CONTEMPORARY SACRAMENTAL PRACTICES

The Official Sacraments

Sources:

Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines. Manila: Paulines, 1992.

Bevans, Stephen B. and Schroeder, Roger P. PROPHETIC DIALOGUE: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Manila: Logos Publications, 2012.

 Martimort, A.G., et.al. THE CHURCH AT PRAYER An Introduction to the Liturgy,

Volume 1 PRINCIPLES OF LITURGY. Translated by Matthew J. O’Connell. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1987.

 Martos, Joseph. Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the

Catholic Church. Revised and Updated Edition. Liguori, Missouri: Liguori Publications, 2001.

 Pecklers, Keith F. THE GENIUS OF THE ROMAN RITE On the Reception and

Implementation of the New Missal. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2009. Pennington, M. Basil. The Eucharist Yesterday and Today. New York, N.Y.: Crossroad, 1985. Power, David N. THE SACRIFICE WE OFFER The Tridentine Dogma and its

Reinterpretation. New York, N.Y.: Crossroad, 1987.

Outline:

A. Contemporary Sacramental Practices

B. The Official Sacraments

Context

Vatican II onward…

Vatican II “…its clarion call was for renewal in the Church.

The call was for change – an up-dating (aggiornamento) of ourselves. - ¶ 5, Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines

Since the mid-1960s the Catholic Church has been visibly changing

Features on the Catholic Landscape

Sacramental Rituals

Attitudes & Behaviors

Experience of sacramental rituals

CHANGES

• Enthusiastic

• ReluctantCHANGES

Cultural Pluralis

mTheologi

cal Pluralism

New Trent -Like Uniformity

Aggiornamento – VAT II

Revision of the rites which was done under Vatican supervision

•Historical Consciousness

•Recovery of Liturgical Theology and Spirituality

•Promotion of Full and Active Participation

3 Fundamental Bases

- p.29, THE GENIUS OF THE ROMAN RITE On the Reception and Implementation of the New Missal, Keith F. Pecklers, SJ,

Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota, 2009.

Rites 1970s

* Religious Profession; Consecration of Virgins…

*Confirmation; Christian

Initiation of Adults…

*Eucharist outside of

Mass; Penance

- pp. 82-83, THE CHURCH AT PRAYER An Introduction to the Liturgy, Volume 1 PRINCIPLES OF LITURGY, A.G. Martimort et. al.

Catholic bishops and liturgists in non-western countries expressed dissatisfaction Revision of

the rites which was done under Vatican supervision

Church Leaders would like

greater autonomy in designing sacramental rites

express the meaning of Christianity in their own cultural symbols

Catholic bishops and liturgists in non-western countries expressed dissatisfaction

Arguments

Accommodation

Early ChristianityNative

cultures

Coptic RiteMozarabic

RiteAmbrosian Rite

Early Christianity…. Native Cultures

More Moderate (Acculturation)

More Radical(Inculturation)

Pro

pone

nts

of A

dditi

onal

Litu

rgic

al

Ref

orm

s

Different Texts

Gestures, Vestments

Culturally Appropriate Liturgy

More Moderate (Acculturation)

Married , Female, Group Leadership in

the Church

Native Foods instead of

bread & wine…laying on of

hands…

Indigenous wedding

practices…

More Radical

(Inculturation)

Non-Western Liturgists

Straining

toward

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Catholic Theologians

Show no sign task of

understanding the sacraments

in the future difficulty to speak about

Catholic sacraments

Catholic explanation of the sacraments

Resemble one another around the

world

All resemble sacramental rituals of the modern world

Possible to Discuss

Catholic Theology

Catholic sacramental practices

THE OFFICIAL SACRAMENTSRevision of the official rites

gained

understanding

lost

Sense of mystery

UN

DE

RS

TAN

DIN

G

Contemporary Language Modern Dress

Drastically revised

and simplified rites

o Eliminated prayers and gestures

Sen

se of M

ysteryLatin Mass

Music

Confessional area

Incense & Pageantry

Baptismal font

Weddings & Ordinations

Observations/Reactions – loss of a sense of mystery?

some observers of contemporary culture – it is not the change in the liturgy that has reduced the sense of mystery but the secularization of the whole society

those who have understood the reasons

for the new liturgy and who do participate in it

with energy and attention – the sense of

mystery has not been entirely lost; it has rather

shifted from a sense of magic to a sense of

wonder.

FAVORS MEDIEVAL CEREMONIES For many the

medieval ceremonies were more palpably doors to the sacred,

excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

established a schismatic church which retained the Tridentine mass and sacraments.

FAVORS CULTURAL ADAPTATION

excommunicated Rev. George

Stallings,

led his black congregation in

Washington, D.C., to break from the Catholic Church

over liturgical and ministerial

restrictions

More Moderate American Liturgists

DIVERS CULTURE - distinctively American form of liturgy and worship.

HIGH-TECH GADGETS FOR LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS

Critics of American Materialism and Individualism

Some aspects of contemporary culture are so incompatible with the spiritual and communal ideals of the Christian gospel

that there could never be a form of worship that is both fully Catholic and fully American.

Silent Spectators (Majority of American Catholics)

Pay little attention to liturgical pressures from the right and the left

In spite of massive effort to educate them through Sunday pulpit, many of them comprehend neither the scholastic nor the contemporary explanations of sacraments

.

Silent Spectators (Majority of American Catholics)

Their understanding of the sacraments is neither metaphysical nor experiential but based on the religious training they received as children.

Although they are invited to participate fully in the liturgy, many still attend as silent spectators.

Features on the Catholic Landscape

Sacramental Rituals

Attitudes & Behaviors

Experience of sacramental

rituals

CHANGES

Sacrament of Baptism

Freed from the belief that this sacrament does nothing except wash away original sin

Some Catholic parents have been less concerned to have their children baptized within days after birth;

some priests have begun to question the custom of baptizing children of parents who show little interest in raising their children as Catholics.

Sacrament of Confirmation

In some dioceses it is administered by pastors as well as bishops

The age for celebrating the sacrament varies from seven to eighteen

Sacrament s of the Holy Eucharist and Penance

Changes in the rites

Changes in the Catholic understanding of sin

Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Penance

Catholics are now less legalistic about weekly attendance in mass

They go to confession much less frequently than they used to

Those who do attend the liturgy regularly tend to receive communion more often and with less doubt about their worthiness to do so.

Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

Before: once considered a sign that death was at the door, and being administered only to the dying,

Today: It is becoming more regarded as the sacrament of

healing; it is being received more frequently by the elderly

and the less seriously ill.

Sacrament of Marriage

Baptized Catholics who have little intention of being active members of the church today feel less need to be married before a priest.

Some pastors are beginning to question the value of church weddings

for such persons even if they request one.

Sacrament of Marriage

Divorce and remarriage – once unthinkable for Roman Catholics

Has come under discussion by canon lawyers and

theologians

Relaxing of restrictions for annulments

It is becoming more common

Sacrament of Holy Orders

The Catholic priesthood seems to have regained some of the stability lost during the turbulent 60s

Priests are no longer leaving the ministry so frequently, and vocations are no longer ….

 

Sacrament of Holy Orders

In the developing world, seminaries (and

convents, too) are full……

 

Sacrament of Holy Orders

 Issues still remain

- The question of allowing priest to marry

- Allowing women to be ordained

Sacrament of Marriage

Sacrament of Holy Orders

Both marriage and priesthood are being looked in a more human and a less divine light

This makes it possible for Catholics to be less

dogmatic in their thinking despite Rome’s inflexibility

in these areas.

Ecumenism or Interfaith Cooperation

Decreasing dogmatism with – sacraments & worship in general

Christian Unity

Vat II Opening to the world

Interactions b/w

Protestants & Christians

Working together

Ecumenical worship services

Reforms

Interfaith Marriages

CONCLUSION:

The official Catholic sacraments have changed, and they are likely to do so again, for the forces of change are still at work.

  

 

CONCLUSION:

 Nevertheless, the

Roman church organization is large and its hierarchy is very tradition-minded, …. 

 

CONCLUSION:

 It is good to know

that we are well-rooted and closely bonded people, enlivened by a consistent flow of life through centuries…. - p.47, The Eucharist Yesterday and Today, M. Basil Pennington, Crossroad, New York, N.Y.,1985

 

CONCLUSION: 

In the dialogue between churches,

agreement on an appropriate and

commonly observed Eucharistic

practice, within reasonable

diversity…- p. 186, THE SACRIFICE WE OFFER The Tridentine

Dogma and its Reinterpretation, David N. Power, Crossroad, New

York, N.Y, 1987 

CONCLUSION:

“ …the worthy and vital celebration of the liturgy in

Eucharist, baptism, marriages or funerals can be moments when the gospel proclaimed

and celebrated ….” – p. 66, PROPHETIC DIALOGUE: Reflections on Christian

Mission Today, Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder, Logos Publications, Inc., Manila, 2012

CONTEMPORARY SACRAMENTAL PRACTICES

The Official Sacraments

DIOS MABALOS PO… THANK YOU…