We Are Altar Cloth

(Photo by Rebecca Venegoni Tower of the St. Louis Review)

It is difficult to have a discussion about the differences in liturgical outlook between and among so-called progressive, conservative and traditional Catholics. Actually, it is quite easy, if you don’t care if you hurt anyone’s feelings. But as Catholics we ought to care. So, we should try not to do so.

The truth and charity are married, metaphorically speaking. They form one unified whole. Charity without truth is as insupportable as truth without charity. We strive neither for cold legalism nor for culpable treacle.

It is easy to claim that some of those that disagree with us are hypocrites. But hypocrisy is in good supply no matter what the shorthand type of label one adopts. I have seen error and exclusivity from the inclusive crowd; I have seen phariseeism among the traditionalists; and I have seen smug complacency among the conservatives. And in no way do I exonerate myself from the worst of it.

I lead with all of this because I am going to try to begin a discussion of an article in the Review from last week about a local parish and a particular parish project in which they are engaging. I am genuinely befuddled by it, but those responsible for it no doubt have the best of intentions in doing it. And I would love some input on this without drawing battle lines–because sometimes I think Catholics we are divided by a common faith.

This division is not caused per se by differences in liturgical praxis, but it sure seems that liturgical praxis is a good indicator of how one falls out on lots of issues. As you know, I have often posted here about the disastrous consequences of the divorce between faith and worship. After Vatican II, it seems that as long as one gives intellectual assent to a particular set of beliefs then the manner of worship is irrelevant. Perhaps that seems right when engaging in apologetics work with evangelicals, but such a concept would have been completely alien to Catholics of the 1,500 year period prior to 1965. As St. Prosper’s famous maxim states, lex orandi, lex credendi– or, the law of prayer is the law of belief.

How we worship reveals what we really believe.

And so, the article.

Parishioners of St. Gerard Majella in Kirkwood are sewing their names into an altar cloth that will be used at times for Holy Mass. The photo above shows the process of parishioners signing their names to the cloth, apparently on the part of the cloth that will cover the surface of the altar. This is being done, according to the article, to celebrate parish unity.

Stitch by stitch: Handmade altar cloth reminder of parish unity

By Jennifer Brinker

It can be said that Catholics become one when they are placed together before Christ’s altar.

A Kirkwood parish is placing its personal touch on that idea through the creation of a handmade altar cloth that will be used for special liturgical celebrations.

Last weekend, members of St. Gerard Majella Parish were invited after Masses to sign their family name to the simple, white polyester cloth, which was sewn by parishioner Jan Hinkebein, a member of the quilters’ group. Each name will be hand embroidered by members of that group and other volunteers.

“It will be unique in that it will be their own personal signature,” said Lisa Vienhage, who is helping to organize the effort.

Vienhage said the inspiration for the idea came from another archdiocesan parish, Our Lady of Providence in Crestwood, which created a similar altar cloth for its liturgical celebrations.

[…]

Hinkebein said it’s hard to guess how long it will take to hand embroider all of the names on the altar cloth. “When I did one, it took maybe about half an hour,” she said. The length of time spent sewing the names will depend on the number of people who can help with the project.

St. Gerard “is such a wonderful family parish, and it’s an amazing group of people, where everyone volunteers and gives a lot of their time and talent,” said Vienhage, who has been a member of the parish for the last 15 years. She and her husband, Michael, have five children.

The project is a perfect example of showing “families coming together. We’re all so different and unique, and different ages, but we all put ourselves before Christ at His table, and that’s where we become one. He is the source of our spiritual nutrition.

“As a mother, it’s crucial that my family has our meal time together. And the Mass is really the pinnacle of our faith as Catholics. We’re trying to celebrate that by dressing Christ’s altar.”

__________________

Promoting parish unity is a good thing. However, with all due respect I cannot see why this project serves the stated end. First of all, Catholic unity comes from the Catholic faith and membership in the one Church, visible and authoritative. The Church has authority to order her worship of God, and has rules for the various items used therein. What does she say about altar cloths, if anything?

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 304, states:

“Out of reverence for the celebration of the memorial of the Lord and for the banquet in which the Body and Blood of the Lord are offered on an altar where this memorial is celebrated, there should be at least one white cloth, its shape, size, and decoration in keeping with the altar’s design. When, in the dioceses of the United States of America, other cloths are used in addition to the altar cloth, then those cloths may be of other colors possessing Christian honorific or festive significance according to longstanding local usage, provided that the uppermost cloth covering the mensa (i.e., the altar cloth itself) is always white in color.”

Even according to the more recent norms governing the Ordinary Form, it is clear that the uppermost altar cloth must be white. It is possible, I suppose, that the St. Gerard altar cloth will be underneath another white cloth, but then one won’t see the names anyway. The traditional material for these cloths is linen (though polyester is not proscribed in the new GIRM), in part because Our Lord was wrapped in a linen shroud.

I think the final couple of paragraphs gives a clue to the theological issue here. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the representation of the Sacrifice of Calvary. And yes, we are nourished by Our Lord’s Body and Blood. But it is evident that in recent years the meal aspect has been more greatly emphasized over the sacrificial aspect. Many Catholics point to the dramatic decrease in the percentage of Catholics who believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist as following naturally from this shift in emphasis. The family-meal theme of this project seems to be of a piece with this trend.

And like many well-meaning novelties in the way the new Mass is celebrated in our parishes, it has an ad hoc feel and is not designed to last. What happens when someone moves out of the parish? Or when someone moves in? Does there need to be a yearly altar cloth project?

I am not belittling the good faith effort of those persons responsible for this. They are trying to do something special. The point is that the Mass is already special enough when celebrated correctly. This type of project seems to be the type of closed-in, self-congratulatory practice lamented by then-Cardinal Ratzinger that so often banalizes the Ordinary Form.

The Mass is not the private property of any person or group. It is the gift of God to give due worship to God, entrusted to the custody and care of the Church. The way Mass is celebrated is of infinitely more importance than any building project or community-building exercise. The Mass is not “about” us.

So, I ask you, am I wrong in this? What do you think?

Position Available

Delena has the details. If you’re man enough…

Celebrating Troublemakers– of the Best Kind, Naturally

OK, the following article in the St. Louis Review caught my attention. It covers a group of area Catholic school students who participated in a cross-country trip with an organization called “Cultural Leadership”.

The Review article related the story as follows:

Cultural leadership group opens students’ eyes to social justice, civil rights

by Joseph Kenny

Applause and horn-honking greeted 31 high school students and their chaperones as they returned to St. Louis after an eye-opening 23-day, cross-country trip meeting people and visiting sites key to the fight for civil rights and social justice.

The teens are participants in Cultural Leadership, a local nonprofit leadership development organization that focuses on fighting discrimination and making the community a more inclusive place to live, work and go to school. The June 8-July1 trip was part of a yearlong program for high school students to recognize and resolve issues of prejudice and bigotry and learn how they can make a difference.

Eight of the students attend Catholic high schools. The group included a mix of races and religions.

Sounds great. But let’s take a closer look at what this organization is, what it stands for, and who is behind it. First of all, here is the purpose of the group, according to its own website:

Cultural Leadership trains high-school students to be community organizers, social justice activists, and “troublemakers of the best kind.”

In another paragraph, the site states:

Examples of mistrust, intolerance, misunderstanding and inequality are everywhere and we saw the need for a future generation of leaders, activists and change agents who would fight for social justice, inclusion and an end to discrimination. Using the lens of the African American and Jewish experience, we train our students to do just that. Over the course of the year, our student participants become “troublemakers of the best kind.”

Fighting racial discrimination is of course an excellent thing to do. Why Catholic students should be trained to become community organizers and nifty-type troublemakers using the lens of African American and Jewish experience is less clear to me. I mean, really– community organizer? What does that mean? Why would this non-Catholic organization teach Catholic students how to live Catholic social teaching in adherence to the Catholic Faith?

Whose community are they organizing?

What will these future “change agents” change?

For example, to some, the Church’s infallible teaching on the impossibility of women’s ordination doesn’t seem very “inclusive”, does it?

Should we change it?

But I am sure you may think I am jumping to conclusions. What reason do I have to think this group might be hostile to Catholic truth? Didn’t many brave priests, nuns and laymen fight for civil rights in this country?

Well, let’s take a look at the leadership of this group. Among the Honorary Board Members are at least two local leaders who have opposed the Church in recent years– William Danforth and Susan Talve.

Dr. Danforth helped lead the effort to amend the Missouri constitution to enshrine into law the public funding of cloning and killing babies on the pretense of scientific research. His and this friends’ ample riches and misleading campaign bought them the victory, despite the vigorous opposition of the Church and other pro-life groups.

Rabbi Talve is the head of the Central Reform Congregation. She hosted the abomination that was the pretend priestess sorta-nation of 2007. She defied the express request of Archbishop Burke that she respect the Catholic Church’s position and not help to undermine the faith of Catholics. As a result, Archbishop Burke forbade Catholics from having anything to do with the Central Reform Congregation in any interfaith matter. As an aside, this makes her the perfect guest of St. Cronan’s Parish, which seemingly loves all religions except the Catholic one it professes to hold. But I digress.

Are these two examples of “troublemakers of the best kind”?

The point here is that who does the teaching is sometimes as important as the purported thing to be taught. If these students’ teachers, pastors, textbooks (which I can only pray include the Catechism) aren’t enough to teach them to refrain from racism and to promote a more just society, then there is something wrong with their formation as Catholics. Why is the Review publishing a story celebrating Catholic youth involvement with a group like this?

Do you still think it doesn’t matter? Young minds are very impressionable. Again, from the Review article:

In a program at Central Reform Congregation in the Central West End where they shared their impressions of the trip, Trevor Green of CBC High School, a member of St. Matthew Parish in North St. Louis, said he learned the difference between making judgments and being judgmental. “Being judgmental leads to hate,” he said.

Another CBC student, Devante Malone, who attends St. Louis Christian Center, said he intends to talk to his school administration about the need to incorporate more about African-American and Jewish history in the curriculum.

Nastanet Taeme of St. Elizabeth Academy, a member of St. Pius V Parish in South St. Louis, said she met one of the former students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., and was impressed that “she never let anyone tell her who she was. As a leader, you have to know what you’re about. I really respect that and take it to heart.”

Another St. Elizabeth Academy student, Jessica Young, said that “before the trip I saw with closed eyes. I couldn’t comprehend the Holocaust, slavery or the civil rights struggle. Now, I’m able to feel what they went through, experience a part of their pain.”

The first thing you will notice is the location of the session where these students shared their impressions of their trip. The venue is the very same Central Reform Congregation that Archbishop Burke said was off limits to Catholic participation in interfaith gatherings such as this, due to its disrespect of the Church. Does this no longer matter to anyone? Perhaps not, seeing that this event is the subject of positive coverage in the Archdiocesan paper.

And no offense to these young people, but really, I would dearly love to see these Catholic high schools incorporate more classes about the truth of Catholicism and the Church’s own history before adding more material designed to promote any other faith or social cause.

How can we expect our children to learn and internalize their faith if we keep reducing it to a mere cog in a greater social experiment?