Pope’s Morning Homily: Key to Grow God’s Kingdom? Docility, Not Organizational Charts... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Pope’s Morning Homily: Key to Grow God’s Kingdom? Docility, Not Organizational Charts... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Tuesday, 25 October 2016
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Pope’s Morning Homily: Key to Grow God’s Kingdom? Docility, Not Organizational Charts by Deborah Castellano Lubov

God’s Kingdom grows through its members’ docility and not with organization charts.
According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis stressed this to faithful during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, drawing from today’s readings, which discussed the Kingdom of God.
Noting how the Kingdom is not to be confused for a fixed structure, since it constantly evolves and grows, he underscored that accordingly God’s Law is not to only be studied, but is to be journeyed forward with in our lives.
“What is the Kingdom of God?” Francis asked. “Well, perhaps the Kingdom of God is a very well-made structure, everything tidy, organization charts all done, everything and the person who does not enter (into this structure) is not in the Kingdom of God.
“No,” he warned, “the same thing can happen to the Kingdom of God as happens to the Law: unchanging, rigidity… the Law is about moving forward, the Kingdom of God is moving forward, it is not standing still. What’s more: the Kingdom of God is re-creating itself every day.”
The Journey of Yeast and a Seed
In Jesus’ parable about things in our everyday lives, the Pope reminded, he discusses the yeast that does not remain yeast, because once it is mixed in with the flour, it is ‘on a journey’ to becoming bread. Also, the Jesuit Pope recalled, Jesus, points out how a seed does not remain a seed, because it dies and gives life to a tree.
The yeast and the seed are both on a journey to do something, Francis explained, while observing that to do this, however, they die.
“It is not a problem of smallness, be it small, of little count or a big thing. It’s a question of journeying and whilst on this journey the transformation occurs,” he said.
Don’t Be Too Rigid!
For the second day, Francis again warned against being a person who sees the Law, but does not journey forward and has a rigid attitude.
“What is the attitude that the Lord asks from us in order that the Kingdom of God can grow and be bread for everybody and is a house too for everybody?” he asked.
“Docility: the Kingdom of God grows through docility to the strength of the Holy Spirit. The flour ceases to be flour and becomes bread because it is docile to the strength of the yeast and the yeast allows itself to be mixed in with the flour… I don’t know, flour has no feelings but allowing itself to be mixed in one could think that there is some suffering here, right? But the Kingdom too, the Kingdom grows in this way and then in the end it is bread for everybody.”
Just as the flour is docile to the yeast, continued Pope Francis, the seed too allows itself to be fertilized and loses its identity as a seed and becomes something much larger: it transforms itself.
Similarly, he noted, the Kingdom of God recreates iteself each day, journeying “towards hope” and “journeying towards fullness.”
The Pontiff warned that if Christians do not journey forward, they become rigid, and this rigidity, “makes them orphans without the Father.”
“A rigid person only has masters and no father. The Kingdom of God is like a mother that grows and is fertile, gives of herself so that her children have food and lodging, according to the example of the Lord.”
The Pope concluded, encouraging all faithful to ask the Holy Spirit today for the grace of docility.
“Many times we are not docile to our moods, our judgements. ‘But I do what I want….’ The Kingdom does not grow in this way and neither do we grow. It is docility to the Holy Spirit that makes us grow and be transformed like the yeast and the seed. May the Lord give us all the grace of this docility.”
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Cardinal Müller: We Have Dignity! Let Us Not Forget This! by Salvatore Cernuzio

In an aside from today’s presentation of the Instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled Ad resurgendum cum Christo, about the burial of the deceased and the conservation of ashes in case of cremation, the Cardinal Prefect Gerhard Müller answered questions posed by ZENIT and other colleagues of the press.
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Q: The most incontrovertible “no” in the document is for the dispersion of the ashes of the deceased or their transformation into “commemorative memories, jewelry pieces or other objects.”
Cardinal Müller: This is contrary to the Christian tradition. We do not want the faith to be privatized and have the memory become something individual; it is something that belongs to the Church and to the family of God. Therefore, it is confirmed that it is better to find a common place for our dead, so that not only one who possesses the ring, for example, has a memory of the deceased but also others who want to pray for him. A living person did not only have relations with the person whose ashes he is carrying. Ashes cannot even be divided in several pieces: one in a ring, another in a necklace or in something else. It seems to me to be something altogether ridiculous.
Q: A practice of this sort, therefore, is <considered>a sin by the Church?
Cardinal Müller: It’s not a mortal sin and it isn’t even prohibited, but it is a symbol that is not in accord with the sentiments and principles of Christianity, because the body of the deceased – as I said – is not the private property of his relatives. We are all children of God and of the Church. A reason given is that objects are preserved on the basis of a testament, but the identity of a person expressed in his body is something else; it is not the inheritance or the almost material property of the relatives or of a parent, a wife or anyone who had relations <with the deceased>. We must surmount this individualism and not only this …
Q: What else?
Cardinal Müller: We must avoid mixing elements of Christian thought with those of secularized, materialist and individualist thought. It is necessary to return to integral Christian thought, or the awareness that when one is baptized at birth, the beginning of one’s life is with Christ and also hone’s morality, one’s social relations are influenced by one’s communion with Christ, consequently, also our death. Saint Paul spoke of death, in fact, in a perspective of communion: all the dead of Heaven will come on the last day, they will be united to the living on earth. This communal dimension of our existence has been lost in the West. There is talk of the autonomy of the person in a “bourgeois” sense.
Q: In the document, the Church confirms <that she> does not prohibit cremation but prefers burial. Can you explain why?
Cardinal Müller: The model we follow is Jesus Christ, who was buried after His death and rose. In virtue of the Christian tradition, the Church has always suggested, therefore, the practice of burial with the veneration of the deceased and prayer in a cemetery or sacred place close to the Church. Cremation was in use among pagans of the Roman Empire and it came back in the 19th century with the materialist current as expression of denial of the faith and of the resurrection. These anti-clerical materialists advanced the proposal of cremation to show themselves superior to us Christians, too “late” in the development of thought. However, cremation is not always done to deny the faith. In such cases, the Church accepts and tolerates it, as long as some conditions are respected such as, in fact, not dispersing the ashes in a forest, in water, almost as though wishing to dissolve the identity of the dead. The Church in fact wants a place for a personal memory where the name of the deceased is inserted, because every one must be called by his name, every one must have his dignity.
Q: What happens now to one who already had a relative cremated?
Cardinal Müller: We are not speaking of a punishment for someone who has done this, nor do we want to convince people now, but confirm what is the right attitude, according to the Church, in face of death. It is difficult to die and also to lose a loved one, but everyone must accept this as a truth that God is our Savior and does not leave us outside the hope of resurrection. Therefore, the Church advises all the faithful against cremation and admonishes them to act according to the faith, so as not to be “partial” Christians but <Christians> at every moment.
Q: You spoke of the “challenge of the evangelization of death.” Do you see a trivialization today of the concepts of death, resurrection and the beyond?
Cardinal Müller: Yes, there is a trivialization, but it is part of the secularization of Christianity. Above all I see a lack of respect for life and human dignity. So many people have lost the Christian faith and continue to keep some uses, traditions, elements, without being aware of their dignity. I am thinking, for instance, of children when they receive their First Communion only to have a celebration … We are sad, because these people are entrusted to the Shepherd Jesus Christ who gave His life for us, has left us the Sacrament of the Eucharist and, of these gifts, we only consider the decorative aspect, we use them for secular feasts. Instead, we have dignity, let us not forget this!
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Church Clarifies Teaching on Cremation by Sergio Mora

An Instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding burial of the dead and conservation of ashes in case of cremation, entitled Ad resurgendum cum Christo was presented today in the Holy See Press Office, by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; its Consultor Father Angel Rodriguez Luno and Father Serge Thomas Bonino, O.P. Secretary of the International Theological Commission.
Cardinal Müller said that, because cremation is becoming more widespread, it will be considered as an ordinary practice. This development, he noted, is accompanied by another phenomenon: “the conservation of the ashes in a domestic environment, their conservation in commemorative memory or their dispersion in nature.”
Therefore, the specific issue of this document refers to the conservation of the ashes, without forgetting that “the Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom be kept of burying the bodies of the deceased,” although cremation “is not prohibited unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian Doctrine.”
In fact, a canonical normative on the preservation of the ashes did not exist; therefore, some Episcopal Conferences requested the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for guidelines on how and where the funerary urn should be kept, he said.
Cardinal Müller reiterated: “the Church continues to recommend insistently that the bodies of the deceased be buried in a cemetery or other sacred place.” Moreover, burial “is the most fitting way to express faith and hope in bodily resurrection.”
He acknowledged that there can be legitimate reasons to choose cremation, but the ashes must normally be kept in a sacred place, namely, in a cemetery or sacred place; it is necessary to avoid pantheistic or naturalistic ambiguities; therefore, the dispersion of ashes in the air, on the earth, in water or other way, or to convert the ashes into commemorative memories is not permitted.”
With this new Instruction, noted the Cardinal, we wish to contribute “so that Christian faithful have an ulterior awareness of their dignity.” He concluded by reminding that it is necessary to “evangelize the meaning of death in the light of faith in the Risen Christ.”
Responding to ZENIT, Father Bonino pointed out that the process of cremation is not natural as burial is, because technology intervenes. “It is a process in which man attempts to have control over life and death.” It has something of the brutal, because it destroys the body immediately without giving close individuals the possibility of engaging in the process of acceptance over time, as in a sort of privatization of death.
Father Bonino also pointed out that in the newly published Instruction, the first part on the burial of the deceased must not be forgotten and that the intention was to “reiterate the doctrinal and pastoral reasons for preferring the burial of bodies,” which the Church “recommends insistently.”
Father Rodriguez Luno added that the document reflects the Church’s care so that the bodies of the faithful deceased “inspire respect and charity and can express appropriately the Christian meaning of death and hope in the resurrection of the body.”
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Why So Many Rites in the Church by Fr. Edward McNamara

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: What is the reason for the existence of so many Eucharistic rites present in the Church? Can you explain the origin of different rites, and why does the Church accept all the divisions of the Eucharistic celebration? — N.A., Bangaluru, Karnataka state, India
A: Although some people think that the Catholic Church is equivalent to the Latin or Roman rite, this is a misconception. The Roman rite is by far the largest and most widely diffused in the world, but the Catholic Church is composed of 23 distinct Churches or rites. According to the Annuario Pontificio, Eastern Catholics number about 16.3 million.
The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches defines “rite” as follows:
“Rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary heritage, distinguished according to peoples’ culture and historical circumstances, that finds expression in each autonomous church’s way of living the faith.”
Therefore, “rite” concerns not only a Church’s liturgy, but also its theology, spirituality and law. In some cases it might also involve ethnicity and language. Because of this, many members of these rites prefer to speak about Churches rather than rites. Others say that “Church” refers to the people, and “rite” to their spiritual and cultural heritage and patrimony.
Not all of the 23 Churches have a distinct liturgy or differ only in the language used or in local traditions. Traditionally there are six major liturgical families: the Latin, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, Chaldean and Constantinopolitan (sometimes called Byzantine).
The Latin rite is mostly formed by the Roman rite which is divided into an ordinary and extraordinary form. There are also some other Latin liturgical traditions such as the Ambrosian (habitually celebrated in the Archdiocese of Milan), the Mozarabic (celebrated in a more restricted manner in Toledo in Spain), and that of the city of Braga in Portugal which is permitted in that diocese but not widely used. Others, such as the rite of the Diocese of Lyon, in France, have fallen into disuse. The specific rites of some religious orders, such as the Order of Preachers, are apparently being used again after a hiatus of some years.
The Constantinopolitan, or Byzantine, liturgy is used by 14 Churches, the Alexandrian by three, the Antiochian by three, the Chaldean by two and the Armenian by one.
It would be arduous to trace the origin and history of each Church. In broad strokes we can say that the various rites were born from the effort of distinct peoples to express the one faith according to their own particular traits and traditions in language, music, literary and artistic styles.
It is somewhat similar to the fact that the four Evangelists present the same Christ but each one with particular nuances that together give a more complete picture. However, rather than each diocese having its own liturgy, various regions of the ancient world tended to coalesce around the liturgy of dioceses believed to be of apostolic origin. Thus Rome became the center of the Latin world. The Church in Alexandria in Egypt, traditionally founded by St. Mark, became the inspiration for Ethiopia. Antioch in Syria, the first see of St. Peter, had Greek- and Aramaic-speaking Christians.
Some went as missionaries to the East, and the liturgy developed from this tradition became the Chaldean and Syro-Malabar Rites. The Greek-speakers headed west, and their customs later blended with practices of the capital of the Byzantine Empire to form the Constantinopolitan liturgies. The Maronite and Armenian rites formed slightly later and synthesized several traditions as well as introducing many unique elements from their own heritage.
With respect to these Churches’ communion within the Catholic fold some have never been formally severed from communion with the Pope, although they were not in contact with him for centuries due to a lack of communication or even of knowledge of each other’s existence. Others returned to communion after a period of separation at various stages in history even as late as the early 20th century.
In this process of reunification, some people thought that a return to communion with Rome meant abandoning the ancient traditions and adopting the Latin rite. This was practically never official policy, and the popes generally saw the diversity as enhancing rather than endangering unity. The call for liturgical unity after the Council of Trent was above all centered on the Roman rite and did not affect the Eastern Churches.
The popes have frequently reiterated their appreciation of the specific gifts of the Eastern Churches and consider them as a true gift to the universal Church.
Thus Pope Benedict XIV in his encyclical Allatae Sunt in 1755 recalled some of the actions of his predecessors in favor of Eastern Christians:
“13. The Greek Manual, published at Benevento, contains two Constitutions of Popes Leo X and Clement VII which vigorously criticize Latins who abuse the Greeks for practices which the Council of Florence permitted them: in particular that they may offer the Sacrifice of the Mass with leavened bread, that they may take a wife before receiving Holy Orders and keep their wife after Ordination, and that they may offer the Eucharist under both species even to children. When Pius IV decreed that Greeks living in the Dioceses of Latins should be subject to the Latin bishops, he added that ‘by this decree, however, We do not purpose that the Greeks themselves should be drawn away from their Greek rite, or that they should be hindered in any way in other places by the local Ordinaries or others’ (veteris Bullarii, vol. 2, const. no. 75, Romanus Pontifex).
“14. The annals of Gregory XIII, written by Fr. Maffei and printed at Rome in 1742, relate several deeds of this pope which aimed at restoring the Copts and Armenians to the Catholic faith, though quite unsuccessfully. But of especial interest are his words concerning the foundation of three colleges in Rome which he had established for the education of Greek, Maronite, and Armenian students, in which he provided that they should continue in their oriental rites (in novo Bullario, vol. 4, pt. 3, const. 63, and pt. 4, const. 157 and 173).
“A solemn union of the Ruthenians with the Apostolic See was enacted in the time of Pope Clement VIII. The decree prepared by the Ruthenian archbishops and bishops for establishing union contains the following condition: ‘However, the ceremonies and rites of the divine liturgy and holy sacraments shall be preserved and fully observed in accordance with the custom of the oriental church; only those points shall be corrected which are a hindrance to union; everything shall be done in the ancient manner as they were long ago when the union was in existence.’
“Shortly afterwards a disturbance was caused by a widespread rumor that the union had put an end to all the old rites which the Ruthenians followed in the divine psalmody, the sacrifice of the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, and other holy ceremonies. Paul V in an apostolic brief written in 1615 and printed in the Greek Manual, solemnly declared his will in the following words: ‘Provided that they are not opposed to truth and the teaching of the Catholic faith, and they do not prevent communion with the Roman church, it was not and it is not the intention, understanding, or will of the Roman church to remove or destroy them by means of this union; and this could not and cannot be said or thought; instead these rites have been allowed and granted to the Ruthenian bishops and clergy by Apostolic kindness.’”
Later referring to Latin clergy who tried to oblige Eastern Catholics to adopt the Latin rite, the Pope is very severe:
“21. We have dealt with transferring from the Latin to the Greek rite. Transferrals in the opposite direction are not forbidden as strictly as the former. Still, a missionary who hopes for the return of a Greek or Oriental to the unity of the Catholic Church may not make him give up his own rite. This can cause great harm.
“Melkite Catholics used to transfer willingly from the Greek to the Latin rite, but they have been forbidden to do so. Missionaries have been warned not to urge them to transfer. Permission to do so has been reserved to the private decision of the Apostolic See. This is clear from Our Constitution Demandatam, 85, sect. 35 (Bullarium, vol. 1): ‘Moreover We expressly forbid henceforth all Melkite Catholics who observe the Greek rite to transfer to the Latin rite. We give strict orders to all missionaries not to encourage anyone rashly to transfer to the Latin from the Greek rite, nor even to allow them to do so if they want to without the permission of the Apostolic See, under the penalties which will be set out below and other penalties to be decided on by Us.'”
Among these penalties were:
“Any Latin rite missionary, whether of the secular or religious clergy, who induces with his advice or assistance any Eastern rite faithful to transfer to the Latin rite, will be deposed and excluded from his benefice in addition to the ipso facto suspension a divinis and other punishments that he will incur as imposed in the aforesaid Constitution Demandatam.”
Over a century later, in the apostolic constitution Orientalium Dignitas of 1894, Pope Leo XIII confirmed that these penalties were still in effect. He also expressed his appreciation for the Eastern Churches:
“The Churches of the East are worthy of the glory and reverence that they hold throughout the whole of Christendom in virtue of those extremely ancient, singular memorials that they have bequeathed to us. For it was in that part of the world that the first actions for the redemption of the human race began, in accord with the all-kind plan of God. They swiftly gave forth their yield: there flowered in first blush the glories of preaching the True Faith to the nations, of martyrdom, and of holiness. They gave us the first joys of the fruits of salvation. From them has come a wondrously grand and powerful flood of benefits upon the other peoples of the world, no matter how far-flung. When blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, intended to cast down the manifold wickedness of error and vice, in accord with the will of Heaven, he brought the light of divine Truth, the Gospel of peace, freedom in Christ to the metropolis of the Gentiles.”
He also declared:
“The maintenance in being of the Eastern rites is of more importance than might be imagined. The august antiquity, which lends dignity to these various rites is an adornment of the whole church and a witness to the divine unity of the Catholic faith. Perhaps nothing, in fact, better proves the note of Catholicity in the Church of God than the singular homage paid by these ceremonies which vary in form, which are celebrated in languages venerable by their antiquity, and which are still further hallowed by the use that has been made of them by the Apostles and Fathers of the Church.”
On occasion of the 15th centenary of St. John Chrysostom (407-1907), Pope St. Pius X presided at a solemn pontifical Mass in the Byzantine rite at the Vatican on February 12, 1908. In his letter promulgating this celebration he wrote: “May the Easterns separated from Us see and understand in what great and profound regard We hold all the rites alike.”
Pope Benedict XV asserted in the 1917 encyclical Dei Providentis: “The Church of Jesus Christ is neither Latin nor Greek nor Slav, but Catholic; accordingly she makes no difference between her children and Greeks, Latins, Slavs and members of all other nations are equal in the eyes of the Apostolic See.”
Pope Pius XI had a great respect for the Eastern rites and did much to strengthen them. In his November 1923 encyclical Ecclesiam Dei, published on the occasion of the third centenary of the martyr of Catholic unity, St. Josaphat, he wrote: “Then we shall see all peoples, brought together in this manner, in possession of the same rights, whatever may be their race, language or liturgy. The Roman Church has always scrupulously respected and maintained the various rites, and has at all times insisted on their preservation.”
Pope Pius celebrated the 15th centenary of St. Cyril of Alexandria in the encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae in 1944. He states:
“Each and every nation of Oriental rite must have its own rightful freedom in all that is bound up with its own history and its own genius and character, saving always the truth and integrity of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. … They will never be forced to abandon their own legitimate rites or to exchange their own venerable or traditional customs for Latin rites and customs. All these are to be held in equal esteem and honor, for they adorn the common Mother Church with a royal garment of many colors. Indeed this variety of rites and customs, preserving inviolate what is most ancient and most valuable in each, presents no obstacle to a true and genuine unity.”
The Second Vatican Council in the document Orientalium Ecclesiarum directed that that the traditions of Eastern Catholic Churches should be maintained. It declared that:
“[I]t is the mind of the Catholic Church that each individual Church or Rite should retain its traditions whole and entire and likewise that it should adapt its way of life to the different needs of time and place,” and that they should all “preserve their legitimate liturgical rite and their established way of life, and … these may not be altered except to obtain for themselves an organic improvement.”
Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, deals with Eastern Catholic Churches in paragraph 23, stating:
“By divine providence it has come about that various churches, established in various places by the apostles and their successors, have in the course of time coalesced into several groups, organically united, which, preserving the unity of faith and the unique divine constitution of the universal Church, enjoy their own discipline, their own liturgical usage, and their own theological and spiritual heritage. Some of these churches, notably the ancient patriarchal churches, as parent-stocks of the Faith, so to speak, have begotten others as daughter churches, with which they are connected down to our own time by a close bond of charity in their sacramental life and in their mutual respect for their rights and duties. This variety of local churches with one common aspiration is splendid evidence of the catholicity of the undivided Church. In like manner the Episcopal bodies of today are in a position to render a manifold and fruitful assistance, so that this collegiate feeling may be put into practical application.”
St. John Paul II promulgated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and celebrated the centenary of Leo XII’s Orientalium Dignitas with the apostolic letter Orientale Lumen:
“Since, in fact, we believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church, the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each.
“Our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters are very conscious of being the living bearers of this tradition, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. The members of the Catholic Church of the Latin tradition must also be fully acquainted with this treasure and thus feel, with the Pope, a passionate longing that the full manifestation of the Church’s catholicity be restored to the Church and to the world, expressed not by a single tradition, and still less by one community in opposition to the other; and that we too may be granted a full taste of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church which is preserved and grows in the life of the Churches of the East as in those of the West.”
In conclusion the Catholic Church desires that its Eastern component not only survive but also continue to grow, flourish and enrich the universal Church with treasures.
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Follow-up: Penitential Rite and “Absolution”
Some readers made observations regarding our October 11 piece on the penitential rite.
One priest wrote: “If I remember rightly, in the 1960s when I took part daily in dialogue at Mass, the Confiteor was said first by the priest and then by the people (including the server). It was not just a dialogue between priest and server.”
This priest remembers correctly. The possibility of the entire congregation, and not just the server, saying the second Confiteor was foreseen and permitted. Having the server say it was a minimum requirement. If no server were available, anybody, including a woman who knew the Latin, could say it while kneeling at the altar rail.
Another priest, from Louisiana, mentions the following:
“In your recent response to the question about the penitential rite and ‘Absolution,’ I believe the Church has always taught there are many vehicles by which venial sins can be forgiven, e.g., attendance at Mass, reception of Communion, reading Scripture, corporal works of mercy, works of charity, etc. Presuming my premise is correct, then wouldn’t the absolution at Mass also be a vehicle by which venial sins are forgiven? I’ve always read the rubric: ‘The rite concludes with the priest’s absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance’ to mean that mortal sins are not forgiven, for which the sacrament of reconciliation/confession is necessary.”
I would say that our reader is substantially correct insofar as attendance at Mass is considered as one of the vehicles through which venial sins are forgiven. In this broad sense the priest’s absolution could be taken as such a vehicle. Notwithstanding this, the priest’s absolution at Mass would not be transformed into a sacramental absolution in the technical sense of the sacrament of reconciliation which absolves both mortal and venial sins.
In my earlier response I deliberately avoided getting into this topic as the original question was more centered on the external-ritual aspect than the theological. This follow-up has provided a useful opportunity to complete the earlier answer.
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Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
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Pope Francis to Jesuits: “Serve Church With Joy, Not as Clericalists’ by Salvatore Cernuzio

Speaking more as a fellow brother than as Pope, Francis used the pronoun “we” with Jesuits gathered for the 36th General Congregation, whom he met today in the General Curia of Rome. It is an historic event for the Society of Jesus, which was useful to remember the special bond sealed by the fourth vow, direct obedience to the Supreme Pontiff, strongly desired by Ignatius and his first companion at the time of the foundation.
In fact, the new General Superior, Father Arturo Sosa, stressed that in that “the meeting with the Pope is not only a moment of greeting to those gathered, but rather an integral part of the Congregation’s session,” as a source of inspiration for the delegates, who are reflecting on the universal guidelines of the Society.
Francis — who also wished to take part in the common prayer of the morning session, during which the Dutch Jesuit Franz van de Lugt was remembered, who was killed in Syria in 2014 — gave a long and full-bodied address to his fellow brothers, during which the exhortations of his Predecessors, from Paul VI to Benedict XVI, were mixed with Saint Ignatius’ teachings and the recommendations of great exponents of the Society, such as Jeronimo Nadal, Peter Favre and Pedro Arrupe.
Above all, Bergoglio reflected on the concepts of “benefit” and “joy” as coordinates to follow to carry out in modern times the service to the Church and to the world, remaining always “free, obedient, united in the love of Christ, for the greater glory of God,” as Montini hoped during the 32nd General Congregation.
Words that the Pope recalled “with particular emotion,” adding: “Walk together, free and obedient, walk going to the peripheries where other’s don’t arrive … The Jesuit is called to think and live in any part of the world where the service of God and help to souls is most needed,” but which is translated into “profit” and “progress,” “and go forward, and do something in favor of others.”
A “practical criteria of discernment” of Jesuit spirituality is that of benefit,which – Francis stressed – “is not individualistic, it is common.” “The end of this Society is not only that of being concerned with the salvation and perfection of the souls of its members through divine grace, but to use the same grace to help intensely the salvation and perfection of the souls of one’s neighbors.”
Therefore, Ignatius was angry if he heard someone say that he stayed in the Society because in this way he would save his soul: “He did not want people that, being good for their own benefit, were not found to be disposed to save their neighbor.”
Deep down, in fact, a “tension” exists between “one’s own salvation and perfection and the salvation and perfection of one’s neighbor.” Its harmonization “does not happen through abstract formulations, but is obtained in the course of time” through what Favre called “our way of proceeding,” namely “walking and progressing in following the Lord,” stressed the Pontiff.
It follows therefore that “advantage is not elitist.” Ignatius and his first companions demonstrated it, whose “daily bread” was to carry out works of mercy such as “care of the sick in hospitals, alms begged and distributed, teaching little ones, enduring annoyances patiently …” This was their “vital environment” and “they were careful that all the rest was not an obstacle!” affirmed the Pope.
Therefore, the objective of this advantage is to reach the “more,” that “plus” which is none other than “the fire, the fervor of action, which shakes the sleepy” and which holy Jesuits always embodied. Suffice it to think of Saint Alberto Hurtado, of whom it was said that he was a pointed dart that pierced the sleeping flesh of the Church.” This fire is all the more necessary today against the “temptation” that Paul VI called “spiritus vertiginis” or De Lubac <called> “spiritual worldliness,” explained Bergoglio. A “temptation that — he added –, in the first place is not moral but spiritual and which distracts us from the essential: which is to be of benefit, to leave a mark, to weigh in history, especially in the life of the littlest ones.”
“The Society is fervor,” said Nadal. And to revive it, the Pope indicated three points for reflection.
Ask insistently for consolation
The first is “to ask insistently for [God’s] consolation.” How? With “joy”: “The joy of evangelizing, the joy of the family, the joy of the Church, the joy of creation …” In fact, it is a task of the Society to console the faithful people and to help with discernment so that the enemy of human nature does not take away our joy,” continued Pope Francis. “May he not rob it, either because of discouragement in face of the greatness of the evils of the world and of the misunderstandings among those who are determined to do good, or because of those that fill one with the fatuous joys that are always at hand in any business.”
Doing good led by the good spirit, thinking with the Church
“Joy is not a decorative ‘extra,’ it is a clear index of grace: it indicates that love is active, working and present,” clarified the Pontiff, much less so is it to be confused “with seeking ‘a special effect,’ which our time knows how to produce for the needs of consumption, rather it is sought in the existential index that is ‘permanence.’” Therefore, reminded the Pope, the “service of joy” is “rooted in prayer”; in the Exercises that remain the main instrument to experience concretely God’s consolation. “Good news cannot be given with a sad face,” he added, and this joy of the explicit proclamation of the Gospel “is what leads the Society to go out to all the peripheries.”
Letting ourselves be moved by our Lord placed on the Cross
The last step to take, therefore, is to “let oneself be moved by the Lord on the Cross.” “From Him in person and from Him present in so many of our suffering brothers, the great majority of humanity!” — said Francis, because as Father Arrupe liked to repeat: “Where there is a sorrow, the Society is there.” In this perspective, the Jubilee is the “propitious” time to reflect on the services of mercy that, noted the Pontiff, “is not an abstract word but a style of life, which puts before words concrete gestures that touch one’s neighbor’s flesh and are institutionalized in works of mercy.”
The Jesuit Pope recalled again the example of Saint Ignatius, who lived of the “pure mercy of God” and “felt that the more impediments He placed before him, all the more was the kindness with which the Lord treated him.” He liberated “the vivifying force of mercy “ which we, instead, “often dilute with abstract formulations and legalistic conditions.” Instead, “the Lord, who looks at us with mercy and chooses us, sends us to have the same mercy with all its efficacy reach the poorest, sinners, the rejected and the crucified of the present world, who suffer injustice and violence.”
It is “only if we experience this healing strength in the rawness of our own wounds, as persons and as body [community], will we lose the fear of allowing ourselves to be moved by the immensity of the suffering of our brothers and we will launch ourselves to walk patiently with our people, learning from them the best way to help and serve them,” affirmed Pope Francis.
And he left to the Jesuits the last recommendation “to do good with a good spirit, feeling with the Church.” Hence, a “service of discernment” to organize “with a good spirit and not with a bad one,” “without losing peace” but, rather, carrying the Cross, experiencing poverty and humiliations. This service of a good spirit and of discernment, explained the Bishop of Rome, “makes us men of the Church – not clericalists but ecclesial – men ‘for others,’ without anything of our own, which isolates, but putting in communion and service all that we have.”
Then, his exhortation was “ let us not walk alone or comfortably, let us walk with a heart that does not make itself comfortable, that does not withdraw into itself, but which beats with the rhythm of a path that is realized together with all the faithful people of God. We walk making ourselves everything to all, seeking to help some one,” in the certainty that “this stripping is such that the Society has and can always have the face, the accent and the way of being of all peoples, of every culture, inserting itself in all, in what is specific of the heart of every people to be the Church there with every one of them, inculturating the Gospel and evangelizing every culture.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Text: https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-address-to-members-of-jesuits-36th-general-congregation/
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Pope Privately Receives Venezuelan President Maduro by ZENIT Staff

Last evening, Pope Francis received, in private, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, “the meeting took place within the framework of the worrying political, social and economic situation that the country is going through, and that is having serious repercussions on the daily lives of the entire population.”
“In this way,” the communique added, “the Pope, who has the welfare of all Venezuelans at heart, wanted to continue to offer his contribution to the country’s institutionality and every step that will help to resolve the outstanding issues and build trust between all parties.”
Moreover, the Holy Father invited the parties “to show courage in pursuing the path of sincere and constructive dialogue to alleviate the suffering of the people, the poor first, and promote a climate of renewed social cohesion, which allows the nation to look with hope to the future.”
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Oct. 31 Prayer Gatherings for Syria by ZENIT Staff

Irish bishops are inviting the faithful to join with them and with Pope Francis to pray for peace in the Middle East and especially for the people of Syria on Monday 31 October, which is a public holiday in Ireland. This prayer initiative has been organised to coincide with the Holy Father’s participation in the ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation due to be held in Sweden on 31 October.
The idea behind this event, co-organised by the Catholic Church, Caritas International and the Lutheran World Federation, is to shift relations from conflict to communion with a focus on young people and the hope which this commemoration will bring.
On Monday next, Pope Francis, alongside Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation and the Rev Martin Junge, the Federation’s General Secretary, will lead a common prayer service based on the recently published Catholic-Lutheran Common Prayer liturgical guide at 1.30pm Irish time.
Bishops invite the faithful to gather on Monday at a time that most suits their needs and to hold a prayer gathering in parishes, schools, community venues, or at home. A special prayer, which has been designed for use on the day has been made available and is included below. In addition, Trócaire, the bishops’ overseas development agency has developed a special prayer service for use in parishes on this occasion. This is available to download from catholicbishops.ie.
Commenting on the prayer initiative, Bishop William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne and Chairman of Trócaire said, “Innocent men, women and children are paying the ultimate price in the continuing conflict raging in Syria, especially in Aleppo, where they are caught in the crossfire. I join with Pope Francis in urging governments to find a political solution to the war in Syria. I encourage the faithful to share the ideals of the Caritas International #PeacePossible4Syria campaign and to pray for peace in the Middle East, especially in Syria and the City of Aleppo.”
Those taking part in prayer gatherings on Monday 31 October are invited to share their particular prayer service using the hashtag #PeacePossible4Syria.

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CDF’s New Document on Christian Burial and Cremation by ZENIT Staff

Below is the new instruction on the burial of the dead and on the conservation of the ashes in cases of cremation, published by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith this morning. While continuing to recommend that the deceased be buried in cemeteries or other sacred spots, it also upholds that the Church does not oppose the practice of cremation. But the new document does underscore that ashes are not to be scattered on land or at sea, nor to be kept in private homes.
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Instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo
regarding the burial of the deceased
and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation
1. To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must “be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). With the Instruction Piam et Constantem of 5 July 1963, the then Holy Office established that “all necessary measures must be taken to preserve the practice of reverently burying the faithful departed”, adding however that cremation is not “opposed per se to the Christian religion” and that no longer should the sacraments and funeral rites be denied to those who have asked that they be cremated, under the condition that this choice has not been made through “a denial of Christian dogmas, the animosity of a secret society, or hatred of the Catholic religion and the Church”.1 Later this change in ecclesiastical discipline was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law (1983) and the Code of Canons of Oriental Churches (1990).
During the intervening years, the practice of cremation has notably increased in many countries, but simultaneously new ideas contrary to the Church’s faith have also become widespread. Having consulted the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and numerous Episcopal Conferences and Synods of Bishops of the Oriental Churches, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has deemed opportune the publication of a new Instruction, with the intention of underlining the doctrinal and pastoral reasons for the preference of the burial of the remains of the faithful and to set out norms pertaining to the conservation of ashes in the case of cremation.
2. The resurrection of Jesus is the culminating truth of the Christian faith, preached as an essential part of the Paschal Mystery from the very beginnings of Christianity: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve” (1 Cor 15:3-5). Through his death and resurrection, Christ freed us from sin and gave us access to a new life, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rm 6:4). Furthermore, the risen Christ is the principle and source of our future resurrection: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep […] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:20-22).
It is true that Christ will raise us up on the last day; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. In Baptism, actually, we are immersed in the death and resurrection of Christ and sacramentally assimilated to him: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12). United with Christ by Baptism, we already truly participate in the life of the risen Christ (cf. Eph 2:6).
Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning. The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: “Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven”.2 By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. In our own day also, the Church is called to proclaim her faith in the resurrection: “The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live”.3
3. Following the most ancient Christian tradition, the Church insistently recommends that the bodies of the deceased be buried in cemeteries or other sacred places.4 In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, the mystery that illumines the Christian meaning of death,5burial is above all the most fitting way to express faith and hope in the resurrection of the body.6
The Church who, as Mother, has accompanied the Christian during his earthly pilgrimage, offers to the Father, in Christ, the child of her grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body that will rise in glory.7
By burying the bodies of the faithful, the Church confirms her faith in the resurrection of the body,8 and intends to show the great dignity of the human body as an integral part of the human person whose body forms part of their identity.9 She cannot, therefore, condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person, or the moment of fusion with Mother Nature or the universe, or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration, or as the definitive liberation from the “prison” of the body. Furthermore, burial in a cemetery or another sacred place adequately corresponds to the piety and respect owed to the bodies of the faithful departed who through Baptism have become temples of the Holy Spirit and in which “as instruments and vessels the Spirit has carried out so many good works”.10
Tobias, the just, was praised for the merits he acquired in the sight of God for having buried the dead,11 and the Church considers the burial of dead one of the corporal works of mercy.12
Finally, the burial of the faithful departed in cemeteries or other sacred places encourages family members and the whole Christian community to pray for and remember the dead, while at the same time fostering the veneration of martyrs and saints.
Through the practice of burying the dead in cemeteries, in churches or their environs, Christian tradition has upheld the relationship between the living and the dead and has opposed any tendency to minimize, or relegate to the purely private sphere, the event of death and the meaning it has for Christians.
4. In circumstances when cremation is chosen because of sanitary, economic or social considerations, this choice must never violate the explicitly-stated or the reasonably inferable wishes of the deceased faithful. The Church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice, since cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life. Thus cremation, in and of itself, objectively negates neither the Christian doctrine of the soul’s immortality nor that of the resurrection of the body.13
The Church continues to prefer the practice of burying the bodies of the deceased, because this shows a greater esteem towards the deceased. Nevertheless, cremation is not prohibited, “unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine”.14 In the absence of motives contrary to Christian doctrine, the Church, after the celebration of the funeral rite, accompanies the choice of cremation, providing the relevant liturgical and pastoral directives, and taking particular care to avoid every form of scandal or the appearance of religious indifferentism.
5. When, for legitimate motives, cremation of the body has been chosen, the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases, in a church or an area, which has been set aside for this purpose, and so dedicated by the competent ecclesial authority. From the earliest times, Christians have desired that the faithful departed become the objects of the Christian community’s prayers and remembrance. Their tombs have become places of prayer, remembrance and reflection. The faithful departed remain part of the Church who believes “in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church”.15
The reservation of the ashes of the departed in a sacred place ensures that they are not excluded from the prayers and remembrance of their family or the Christian community. It prevents the faithful departed from being forgotten, or their remains from being shown a lack of respect, which eventuality is possible, most especially once the immediately subsequent generation has too passed away. Also it prevents any unfitting or superstitious practices.
6. For the reasons given above, the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence is not permitted. Only in grave and exceptional cases dependent on cultural conditions of a localized nature, may the Ordinary, in agreement with the Episcopal Conference or the Synod of Bishops of the Oriental Churches, concede permission for the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence. Nonetheless, the ashes may not be divided among various family members and due respect must be maintained regarding the circumstances of such a conservation.
7. In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects. These courses of action cannot be legitimized by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation.
8. When the deceased notoriously has requested cremation and the scattering of their ashes for reasons contrary to the Christian faith, a Christian funeral must be denied to that person according to the norms of the law.16
The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect on 18 March 2016, approved the present Instruction, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this Congregation on 2 March 2016, and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 15 August 2016, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Gerhard Card. Müller
Prefect
Luis F. Ladaria, S.I.
Titular Archbishop of Thibica
Secretary
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[1] AAS 56 (1964), 822-823.
2 Roman Missal, Preface I for the Dead.
3 Tertullian, De Resurrectione carnis, 1,1: CCL 2, 921.
4 Cf. CIC, can. 1176, § 3, can. 1205; CCEO, can. 876, § 3; can. 868.
5 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1681.
6 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2300.
7 Cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1683.
8 Cf. St. Augustine, De cura pro mortuis gerenda, 3, 5; CSEL 41, 628:
9 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 14.
[1]0 St. Augustine, De cura pro mortuis gerenda, 3, 5: CSEL 41, 627.
1[1] Cf. Tb 2:9; 12:12.
[1]2 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2300.
[1]3 Cf. Holy Office, Instruction Piam et costantem, 5 July 1963: AAS 56 (1964) 822.
[1]4 CIC, can. 1176 § 3; cf. CCEC, can. 876 § 3.
[1]5 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 962.
[1]6 CIC, can. 1184; CCEO, can.876, § 3.[01683-EN.01] [Original text: English] [Courtesy of Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]
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Vatican Sends Message to Hindus for Deepavali by ZENIT Staff

Here is the statement from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to Hindus for the celebration of Deepavali on Oct. 30. This ancient Hindu festival spiritually signifies the victory of good over evil.
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Christians and Hindus: Promoting hope among families
Dear Hindu Friends,
1. On behalf of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, we offer our best wishes as you celebrate Deepavali on 30 October 2016. May your celebrations around the world deepen your familial bonds, and bring joy and peace to your homes and communities.
2. The health of society depends on our familial bonds and yet we know that today the very notion of family is being undermined by a climate that relativizes its essential significance and value. So too, family life is often disrupted by harsh realities such as conflicts, poverty and migration, which have become all too commonplace throughout the world. There are, however, strong signs of renewed hope due to the witness of those who hold fervently to the enduring importance of marriage and family life for the wellbeing of each person and society as a whole. With this abiding respect for the family, and keenly aware of the global challenges daily confronting us, we wish to offer a reflection on how we, Christians and Hindus together, can promote hope in families, thus making our society ever more humane.
3. We know that the family is “humanity’s first school” and that parents are the “primary and principal” educators of their children. It is in the family that children, led by the noble example of their parents and elders, are formed in the values that help them develop into good and responsible human beings. Too often, however, the optimism and idealism of our youth are diminished by circumstances that affect families. It is especially important, therefore, that parents, together with the wider community, instil in their children a sense of hope by guiding them towards a better future and the pursuit of the good, even in the face of adversity.
4. Providing a formation and education in hope is thus a task of paramount importance for families (cf. POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, 274-275), as it reflects the divine nature of mercy which embraces the disheartened and gives them purpose. Such an education in hope encourages the young themselves to reach out, in charity and service, to others in need, and so become a light for those in darkness.
5. Families, therefore, are meant to be a “workshop of hope” (POPE FRANCIS, Address at the Prayer Vigil for the Festival of Families, Philadelphia, 26 September 2015), where children learn from the example of their parents and family members, and experience the power of hope in strengthening human relationships, serving those most forgotten in society and overcoming the injustices of our day. Saint John Paul II said that “the future of humanity passes by way of the family” (Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 86). If humanity is to prosper and live in peace, then families must embrace this work of nurturing hope and encouraging their children to be heralds of hope to the world.
6. As Christians and Hindus, may we join all people of good will in supporting marriage and family life, and inspiring families to be schools of hope. May we bring hope’s light to every corner of our world, offering consolation and strength to all in need.
We wish you all a joyful Deepavali!
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran
President
+ Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ
Secretary[Original text: English]
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