Thanks for your collection of
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need to clarify the dierence between a
“Sunday service” and a Mass.
The bishop in our diocese has
authorized deacons and trained
lay people to lead ocial liturgical
services called “Sunday Celebrations
in the Absence of a Priest,” also called
SCAP. While new to our diocese, such
liturgies have existed since 1989, when
the bishops of the United States first
approved them. These liturgies, however,
are not the same as Mass.
Here’s what such a celebration looks
like: It begins with a greeting, followed
by an opening prayer identical with
the one used for the day’s Mass. Then a
lector reads the three Scripture passages
assigned for the day. If the leader is a
deacon, he will read the gospel and
can oer a homily. A lay leader does
not preach. Next, everyone recites
the Nicene Creed, followed by the
intercessions and the Lord’s Prayer.
Now we come to an optional element:
the distribution of Holy Communion.
Because only a priest or bishop can
consecrate bread and wine, transforming
them into the Body and Blood of Christ,
Holy Communion cannot be “produced”
during the service. So what happens? The
deacon or lay leader can distribute hosts
consecrated by a priest at an earlier Mass.
The decision to oer Holy
Communion will depend primarily on
the availability of sucient consecrated
hosts for everyone who can to receive.
If, for example, the deacon or lay leader
has only 50 hosts for 200 people, it
would not make sense to distribute Holy
Communion to part of the congregation.
You suggest replacing some Masses
with these “Sunday celebrations.” While
I can certainly understand your desire to
restore your favorite Mass, we must be
clear that these “priest-less” liturgies are
not substitutes for the Mass but temporary
accommodations for emergencies.
In our diocese, “Sunday celebrations”
can occur in just two situations: first, if a
priest suddenly becomes ill or otherwise
indisposed; and second, if a priest is away
on a planned vacation or retreat and is
unable to find a replacement priest.
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that receiving Holy Communion is
“enough.” Certainly, for most Catholics
the experience of receiving the sacrament
is the highlight of their Sunday. However,
ordinarily the reception of Holy
Communion is inseparably connected
with a series of inter-related actions,
specifically the proclamation of God’s
Word, a communal act of thanksgiving,
and the active remembrance of Christ’s
passion, death, and resurrection through
the sacramental ministry of the priest.
The “Sunday celebration” includes the
proclamation of God’s Word. However, it
does not set before us the saving sacrifice
of Christ. We experience this fully only
through the celebration of Mass.
Allow me to oer a rough comparison.
Imagine that your mother had invited
you to Sunday dinner in celebration
of your brother‘s birthday. On the way,
you ran out of gas, had trouble getting
help, and finally arrived five hours late.
Though you’ve missed the meal, there is
still a warm dish saved for your arrival.
In a way, you will have shared the family
meal because you ate the same food.
However, you were unable to enjoy
the broader celebration, notably the
What is the dierence
between a
Mass and
a ‘‘Sunday service?’’
Send your questions to: “Dear Father Kerper,”
Parable Magazine,
P.O. Box 310, Manchester, NH 03105 or
e-mail
Dear Father Kerper
?
“The ‘Sunday celebration’
includes the proclamation
of God’s Word. However, it
does not set before us the
saving sacrifice of Christ.
We experience this fully only
through the celebration of
Mass.”
D
ear Father Kerper: I recently heard that the
bishop will allow lay leaders to conduct Sunday
services when a parish can’t get a priest. Is
this true? In my parish, some of our Masses,
including my favorite 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, were dropped.
Why can’t a lay leader be used to retain these Masses? After all,
isn’t it enough to receive Holy Communion?
6 | PARABLE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
exchange of fond memories, songs, and the joy of being
together with loved ones. Holy Communion apart from Mass
is somewhat similar.
While reception of Holy Communion at a “Sunday
celebration” is indeed a genuine partaking of the Body and
Blood of Christ, the recipient receives the “fruit” of the Mass
without direct participation in the sacred event that “produces”
it. To put it another way, the “food” is separated from the
“meal.” In its original form, the Eucharistic celebration was
never to be chopped up into specific acts separated by various
periods of time.
Some people, of course, will ask: “Why do we need a priest?
Why can’t the gathered community ‘make’ the Eucharist?”
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bishop, whose ordination “ocially” connects him with the
Apostles chosen by Christ, acts as the necessary unifying link
between the particular community and the broader Church.
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to “retain Masses” that have been or may be eliminated
in your parish. The Eucharist, properly understood, is
a sacrament of unity, which draws people together to
worship at a common altar through the leadership of a
priest or bishop, the symbolic agent of the community’s
unity with Christ and the universal Church.
In light of this, the suggested coexistence of Masses and
“Sunday celebrations” in a single parish for the sake of mere
convenience would seriously undermine the unifying force of
the full Eucharistic Sacrifice, which happens only at Mass.
Christ always empowers the Church to provide the Eucharist
to as many people as possible. Until recent times, Catholics in
New England could participate in the Eucharist in many places
— sometimes at several churches in one small town — and
at many dierent times. To promote maximum convenience,
the Church sometimes inadvertently fragmented communities
through the excessive multiplication of Masses and parishes,
which allowed Catholics to segregate themselves according to
time preferences, ethnic background, and geographic location.
Now, as the ratio of priests to baptized Catholics has
changed enormously, genuine need has replaced mere
convenience as the Church’s principal consideration
in arranging celebrations of the Eucharist. Though
this certainly involves painful change, perhaps it will
eventually foster greater unity, which, after all, the Lord
earnestly prayed for on the first
Holy Thursday: “May they all be
one; as you, Father, are in me, and
I in you, so also may they be in us,
that the world may believe that you
sent me.”
(John 17:21)
ed
f
or on
th
e
fi
rs
t
y:
“Ma
y
th
ey
all be
t
h
er, are in me, an
d
o
ma
y
t
h
ey
b
e in us,
m
ay
b
e
l
ieve t
h
at you
1
7:21
)
Father Michael Kerper is the
pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in
Portsmouth, NH.
Saint Charles Bor-
romeo
BORN: October 2, 1538
DIED: November 3, 1584
FEAST DAY: November 4
PATRONAGE: Learning and the arts
PATRON AND NAMESAKE OF
St. Charles Borromeo Parish in
Meredith, NH. This stained glass
window can be found in the foyer
of St. Charles Borromeo church.
Saint Charles Borromeo was born into an aristocratic family
and his uncle became Pope Pius IV. His life as a leader in the
Church began very early. At 12 years old, his uncle named
him an abbot in the mountainous village of Arona. Charles
gave all of the revenue from his position to the poor.
8IFOIJTGBUIFSEJFEJOIJTGBNJMZSFRVFTUFEUIBU
he take over the management of their household aairs.
Later on, his family asked him to give up his work for the
Church and raise children so that the family name would
not die out. Charles refused and redoubled his eorts to
improve the welfare of the Church.
In 1560 his uncle, Cardinal Angelo de’Medici, was made
pope and Charles was then elevated to the post of cardinal
of Romagna and supervisor to the Franciscans, Carmelites,
and Knights of Malta. At age 22, Charles was made arch-
bishop of Milan.
His numerous accomplishments include persuading Pope
Pius IV to reconvene the Council of Trent, founding and
endowing a college at Pavia (Almo Collegio Borromeo), and
having a significant share in the creation of the Tridentine
Catechism, the formal instruction in the teachings of the
Catholic Church that was used up until Vatican II in the
late 1960s. After the death of his uncle, Charles devoted
himself to the reformation of his diocese. He believed that
abuses in the Church stemmed from clergy ignorance and
IFTVCTFRVFOUMZFTUBCMJTIFETFNJOBSJFTDPMMFHFTBOEDPN-
munities for educating candidates for holy orders.
In 1576, during the time of the plague, Charles proved
himself fearless by leading eorts to minister to the sick
and bury the dead. Another great work of Charles was es-
tablishing the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) so
that children would be taught about their faith. It was the
beginning of what is now known as catechesis.
As a result of his lifelong work establishing schools and
colleges, Saint Charles Borromeo is regarded as the patron
saint of learning and the arts. He died November 3, 1584,
at the age of 46.
Profile in Holiness
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