Let's Clear A Few Things Up

There have been a number of things on my mind in the last few days that have kept me from posting much of anything. I struggle to determine how to articulate what it is I wish to say about things and with the hours at work, I just decided it better nto to say anything at all. But for my peace of mind, here it is:

1. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs) are to be used in extraordinary circumstances. Many churches abuse this position in the liturgy. I am personally of the opinion that we should be instituting acolytes. (I was so thrilled to see Matt's attitude about receiving this ministry! I wish I saw it more often...)

2. EMHCs, though used quite often unnecessarily, are not the sole reason for the lack of belief in the Real Presence. The lack of faith and the decline in true believers is, in my opinion, due to many things, among which would be poor catechesis.

3. The laity are allowed to help with the distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday.

4. The solemn blessing that happens on Ash Wednesday is the blessing of the ashes, not the people. The people are certainly blessed by the reception of this sacramental, however, the words that the priest or other person says in the applying of the ashes is not a blessing in and of itself. (I can explain further if anyone is curious.)

5. As SFO Mom mentioned, every Friday is penetential. It is not longer required that you abstain from meat on Fridays, however it is an old custom and certainly (at least in my opinion) a beautiful one.

Enough with the list, eh?

There is one more thing I want to touch on before I wrap this post and settle into a peaceful rest and that is this:

But anyway, the issue at hand really is: if they really LIKE shrimp marinara over linguine, or Spanish Garlic Shrimp, or sauteed tilapia, or even pizza, where's the sacrifice?

This was posted by SFO Mom in the same post as was mentioned previously. I suggested in the comments box what I want to suggest here: If you struggle with penetential food selections, I would suggest another act of penance during mealtime that would make it penetential without wasting food. (Her worry was that she would make food that they wouldn't eat if she tried to make the food selection penetential.)

There are a number of things I can think of that would be penetential, though not every family would be comfortable with it I'm sure.

When we go on retreat we always indulge in what is called a Desert Day. On these days of silence, meal times are spent listening to a spiritual reading. One person (often times our retreat leader) will sit at the head of the table (or in a central location) and read as everyone eats. It is a time of reflection and solitude, even amongst so many other people.

When I was in New York, we listened to a reading from the Life of St. Francis every day before dinner. The table would be set when we approached and, standing behind our chairs, we would say our blessing. Then we would all sit quietly except for one who would read to us from the book. After the reading had been finished, she would sit and we would begin the distribution of food.

These are similar customs and certainly both could be seen as penetential acts, especially if you come from a rambunctious family!

I have some more ideas and will most likely be compiling them for a post later this week.


Final note: I'm currently working on three blog templates and have a number of other activites happening this week. If you don't see me around, throw up a prayer for me, would ya? I have a feeling I'm going to crash before this is all over.