Sacramentum Caritatis Bulletin Articles - #3

Click here for part 2 & link to part 1:

For St. Jude's 9/2/2007 bulletin - Thanks, Fr. Fox!

SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS - Part 3
This is the third part of a series of bulletin articles on the March, 2007 apostolic exhortation from Pope Benedict the XVI entitled ‘Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Love)’. For further study, refer to the 1st 6 paragraphs of SC.
The three sections of Sacramentum Caritatis are all titled after the ‘Mystery’ of the Eucharist. Each part is named ‘The Eucharist: a Mystery to be…(…Believed’, part 1) (…Celebrated’, part 2) (…Lived’, part 3). A quick scan of SC shows that Pope Benedict uses this term throughout the exhortation at least 70 times. This emphasis is an important insight in and of itself, but it requires us to understand the meaning of the word ‘mystery’ in the context of our faith.
The mysteries of our faith are realities that extend beyond our knowledge and comprehension. Our understanding of these mysteries is limited by our human nature, but made real to us by God’s revelation. In the Greek language of the New Testament, the word for ‘mystery’ (musterion) appears 27 times. When that same term is translated to Latin, the term that is often used is sacramentum, which is also from where the Church’s term ‘sacrament’ is derived.
Consider other common Church usage of the term ‘mystery’: to Eastern Rite Christians, what we know as the 7 Sacraments are referred to as Mysteries; the Paschal Mystery, where we refer to the Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of God in human form; at Mass, when we may be invited to prepare to ‘celebrate the sacred Mysteries’, or during the Memorial Acclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer where the priest invites all to ‘proclaim the Mystery of faith’.
When Pope Benedict writes, ‘[t]he Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith."’ (SC ¶6), he focuses us on the mysteries we believe. This belief invites us to encounter and know Jesus Christ, the Divine Son who became man, suffered and died and rose to make atonement for our sins and to unite us to God. This encounter and knowledge is given to us in the breaking of the bread - the real and substantial presence of Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist.

adapted from presentations written by Rev. Martin Fox, published at http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com; alt. GPW

Sacramentum Caritatis Bulletin Articles - #2

From St. Jude's 8/26 bulletin (click here for Part 1):

Sacramentum Caritatis is organized into three parts, all titled ‘The Eucharist: a Mystery to be…(…Believed’, part 1) (…Celebrated’, part 2) (…Lived’, part 3). In the Introduction, Pope Benedict writes of the Eucharist as the ‘food of truth’, and connects the ‘innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth’ that we all have to ‘[t]he Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), [who] speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth.’ (SC, ¶2)
This introduction immediately establishes the real and uncompromising tone the Church uses in its teachings about the Eucharist. Christ is truly, really, and substantially present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. The truth of the ‘Mystery to be Believed’ is eternal and unchanging, not relative or symbolic.
When the Holy Father writes about the Eucharist throughout Sacramentum Caritatis, he teaches us that the sacrament itself and the celebration of the sacrament (the Mass) are one reality. To preserve our faith in the truth of the sacrament, it’s important to be faithful to the instructions the Church gives about the ‘Mystery to be Celebrated’.
The third part (‘A Mystery to be Celebrated’) follows naturally from our faith in and nourishment from the food of truth. Our encounter with God Himself in the Eucharist must continue to change us, and from that should flow a life lived in truth.

adapted from presentations written by Rev. Martin Fox, published at http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com; alt. GPW

Bulletin Blurb #3

for St. Jude's July 29 bulletin

How Can I Keep from Singing?
The song during the Preparation of the Gifts this weekend was written by Robert Wadsworth Lowry (1826-1899). Lowry was a 19th Century Baptist preacher who ministered at churches in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and served as chancellor of the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell University).
He wrote hundreds of Gospel hymns, including “How Can I Keep from Singing” and “Shall We Gather at the River”. Ironically, he’s still renowned today for his music, though he would have preferred to be remembered as a preacher, having once said, “Music, with me has been a side issue... I would rather preach a gospel sermon to an appreciative audience than write a hymn. I have always looked upon myself as a preacher and felt a sort of depreciation when I began to be known more as a composer."

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadsworth_Lowry

Bulletin Blurb #2

This week's music background from the St. Jude Bulletin:

‘BICENTENNIAL’ Hymn
The Communion song this weekend is ‘You Satisfy the Hungry Heart’ (Gather #815). This song, which is notable for its quirky, uneven rhythms, is also known by the tune name BICENTENNIAL. The music was composed by Robert Kreutz (1922-1996), and the text was penned by Omer Westendorf (1916-1997).
The name of the tune comes from the year of its composition, 1976. This hymn was the winning entry of a hymn competition the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sponsored in connection with the 41st International Eucharistic Congress. Cincinnati native Omer Westendorf founded the World Library of Sacred Music, which published the first English language collection of Catholic liturgical hymns and texts, the People’s Mass Book. For years, Omer was the choir director and organist at St. Bonaventure in South Fairmount.

Biographical information adapted from http://www.canticanova.com/articles/liturgy/art9x2.htm