Fr. Hans' Pair o' Dimes

Get it? Pair o’ Dimes = Paradigms! Now I can do Pair o’ Dime shifts. . .and 20 cents is way better than two or three!


Last week in my homily, I discussed the value of wasting time, and in this column I want to focus on one specific way of “wasting time” on which the Catholic Church puts incredible focus: Sunday Mass attendance. I especially want to look at this at a time when, for reasons beyond our control, the vast majority of us can’t come to Mass every Sunday.
 
We often speak of Baptism as “adoption into God’s family.” Now, most families don’t have written codes of Rights and Responsibilities, but there’s usually an unspoken understanding. If the family is doing something together, you’re invited. And if you fail to show, you’d better have a good reason. And unless it’s an actual emergency, you should make that reason known ahead of time. And usually the family will be the judge (overtly or not) as to whether that reason is “good enough.”


The Catechism says that Baptism confers both responsibilities and rights. One of those responsibilities is participation in the “family meal,” the Sacrifice of the Mass, every Sunday. When family members are absent, our community is less. During this time when that’s impossible, the Archbishop has suspended the requirement to be at Mass in person. He has also urged us all to continue to “keep holy the Sabbath” by participation in Sunday Mass from home, and by other ways of “wasting time” with loved ones (my words, not his).
 
An important note on the concept of “impossible”: the Church  recognizes both “physical impossibility” (you literally can’t make it to the Church) and “moral impossibility” (you could make it to Church, but to do so would be morally wrong). At this time, I see (at least) three different types of moral impossibility:
 

1. Someone in your family is sick, and to expose others to whatever you have is bad.

2. Having too many people in the Church at one time would be unsafe for the general public, and our entire society is adhering to limits on the size of gatherings. Because of this, we have a rotation of who can come each weekend. It is far from ideal, but we are doing our best to make it fair.

3. Someone in a your household is considered “vulnerable,” and your family chooses not to expose them to the greater risk involved in going out. In such a case, they would be physically able to attend, but the risk to their life constitutes “moral impossibility,” and you need not attend Mass until the danger subsides.

 
A final note on the “Prayer for Spiritual Communion”: Jesus himself told us that eating His flesh and drinking His blood is how we have eternal life in us. In this time when that is not possible (for either physical or moral reasons), we recognize that we can receive the same Grace of the Eucharist through making a prayer for Spiritual Communion. The prayer we are using at Holy Trinity includes the words: “Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” It’s the impossibility of Sacramental Communion which makes Spiritual Communion both possible and effective.