Worship Times

Looking for a career change? How about “web minister”? More and more churches are turning to the net as a way of bringing God’s word to people.  “Churches and synagogues are launching Web sites to lure new members and strengthen their bonds with existing ones,” according to a report by John P. Martin in the April 9 edition of Washingtonpost.com. “Ministers, rabbis and priests are posting their sermons online and using e-mail for counseling.”

Churches are using the web for a variety of activities, including:

• creating an online identity
• conducting research
• counseling
• soliciting and answering prayer requests
• scheduling and calendaring

Tabernacle turmoil

Confused about where to put your tabernacle? David Philippart recently interviewed John Huels, OSM, professor of canon law at St. Paul University in Ottawa. Huels cites the current documentation and concludes: “The law says the eucharist is to be reserved in some part of the church that is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for private prayer. The law highly recommends that this be in a special chapel, separated from the body of the church. The eucharist is not to be reserved on the altar of celebration, unless that altar is in a separate chapel. In churches built since 1969, only one altar may be in the body of the church. Only one place of eucharistic reservation is permitted in the church, whether in the blessed sacrament chapel or another place.”

See the entire interview in the June 2000 issue of the Environment and Art Letter (Liturgy Training Publications).

Good news: 
a Gospel Book

You no longer need to tape copies of the Gospel from the new lectionary into your old Gospel book. The Congregation for Divine Worship recently confirmed the November 1999 approval by the National Catholic Bishops of a vernacular edition of the Book of the Gospels for use in the dioceses of the United States. It includes an original introduction along with all the Gospels contained in volume 1 of the Lectionary for Mass. It also contains selected Gospels for ritual Masses. It is authorized for use after Sept. 30, 2000.

Making a date

If you are always at a loss for the date for Easter, if you want to know what the readings will be on your birthday, or if you wake up in the middle of the night wondering what date the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time might fall on, you need a liturgical calendar for 2002. Now you can get your own official copy direct from the NCCB Secretariat for the Liturgy. This annual calendar used to be available only to commercial publishers, but now anyone with $7 to spare can get their very own copy. Or, for the dot.com crowd, a WordPerfect 9.0 version is available for $10. Send your check to Sister Celia Cecchetti, SP, NCCB Secretariat for the Liturgy, 3211 Fourth St., N.E., Washington, DC 20017.

Church growth

The Catholic Church in America is strong, vibrant, and growing, contrary to rumors of its coming demise, according to Joseph Claude Harris in the June 3–10 issue of America. “Catholic membership rolls grow about the rate of present population increases. Catholics continue to celebrate significant life events with church sacraments,” said Harris. “Finally while some Hispanics have indeed opted out of Catholic Church membership, the majority participate in parish life and provide much of the growth that has occurred in Catholic membership over the past two decades.”

Harris cites Andrew Greeley, who wrote about young Catholics in the December 17, 1999 edition of Commonweal: “Young people are still strongly attached to Catholicism, if in their own way. Despite all that we (pope, bishops, priests, lay staff, lay intellectuals) have done to them, we have not be able to drive them away from Catholicism.”

Harris disputes the 1992 study, The Churching of America 1776–1990, which predicted Catholics would follow the path of many mainline Protestant traditions “from an energetic sect into a sedate mainline body.”

Confused about confirmation?

If you are caught up in trying to decide among all the various practices regarding the confirmation of children, be sure to see the Summer 2000 issue of the National Bulletin on Liturgy: “Re-visioning Confirmation within the Christian Initiation of Children.” The periodical contains articles on the history and theology of the initiation of children, and it has sections dealing with pastoral considerations and formation issues. There is also a discussion regarding the future shape of the celebration. Each section has discussion questions at the end. To obtain a copy, e-mail publi@ccb.ca or call 800-769-1147.

Personal and public prayer

Participation in the liturgy is critical for the integration of personal prayer and daily life, according to David G. R. Keller in the July 2000 issue of Assembly. He says the “threefold pattern of 1) eucharistic life within the community, 2) personal contemplative prayer and 3) engagement in the activities of the world, form us as Christians ….” So how do we integrate Eucharist, personal contemplative prayer and daily life? Among his suggestions:

• Plan liturgy so that it reflects Christ’s presence within the context of society.
• Compose intercessions and plan other aspects of the liturgy in ways that reflect the needs of the world.
• Involve all the arts in the liturgy — which is, itself, an art form.
• Include periods of silence in the liturgy; avoid busyness.
• Emphasize liturgical catechesis.
• Encourage contemplative prayer outside the liturgy.
• Provide opportunities for the discernment of apostolates in the community.

The Vatican is in the black thanks to all those second collections that take place in U.S. parishes. The pope’s coffers showed a $5 million budget surplus for 1999, due to favorable exchange rates and especially to the contributions of Catholics from Germany and the United States.

According to Archbishop Sergio Sebastiani, head of the Vatican’s budget planning office, the Vatican spent about $181 million and took in about $186 million.

Donations in 1999 were higher than ever, reaching a record $21.4 million. Of the total, 65 percent  — about $7 million — came from churches in Germany and the United States.

According to Sebastiani, the next eight most generous countries were Italy, Austria, Canada, South Korea, Spain, France, Australia and Ireland. He also announced that the 1999 Peter’s Pence —  the offerings of the faithful for the pontiff’s charitable works and for the support of needy churches — amounted to $55,313,587.                               ML

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