Liturgical Ministry

Welcome to the liturgical ministries page for the Immaculate Conception parish. Here members of our parish, school, religious communities and other Catholic faith communities can find help in understanding the liturgy and how the liturgy transforms our lives. Here you can find information on the liturgical seasons, the sanctoral cycle, and the various rites, as well as a context for a Catholic community's life of worship.

Throughout the liturgical year you will find general material relevant to the season, as well as basic information on celebrating Sundays, solemnities, and feasts. Return often to learn about the theological meaning and history of the current season; what the Lectionary, the Roman Missal, and other ritual texts tell us; ideas on the liturgical environs for the place of worship as well as the domestic church, home; and, seasonal tips and formational notes for all liturgical ministers, including scheduling.

NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Sometimes the phrase "mountaintop experience" is used to describe fantastic or extraordinary moments in our lives. Ancient peoples believed that mountains were sacred places and that God lived in the highest mountain; the divine presence there was usually evidenced by thunder and lightning.

In today's firrst reading from the Book of Kings, we hear of Elijah's encounter with God on Mount Horeb; God's presence isn't in the wind or thunder, but in "a tiny whispering sound." Notice, too, that in the Gospel reading, after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus dismisses his disciples and goes up the mountain by himself to pray. The rest of the Gospel is fairly familiar to many.

There's wisdom in today's readings for all and especially for music ministers. We are regularly on our cell phones, online, in rehearsals, playing an instrument, creating a bulletin, or you name it. Let's call it the "thunderstorm, lightning, earthquake" mountaintop experience way of life. Others (pastors included) live this way, too. In today's first reading, we hear that God is to be found in the "whispering sound." If ever there was a Sunday in the year that reminds us to take a vacation, it is today. Head for the mountains or the beach, even if only for a day.

Elaine Rendler-McQueeney, Today's Liturgy 2008 © 2008, OCP. All rights reserved.


UNDERSTANDING THE NEW ROMAN MISSAL

The revised Roman Missal will introduce changes to the assembly's texts in the Liturgy of the Eucharist: the Suscipiat Dominus ("May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands…"), the preface dialogue, the Sanctus ("Holy, holy, holy…"), the mystery of faith (formerly known as the memorial acclamation), the sign of peace, and the Ecce Agnus Dei ("Lord, I am not worthy…"). See these changes at usccb.org/romanmissal/samples-people.shtml. As you prepare to implement these new changes, think about the existing guidelines relating to the Liturgy of the Eucharist that have not yet been implemented in your community. Is some of the money collected during the preparation of the gifts regularly designated "for the poor" ( General Instruction of the Roman Missal 73)? Is the bread for the Eucharist brought to the altar in one container to signify the "one bread … by which we are gathered 'into the one Body of Christ, a living sacrifice of praise'" ( Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion 32)? Is enough bread set out so that "Holy Communion is given from hosts consecrated at the same Mass and not from those reserved in the tabernacle" (30)? Is the bread to be broken during the Lamb of God "of sufficient size that at least some of the faithful are able to receive a piece broken from it" (33)? Most altar bread suppliers provide six and nine inch hosts that yield twenty-four and sixty-nine pieces respectively.

Paul Covino, Today's Liturgy 2011 © 2011, OCP. All rights reserved