Visible Point of Unity and the Empty Altar

This morning I arrived at my parish for 7:00 a.m. Mass and realized that something was amiss when I saw the weekday sacristan scurrying around just a few minutes before the hour appointed.

The priest hadn't shown up and so our parish's faithful Deacon Rich was called into service, holding forth with a fine homily. We all received the precious Body of Christ and went forth strengthened for daily service. Still, I felt a little "let down" that it was a communion service rather than Mass. Then, I started thinking about why this is so.

As a Catholic convert I have been taught that when administering sacraments the priest acts "in persona Christi", that is, in the person of Christ. My spiritual director, who is also my pastor, often speaks about the Bishop and (by extension) the pastor as visible points of unity for the faithful.

My disappointment this morning wasn't intellectual or theological, however. Both of these ideas coalesced together in my meditation enough for me to realize how incredibly important a locus the priestly presence is in my life. When Father Charlie blesses me, I am blessed and feel that way. When he pronounces the "te absolvo" in Reconciliation it is Christ who blesses and forgives me. I take this presence so seriously that when it is absent I feel like something is missing. Yes, Christ is still with me, and I am just as holy, and just as guided, and perhaps just as well off as I would have been had a priest been available. But there is just something different, and I'd say qualitiatively better, about seeing and hearing God's absolving word spoken to you by another human being appointed to represent the invisible Christ. Similarily, the priest functions not as a replacement for but as an amplifier of God's love. For me, the Eucharist is the highest expression of that love.

Benedict XVI seems to be moving along these lines in yesterday's audience, when he spoke of that early "bishop's bishop," Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius is one of my favorites anyway, since he is an early witness to the presence/idea of the apostolic succession among the Church. But in this case, Ignatius serves as a mirror of this idea of the unity between external heirarchy and the inward perpection of God's love. In Catholic thought the two are never to be separated or opposed to each other. Period.

Benedict XVI, From Zenit:

"In general, in Ignatius' letters, we can see a sort of constant and fruitful dialectic between the two aspects characteristic of Christian life: on one hand the hierarchical structure of the ecclesial community, and on the other hand, the fundamental union that links all the faithful in Christ. Therefore the roles cannot be opposed."

On the contrary, the insistence on communion of the faithful among themselves and with their pastors is continually formulated through eloquent images and analogies: the harp, the chords, the tone, the concert, the symphony."

The Pope contended that the "specific responsibility of the bishops, the presbyters and the deacons in the building of the community is evident. To them above all, the invitation to love and union is valid"

The Holy Father called Ignatius a "doctor of unity," and said that his example "invites the faithful of yesterday and today, invites us all, to a progressive synthesis between configuration to Christ -- union with him, life in him -- and dedication to his Church -- union with the bishop, generous service to the community and to the world."

"In other words, one must achieve a synthesis between communion of the Church within itself and the mission of proclamation of the Gospel to others, until one dimension speaks through the other, and believers are evermore 'in possession of that indivisible spirit that is Jesus Christ himself,'" the Pope added. Benedict XVI concluded, praying "that the Lord may help us in achieving this unity and to be found without sin, because love purifies the spirit."

The Seventh Sense

In the movie "The Sixth Sense" Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist whose young patient sees dead people. There is a bizarre plot twist at the end which I must give away in order to write this post . Fair warning to those who haven't yet seen this excellent movie. At the end of the movie Bruce Willis in essence discovers that he himself is the dead person and all the others around him are alive.

How like us. Christians have the Seventh Sense, not just the presence of dead people among us, but the presence of God in those people. Its holy day is celebrated on November 1st, the Feast of All Saints.

The dead we always have with us in our memories. And we know that that they have passed over to true Life. They are living the Reality, the Divine Truth, of which this present life is simply the shadowy reflection. They are always with God. Sometimes they are with us also.

Anyone who has lost a loved one knows what I am talking about. My mother died in September 1987. The last time I saw her alive with the seeing of the eyes on Friday, September 4, 1987. She was standing in her housecoat on the porch in the early morning light. She was waving to me as my father pulled out of the driveway to take me to the airport to travel home to Minnesota. The next Tuesday she had a massive heart attack and died in an arm chair in our living room.

In the Fall of 1988 I was assisting with the distribution of communion for the first time at the altar of my internship parish, First Lutheran Church, Longview Texas. During communion for the first time since her death I had the distinct sense that my mother was there with me. The sensation passed, and the service ended. Then, a family friend, my 4th grade Sunday School teacher, came up after church and said with tears in her eyes "Elizabeth was with us today. did you feel it?"

There are even larger "shiver moments" in this holy day. In a sense the curtain is drawn back today and we see a larger Reality, ourselves surrounded by the heavenly host of those who have gone before us to God.



It's an overwhelming feeling. At least for today, this reality ought to feel just as real or perhaps more real than the KFC meals, Excel spreadsheets, and the crunching autumn leaves stirred in the crisp morning air which frame my day.

From the Scripture Reading for Evening Prayer I, Solemnity of All Saints:

You have drawn near to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeruslaem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born enrolled in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24

We Catholic Christians have this Seventh Sense, with sense enough at least on occasion to perceive an unseen Reality, the God who is truly Real. As St Augustine put it, "we must fly to our beloved homeland. There the Father is, and there is everything." I am sure that is what William of St Thierry was praying about when he wrote the Countryman's Prayer in the right sidebar.

Today, make this prayer mine, Lord. give me the Seventh Sense. Bring me Home.