simply enlightenment, meaning that the faith received pervades the soul and causes the veil of blindness to fall before the brightness of Christ."
Further down in the document, the author gets practical and presents the following directives.


"The Pastoral Practice of baptizing infants is based on the following:
1) In the first place, it is important to recall that the Baptism of infants must be considered a serious duty. The questions which it poses to pastors can be settled only by faithful attention to the teaching and constant practice of the Church. Concretely, pastoral practice regarding infant Baptism must be governed by two great principles, the second of which is subordinate to the first.1) Baptism, which is necessary for salvation, is the sign and the means of God's prevenient love, which frees us from original sin and communicates to us a share in divine life. Considered in itself, the gift of these blessings to infants must not be delayed.


2) Assurances must be given that the gift thus granted can grow by an authentic education in the faith and Christian life, in order to fulfill the true meaning of the sacrament. As a rule, these assurances are to be given by the parents or close relatives, although various substitutions are possible within the Christian community. But if these assurances are not really serious there can be grounds for delaying the sacrament; and if they are certainly non-existent the sacrament should even be refused.

We have presented this teaching to you because of its pre-eminent importance. If you have any further comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editor@ParishWorld. net.

Paul Dion, STL
Theology Editor
ParishWorld.net

The Birthday of John the Baptist, Jesus' Cousin

I once visited the hometown of Jesus' cousin.

What a neat place! Lush with fresh green trees, abundant flowers, singing birds and of course steep hills which lead to breath-taking views over the valley below which leads to the Jordan and the Dead Sea. This is now a town of upper middle class and and well to do Jewish people. It is a wonderfully bucolic town with a rather small population and a lot of political clout. It is beautiful and makes you want to say, "I could live here." It is however, my opinion, that this is a case where you have to be careful what you ask for. I have vacationed in towns like this before. They are great to visit and great to leave. But, hey, there is no danger that I will ever live here, so I enjoyed myself.

There are the "obligatory" churches that "mark the spot" of Mary's Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth as well as the spot where John was born. The churches celebrate the saying, "We know that it happened somewhere, so it might as well be here." Well said. This is a jewel of a spot. This is a case of the land speaking to people. (The Fifth Gospel) This may not be "The Spot", but the tradition and the Land say that it is. It responds to some of the description that is in the Bible and it is close to Jerusalem. Zachariah was the priest in charge of the Holy of Holies in those times and because it was his turn and his term, he had to go to Jerusalem just about every day. It wasn't far. Maybe about 4 to 5 miles over hill and dale. About one and one-half hours' walk. One day, he was cornered by an angel in the Temple while he was on duty, as you recall, and struck dumb. But Elizabeth did conceive despite her old age and Mary took off from Nazareth and came to the village of En Kerem just outside of Jerusalem to help her cousin get through the first throes of her pregnancy.

We once heard our pastor, Father Romy say that it was a good thing that Zachariah was struck dumb after getting the news of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Father Romy, no stranger to small village life, said that being dumb saved Zachariah the trouble of having to explain his way out of every bit of gossip that must have besieged En Kerem once the event became publicly visible. It was the work of God, but there is never any protection from town gossip. So Mary came and helped while her uncle continued his Temple service.

The revelation of the Angel of God clearly told the family that the son who was to be born would be a "Son of God", a prophet who would carry the message of God in the example of Samson and Samuel, Nazarites who would not drink alcohol nor cut their hair. (Numbers, 6; 2 - 21 rules of Nazarites. Judges 13, 4 - 7 revelation of angel to Samson's mother) The call of the Nazarite was strict. It requir3ed total consecration to God. It separated the called one from the "world" and placed him in the service of God for the good of God's community. The call of God required total dedication to Him for life.

John's life began just a few months before Jesus'. Just as Mary and Joseph had to escape to Egypt, Zachariah and Elizabeth had to try to protect their baby. The non-biblical stories that are repeated verbally and written in some of the non-biblical books say that Zachariah was killed while trying to escape to protect John from being killed by the soldiers after the edict of Herod to kill all babies under two years old. Elizabeth managed to escape with the help of an angel. It is said that she was able to make it to Galilee and lived east of the Jordan, in the region of the Decapolis. From there John was able to begin his Mission, and eventually introduce his cousin Jesus to the world from the waters of the Jordan.

This was the age of accountability. This was the age of, "You're not married. You've had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband." (Jesus to the woman at the well) "You are not pleasing to God because you are sexually involved with other women. Your brother's wife" (John to Herod) "Didn't you know that your father and I were worried?" (Mary to Jesus) "Didn't you know that I had to be at my Father's work?" (Jesus back to Mary) "The one of you who is without sin should be the first to cast the stone." (Jesus to the Pharisees) "Peter, Peter! Tonight by the time the cock crows you will have renounced me three times." (Jesus to Peter) "Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also
blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains." (Jesus to the Pharisees, John, chapter 9, verses 40 and 41) "He says that He is going to Jerusalem. We go with Him to die with Him." (Thomas to the disciples)

Through our Sacred Scripture, we know that John grew up and lived to get his head cut off and put on a platter to please the woman in Herod's life. We all know what happened to Jesus. It has never been easy to confront the world with the truth. If there is something that we can learn about life as we contemplate the parallels between the lives of John and Jesus I think that it is, "The truth will set you free, but you have to be willing to be free in heaven because the "world" is not the home of the truth."

It is not easy to learn this lesson. A lot of us grow old because God keeps wondering how long it is going to take us to learn it and live it. The Bible says that those who have successfully learned it get the pleasure of walking with God early in their lives. Check out these words of the book of Wisdom, Chapter 3:

1 But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.
2 They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction
3 and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.
4 For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality;
5 Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.
6 As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
7 In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
8 They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever.
9 Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: Because grace
and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with the elect.

John and his cousin Jesus were given to us so that we could aspire to the same gift that they received. Eternal Life3 in the glory of heaven.
May God bless us so that we will not have to cry at one another's funeral.