The Elephant in the Communion Line

Tom Hoopes here. There is a lot of buzz about John Kerry's decision to receive Communion at the papal Mass. His decision to do so is odd, considering that it was because of his presidential candidacy that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was then archbishop of Washington, about this issue.

As Kerry well knows, this is what Cardinal Ratzinger said:

"Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his [bishop] should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist."

How is the current archbishop of Washington, the Holy Father, and those of us who have read the letter, supposed to take Kerry's decision to slip into a line and receive Communion anyway?

The priest should have denied it, you say? Pope Benedict agrees. More to the point, Kerry shouldn't have gone to start with.

But let's face it: Folks in that stadium who missed last Sunday's Mass shouldn't have gone, either. Often the Communion controversy can leave the impression that Communion is for all, provided they haven't championed abortion in a legislative body lately.

The bishops created a great (pdf) document last year that lists some of the common ways Catholics fall out of a state of grace (summarized here.). Catholics who don't go to confession are the elephant in the Communion line. If you're one, get to confession! Here's how.

If you go to confession already, promote it. Here are seven ways.

Liturgical Critiques

Tom Hoopes here. Lots of people are commenting on the liturgy at Nationals Stadium. To those who have been reading Pope2008.com (see "Liturgies") nothing in the liturgy was much of a surprise.

But the concern is understandable, given what Msgr. Guido Marini, the new papal Master of Ceremonies said:

"I hope the liturgical celebrations presided over by the Holy Father may be an example and also provide an orientation for the church in the United States."

It's important to note that Msgr. Marini was not here recommending papal stadium Masses as a model for your parish. He was speaking of Pope Benedict's Rome liturgies.

It will, however, be interesting to see Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass in a church this weekend. Will it be a Msgr. Marini Mass, or a Mass in which participating dioceses get to show off their pride and joy?

The Body of Christ at Nationals Park

Tom Hoopes here. I'm down at the priest's checkpoint area. Rows of priests are lining up to receive ciboriums. Then they stream out into the stadium holding the Body of Christ in the vessels in their hands. It's an awesome sight.

One doesn't know whether to kneel or bow or genuflect. One heartening sight is the vendors standing idly by their shops. No food is allowed to be sold during the time of the hourlong Eucharistic fast before Communion. This caused some consternation in the press booth where only water is available.

But sorry folks, you're in Our House now.

Listening to Peter

Tom Hoopes here. A very attentive crowd is sitting, listening to the Holy Father's homily. The only movement is from the security guys.

His message is that unity becomes many, not the other way around. The unity of Pentecost led to evangelization, the Church going out into new places, including the United States. Secularation then set in, and caused divisions and isolation. Now he wants to call us to unity -- through evangelization.

Division means smallness, ironically. Unity means expansion.

He's reviving many concepts on this trip that John Paul initiated but which he has not mentioned as often. On the plane: The Great Jubilee of the Church in America. Yesterday: The new springtime of the faith. Today: The New Evangelization.

Beautiful.

The Pope's Homily at Nationals Park: Return to the Sacrament of Penance

"In the exercise of my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have come to America to confirm you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles," said Pope Benedict XVI in his homily at Mass this morning at Nationals Park. "I have come to proclaim anew, as Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Messiah, risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, and established as judge of the living and the dead."

"The readings of today's Mass invite us to consider the growth of the Church in America as one chapter in the greater story of the Church's expansion... I pray, then, that this significant anniversary in the life of the Church in the United States, and the presence of the Successor of Peter in your midst, will be an occasion for all Catholics to reaffirm their unity in the apostolic faith, to offer their contemporaries a convincing account of the hope which inspires them, and to be renewed in missionary zeal for the extension of God's Kingdom.

The world needs this witness! Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the Church in America but also for society as a whole? It is a time of great promise, as we see the human family in many ways drawing closer together and becoming ever more interdependent. Yet at the same time we see clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundation of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening or the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of God."

Pope Benedict called upon the power of the Holy Spirit for a renewal of the Church in the U.S.

Again, the Holy Father took up the subject of the pain which the Church in America has experienced as a result of sexual abuse.

Here, he also took up, for the first time the subject of the sacrament of reconciliation, particularly its decline in our country.

"Let us trust in the Spirit's power to inspire conversion, to heal every wound, to overcome every division, and to inspire new life and freedom. How much we need these gifts! And how close at hand they are, particularly in the sacrament of Penance! The liberating power of this sacrament, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God's merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes."

-- Tim Drake

The Crying Room

Tom Hoopes here. I wonder if they offer Mass somewhere in D.C. this afternoon. It always feels like it doesn't count when you spend it in the back of the church or in the crying room with a baby. In this press box, surrounded by radio guys and press people pining away for coffee, it feels even less like it counts.

I just got a text message from my mystery Louisiana text messenger: "Crowd must be big now. Post a photo." Your wish is my command. Here's the crowd shot you asked. I have to get photos from Hertl each time. Nice guy. Sunny disposition. I hope I don't grind his kindness down and make him bitter by fulfilling too many requests from mystery texters ...

Construction Guys Eavesdroopping

Tom Hoopes here. You can kind of make it out in this photo of Gus'. In the upper left there's a building with a crane over it.

What you can't make out are the construction guys -- or at any rate, hardhatted guys standing on a concrete pillar in building that isn't built yet -- who have cheater seats for this papal Mass.

The Pope Is Here!

Tom Hoopes here.

And Pope Benedict XVI, now, too.

His Popemobile is rounding the outfield. Waves of fluttering flags indicate his progress. The crowds are on their feet waving, cheering, and applauding.

Heck, the crowds of priests in white robes are applauding and cheering, also.

In the press box, the radio guys are revving up. Their deep resonant voices are talking about this "ballpark turned into an open-air cathedral on this beautiful sunny day."

Hey, wait! It's working! The papal media dynamic that always happens: The negativity followed by the surprised positive joy.

The radio guys are saying, "We don't see a crowd jaded or cyncical. We don't see a crowd turned off to the Pope's message. We see a crowd alive with excitement."

The Holy Father is back in the outfield, having made the full circle. Excuse me while I join the hymn.

"Holy God we praise thy name .."

Meet Michael Hertl

Tom Hoopes here. With Michael Hertl of the German bishops' conference. He's based in Frankfurt.

Notice the following aspects of the picture taken with his iPod camera thingy.

1. The Benedict of Bavaria book, which I can no longer read because I gave my copy to my old classmate Delia Gallagher who is doing stuff with CNN. I promise I haven't been posting about it simply for self-promotion (Circle Press, who publishes it, is a fellow Circle Media operation). I was posting from it because it's good stuff. But I gave it to Delia for self-promotion.

2. Also notice the Vatican flag Gus Lloyd at Sirius Catholic Channel gave me, so that I have seven now -- which is lucky, because I have seven children, and one of them would have been grumpy either now, or when she is old enough to develop the awareness that I dissed her.

3. In the upper right, see the shattered glass pane that is near our seat, but which looks like a 1970s Church window.

Shhh! Take your seats. Word is the Pope is about to show up ...

Filling Up

Tom Hoopes here. The stands are filling up. Here's what it looks like from the Sirius box. I'm trying to post pictures while I have Gus' camera and cable ...