272 SIGNS AND ACTIONS IN WHICH A BLESSING IS CONFERRED

YOUCAT Lesson 272

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

Chapter 4: Other Liturgical Celebrations

272  What are the sacramentals?

Sacramentals are sacred signs or sacred actions in which a blessing is conferred.  [1667-1672, 1677-1678]

 

Photo: …..Pope Francis and an infant.  Who is blessing whom? …..272

The Priestly Blessing:     The LORD said to Moses:    Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites.  Say to them:  The LORD bless you and keep you!  The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!^*   --Old Testament, Numbers 6:22-26

CHAPTER FOUR

Examples of sacramentals are holy water, the consecration of a bell or an organ, the blessing of a house or an automobile, the blessing of throats on the feast of St. Blaise, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, palm branches on Palm Sunday, the Easter candle, and the blessing of produce on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the Lord!’  Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!”  Psalm 122:1-2

“Be sober, be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him firm in your faith!”  1 Peter 5: 8-9

OTHER LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS 

ARTICLE 1

SACRAMENTALS

…….1667   "Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."(Sacrosanctum Concilium 60; Compa; Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, can. 867.)¹⁷³  --CCC

The characteristics of sacramentals

…….1668   Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops' pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism). --CCC 

…….1669   Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a "blessing," and to bless.(Conpare Genesis 12:2; Luke 6:28; Romans 12:14; 1 Peter 3:9.)¹⁷⁴   Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).(Compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 79; Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1168; De Ben 16,18.)¹⁷⁵ –CCC

…….1670   Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."(Compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 79; Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1168; De Ben 16,18.)¹⁷⁶ --CCC

Various forms of sacramentals

…….1671   Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing."(Ephesians 1:3.)¹⁷⁷   This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross of Christ. --CCC 

…….1672   Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons - not to be confused with sacramental ordination - are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects. --CCC

IN BRIEF

…….1677 Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church. They prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life. --CCC

…….1678 Among the sacramentals blessings occupy an important place. They include both praise of God for his works and gifts, and the Church's intercession for men that they may be able to use God's gifts according to the spirit of the Gospel. --CCC

271 EVERY MARRIAGE IS PERFECTED IN OPENNESS TO OTHERS

YOUCAT Lesson 271

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

271  What does it mean to say that the family is a “Church in miniature”?

What the Church is on a large scale, the family is on a small scale: an image of God’s love in human fellowship.  Indeed, every marriage is perfected in openness to others, to the children that God sends, in mutual acceptance, in hospitality and being for others.  [1655-1657]

Photo: …..Four nieces and a nephew great their visiting great aunt Margaret with songs. …..271

Nothing in the early Church fascinated people more about the “New Way” of the Christians than their “domestic churches”.  Often someone “believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many…believed and were baptized” (Acts of the Apostles 18:8).  In an unbelieving world, islands of living faith were formed; places of prayer, mutual sharing, and cordial hospitality.  Rome, Corinth, Antioch, the great cities of antiquity, were soon permeated with domestic churches that were like points of light.  Even today families in which Christ is at home are the leaven that renews our society.  368

“If you want someone to become Christian, let him live for a year in your house.”  St. John Chrysostom (349/350-407 a.d. )

VI. THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

…....1655   Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers "together with all [their] household."(Compare Acts 18:8.)¹⁶⁶ When they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved.(Compare Acts 16:31; Acts 11:14)¹⁶⁷ These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1656   In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica.(Lumen Gentium 11; compare Familiaris Consortio 21.)¹⁶⁸ It is in the bosom of the family that parents are "by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation."(Lumen Gentiumn 11.)¹⁶⁹ –CCC

…….1657   It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active charity."(Lumen Gentium 10.)¹⁷⁰ Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment."(Gaudium et Spes 52 § 1.)¹⁷¹ Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life. --CCC

270 THE DIVORCED AND REMARRIED CONTINUE TO BELONG TO THE CHURCH

YOUCAT Lesson 270

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

270  What is the Church’s stance on people who are divorced and remarried?

She accepts them lovingly, following Jesus’ example.  Anyone who divorces after being married in the Church and then during the lifetime of the spouse enters into a new union obviously contradicts Jesus’ clear demand for the indissolubility of marriage.  The Church cannot abolish this demand.  This retraction of fidelity is contrary to the Eucharist, in which it is precisely the irrevocable character of God’s love that the Church celebrates.  That is why someone who lives in such a contradictory situation is not admitted to Holy Communion. [1665, 2384]

Artwork: …..It is in the Eucharist, in which is found the irrevocable character of God’s love, that the Church cannot deny Jesus’ clear demand for the indissolubility of marriage. (Compare Sacramentum Caritatis, 29) …..270

Far from treating all specific cases alike, Pope Benedict XVI speaks about “painful situations” and calls on pastors “to discern different situations carefully, in order to be able to offer appropriate spiritual guidance to the faithful involved” (Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, 29).

“Yet the divorced and remarried continue to belong to the Church, which accompanies them with special concern and encourages them to live as fully as possible the Christian life through regular participation in the Mass, albeit without receiving communion, listening to the word of God, Eucharistic adoration, prayer, participation in the life of the community, honest dialogue with a priest or spiritual director, dedication to the life of charity, works of penance, and commitment to the education of their children.  Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 29

“No one is without a family in this world:  the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavily laden’”, --Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio

VI. THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

IN BRIEF

…….1665   The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Divorce

…….2384   Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:

If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another's husband to herself.(St. Basil, Moralia 73,1:Patrologia Graeca 31,849-852.)¹⁷⁸ --CCC

269 THE MARRIAGE BOND

YOUCAT Lesson 269

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

269  May a husband and wife who are always fighting get a divorce?

The Church has a great respect for the ability of a person to keep a promise and to bind himself into lifelong fidelity.  She takes people at their word.  Every marriage can be endangered by a crisis. Talking things over together, prayer (together), and often therapeutic counseling as well can open up ways out of the crisis.  Above all, remembering that in a sacramental marriage there is always a third party to the bond—Christ—can kindle hope again and again.  Someone for whom marriage has become unbearable, however, or who may even be exposed to spiritual or physical violence, may divorce.  This is called a “separation from bed and board”, about which the Church must be notified.  In these cases, even though the common life is broken off, the marriage remains valid.  [1629, 1649]

Photo: …..It is 48 years and counting since Rose and I were married in 1968.  Through the years, especially our senior years, Rose has always been quick to say, “I’m sorry.”  Frequently, those words were said by her when it was I who should have said, “I’m sorry.”  It has always been difficult for me to say those words, but I am getting better at it.  In fact, now when I sense disagreement on the horizon I seek to minimize my position to be of little or no value and the matter quickly passes.  Better yet, it is forgotten. …..269

Indeed, there are also cases in which the crisis in a marriage ultimately goes back to the fact that one spouse or both was not eligible at the time of the wedding or did not fully consent to the marriage.  Then the marriage is invalid in the canonical (legal) sense.  In such cases an annulment procedure can be introduced at the diocesan tribunal.  424

“Yet the divorced and remarried continue to belong to the Church, which accompanies them with special concern and encourages them to live as fully as possible the Christian life through regular participation in the Mass, albeit without receiving communion, listening to the word of God, Eucharistic adoration, prayer, participation in the life of the community, honest dialogue with a priest or spiritual director, dedication to the life of charity, works of penance, and commitment to the education of their children (paragraph 29).  Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis

III. MATRIMONIAL CONSENT

…….1629   For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. (Compare Codex Iuris Canonici, cann. 1095-1107)¹³²   In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged. (Compare Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1071.)¹³³ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1649   Yet there are some situations in which living together becomes practically impossible for a variety of reasons. In such cases the Church permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart. The spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union. In this difficult situation, the best solution would be, if possible, reconciliation. The Christian community is called to help these persons live out their situation in a Christian manner and in fidelity to their marriage bond which remains indissoluble. (Compare Familiaris Consortio 83; Codex Iuris Canonici, cann. 1151-1155.)¹⁵⁹ --CCC

Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 2, 2017

Painting: …..Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 2, 2017
Lectionary: 34

The first reading is from Ezekiel 37:12-14

Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.  Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!  I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.  I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

   

Responsorial Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 

R. (7) With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication. 

R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered. 

R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.

R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.

R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. 

The second readings is from Romans 8:8-11

Brothers and sisters:  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.

  

The verse before the Gospel is from John 11:25a, 26

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die. 

The Gospel of St. John 11:1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.  So the sisters sent word to him saying, "Master, the one you love is ill."  When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.  Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."  The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day?  If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  He said this, and then told them,"Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him."  So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved."  But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.  So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus has died.  And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.  Let us go to him."  So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.  Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise."  Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day."  Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to him, "Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here and is asking for you."  As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him.  For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him.  So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.  When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to him, "Sir, come and see."  And Jesus wept.  So the Jews said, "See how he loved him."  But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?"

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"  So they took away the stone.  And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me.  I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me."  And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands,  and his face was wrapped in a cloth.  So Jesus said to them,"Untie him and let him go."

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.