Editor’s Note: Regarding a recent question about omission of the Epistle and Gospel at a Latin Mass, M.C. of Michigan sent the following by e-mail:
“I have been going to Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form with some regularity ever since Pope St. John Paul issued his indult, both in my home state of Michigan and on trips to at least nine other states, and have never seen either the Epistle or Gospel omitted. What I have seen (very rarely) is the omission of the reading of those parts of the Mass in English. That is, I think, sometimes standard practice when a daily Mass is offered, but not normally on Sunday. Usually, the priest reads both readings twice — once at the altar and again from the pulpit; occasionally, a lay reader reads them in English concurrently with the priest’s recitation on the altar. Once I even heard a priest read them aloud in English at the altar (probably an abuse). In any case, they are always included.
“On the other hand, some of the priests who say the Mass are pretty old, and perhaps M.S.’s celebrant had a ‘senior moment.’ At a daily Novus Ordo Mass I once regularly attended, the middle-aged priest omitted the ‘Lamb of God’ two days in a row, so I hesitantly asked him if this was a new variation — always possible in the Novus Ordo. He was aghast and thanked me for pointing it out. Knowing this priest, I actually think he was praying the Mass so deeply that his body was carrying on the words without him.”
Q. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses rang my doorbell today and I engaged them in polite conversation for a while. I asked them if they believed that Jesus is God, and they said no. They said He is the Son of God, but not God Himself. They quoted as proof John 14:28, in which Jesus says, “The Father is greater than I.” How could I have responded? — L.T., Massachusetts.
A. You could have quoted John 14:10, where Jesus says, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” or John 10:30, in which Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.” There is no contradiction since Jesus is speaking in John 14:28 in His humanity, while in the other passages He is speaking in His divinity. He is both God and man at the same time.
Realistically though, you could have quoted Bible passages for hours and not made a dent in the beliefs of the two Witnesses. We can admire them for their tenacity and willingness to go door to door and talk about their version of God, but it’s pretty difficult to sway them from their message. You can, however, pray that they will come to know the real Truth, namely, Jesus, who is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made” (Nicene Creed).
Q. For two millennia, the mission of the Church has been to bring to the Catholic faith those who are in error. But now comes Pope Francis telling us to befriend but not to convert non-Catholics. Is that what our Savior told His disciples to do? — C.G.D., Maryland.
A. The answer to your rhetorical question is, of course, no. Jesus told the disciples to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Here is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 856) describes this missionary mandate:
“The missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the gospel [cf. Rmiss 55]. Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning to appreciate better ‘those elements of truth and grace which are found among peoples, and which are, as it were, a secret presence of God’ [AG 9]. They proclaim the Good News to those who do not know it, in order to consolidate, complete, and raise up the truth and the goodness that God has distributed among men and nations, and to purify them from error and evil ‘for the glory of God, the confusion of the demon, and the happiness of man’ [AG 9].”
During a meeting at the Vatican with Lutheran pilgrims in October, Pope Francis was asked by a teenage girl if she should try to convince her friends to go to church. The Holy Father responded by saying that she should not speak to them, but rather should “live as a Christian, like a Christian: convinced, forgiven, and on a path. It is not licit to convince them of your faith; proselytism is the strongest poison against the ecumenical path. You must give testimony to your Christian life; testimony will unsettle the hearts of those who see you.”
He said that “from this unsettling grows one question: but why does this man or this woman live like that? And that prepares the ground for the Holy Spirit. Because it is the Holy Spirit that works in the heart. He does what needs to be done, but He needs to speak, not you.”
Of course, all conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit and, as we said in a recent column, it is wrong to “proselytize” someone in the bad sense of “using unfair and even unscrupulous means” to try to convert them. But it is not wrong to evangelize others, that is, to preach Jesus to those who do not know Him. As St. Paul said, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?” (Romans 10:13-14). The Catechism (n. 905) emphasized this point in discussing the role of the laity in bringing others to Christ:
“Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, ‘that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life’. . . . This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers…or to the faithful” (AA 6 § 3; cf. AG 15).
Q. Prior to the revised liturgy for the Sacrament of Penance, we began our Confession saying, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned” while making the Sign of the Cross upon oneself. Since Vatican II, I have read a brochure from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said that the priest and penitent should make the Sign of the Cross simultaneously and omit, “Bless me, Father.” Can you please tell me what is the correct thing to say? — M.M., Alabama.
A. According to the revised Rite of Penance, the steps are as follows:
1) The priest welcomes the penitent. 2) The penitent makes the Sign of the Cross, “which the priest may make also.” 3) The priest “may read or say from memory a text of Scripture which proclaims God’s mercy and calls man to conversion.” 4) “Where it is the custom, the penitent says a general formula for confession (for example, ‘I confess to almighty God’) before he confesses his sins.” 5) The priest helps the penitent “to make an integral confession [telling all serious sins, their kind and number and circumstances] and gives him suitable counsel.”
6) The priest “proposes an act of penance which the penitent accepts to make satisfaction for sin and to amend his life.” 7) The priest asks the penitent to make an act of sorrow or contrition. 8) The priest “extends his hands over the penitent’s head” and says a prayer of absolution, which includes the words, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The penitent responds “Amen.” 9) The priest says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,” and the penitent answers, “His mercy endures for ever.” 10) The priest dismisses the penitent with the words, “The Lord has freed you from your sins. Go in peace.” To which the penitent may respond (as we do), although it is not mentioned in the rite, “Thank you, Father.” And we have had priests conclude by asking us to pray for them.
The essential parts of the rite are contrition, confession, absolution, and satisfaction. How those parts are expressed can vary to some degree. For example, the priest does not have to make the Sign of the Cross at the beginning, he does not have to read a text from Scripture, and there are different versions of the Act of Contrition that are acceptable. The “general formula” for beginning one’s confession of sins can be the one in point four or the one that you (and we) have said for years, namely, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been X weeks or months or years since my last Confession, and these are my sins.”
As long as the essential elements are present (we have heard of priests not imposing a penance, not asking for an Act of Contrition, and not giving absolution, all of which are abuses), the incidental items you mentioned do not affect the validity of the sacrament.
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