Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: Writing in his weekly bulletin at the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. George Rutler offered these perceptive comments on the season of Advent:
“The superficiality of life may be measured by how seriously one takes Advent’s four themes of Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Advent proclaims that a curtain is falling, even if a premature Christian celebration with bells and elves, beginning with the Macy’s parade (two blocks east of our church), fabricates a distraction from that.
“If thought is not deep, there will be no real joy when the mysteries of God are disclosed. The bane of our times, and possibly of all times, is superficiality. This was illustrated at a synod of bishops in Rome in 2015, when papers of a politically correct nature were read, one after another repeating clichés to address the world’s problems. One consultant broke through the soporific jargon. Dr. Anca Maria Cernea, a prominent Romanian physician whose father had been imprisoned by Communists for seventeen years, said:
“‘The Church’s mission is to save souls. Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or ‘climate change.’ The solution is: Evangelization. Conversion. Not an ever-increasing government control. Not a world government. These are nowadays the main agents imposing cultural Marxism on our nations, under the form of population control, reproductive health, gay rights, gender education, and so on. What the world needs nowadays is not limitation of freedom, but real freedom, liberation from sin. Salvation’.”
Q. If you go to Confession and, at the end, the priest says your sins are forgiven but does not say the prayer of absolution as usual, does this constitute a valid Confession for the forgiveness of sins? — C.A.L., New Jersey.
A. No, it does not. The four essential elements of the Sacrament of Penance are (1) contrition or sorrow for the sins committed along with the intention of sinning no more, (2) confession of specific sins to the priest, (3) expiation or satisfaction for sins committed through an act of penance, usually prayers or acts of self-denial or charity, and (4) absolution or pardon for one’s sins. Here is the formula for absolution:
“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and Resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and 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.” If these words are omitted, the sacrament is not valid. In his book The Sacraments and Their Celebration, Fr. Nicholas Halligan, OP, explained:
“The formula of this sacrament is the words by which the priest as judge passes sentence or absolution on sins; it signifies the use and effect of the power of the keys in the remission of sins. The formula should express the exercise of the judicial power given to the ministers of the Church, to be exercised in the name of God, and the actual effect.
“For a formula to be valid, it must contain the essential words: I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The voluntary omission of an essential word of the formula is a serious sin. Whether voluntary or not, the omission invalidates the sacrament and thus deprives the penitent of sacramental grace. The lawful formula is the integral rubrical formula which the Church, in the Rite of Penance, prescribes to be employed in absolution. Priests have no right to make up their own formulas” (p. 85).
Q. At a Bible study that I attended, the instructor said that there are many parallels between Moses and Jesus, but he didn’t go into detail. Can you list some of these parallels? — T.C., via e-mail.
A. Sure. Here are some of them: (1) As infants, both Moses and Jesus escaped death at the hand of an evil king. (2) Both came out of Egypt and both began their missions in the desert. (3) Moses led people from slavery in Egypt; Jesus led people from slavery to sin. (4) Moses was a shepherd; Jesus was the Good Shepherd. (5) Both were often rejected by their own people. (6) Moses turned water into blood; Jesus turned water into wine. (7) Moses received the law on a mountain; Jesus fulfilled the law in His Sermon on the Mount. (8) Moses got a bread from Heaven called manna for the Israelites; Jesus provided a bread from Heaven called the Eucharist for His people. (9) Moses used the blood of a lamb to save his people from death; Jesus is the Lamb of God whose blood saves us from eternal death. (10) Moses led his people to the Promised Land of Canaan; Jesus leads His people to the promised land of Heaven.
Q. Last year our parish promoted a house blessing on the feast of the Epiphany, but some people declined to participate because they felt that only a priest can give a blessing. The parish is going to do this again in January. What can I say to those who object? Also, can you give me information about the differences between the baptismal priesthood of the laity and the ordained priesthood? — J.W., Michigan.
A. First of all, while there are many blessings that can be administered only by bishops, priests, and deacons, lay people can administer some blessings — they can bless throats and give out ashes, for example — according to the rites and formularies spelled out in the Book of Blessings (cf. n. 18). Those who are ordained confer blessings by virtue of their ministerial office, but the laity can ask God to bless someone, as when a parent makes the Sign of the Cross on a child’s forehead or when a lay person says to someone, “God bless you.”
Second, there is such a thing as the priesthood of the laity, as opposed to the ordained priesthood. Here is how the glossary at the back of the Catechism explains the difference:
“(1) Of the faithful: The priestly people of God. Christ has made of his Church a ‘kingdom of priests,’ and gives the faithful a share in his priesthood through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation (784, 1119, 1546). (2) Ministerial: The ministerial priesthood received in the Sacrament of Holy Orders differs in essence from this common priesthood of all the faithful. It has as its purpose to serve the priesthood of all the faithful by building up and guiding the Church in the name of Christ, who is head of the Body (1547).”
Third, the Epiphany Blessing is a centuries-old tradition where priests originally visited every home in their parish on the Feast of Epiphany, but when there were not enough priests, a member of the household was able to lead the blessing. The custom begins today when a priest at Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany blesses chalk and says this prayer:
“Bless, O Lord God, this chalk, and let it be a help to mankind. Grant that those who will use it with faith in your most Holy Name, and with it inscribe on the doors of their homes the names of your saints, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, may through their merits and intercession enjoy health in body and protection of soul, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
The faithful take the blessed chalk home and, after saying some prayers, write across the inside top of the front door the initials of the three Magi, connected with crosses and bracketed with the century and the year. Thus, in January, the inscription would read “20 C+M+B 20.” There is a popular belief that the Kings’ initials stand for Christus mansionem benedicat (“Christ, bless this house”).
Perhaps this explanation will answer any objections some of your fellow parishioners might have to taking part in this wonderful tradition.
