Byline: Father Reginald Martin

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Sacraments

Communion More Than Once A Day?

Father Reginald Martin

July 22, 2021 8:07 am July 22, 2021

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The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the…

The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the Eucharist. Thus an individual may receive Communion at a daily Mass, and again at a wedding, funeral or other ritual (see Canon 917).

Insisting an individual attend the Mass at which she or he receives Communion stresses the communal aspect of the Eucharist. At Mass, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy” (No. 1326). We also unite ourselves with other members of Christ’s Body. The rule also discourages overzealous or superstitious souls from wandering from church to church and taking part in no more of the Mass than the Communion rite.

Deacons who assist at more than two Masses must excuse themselves from receiving Communion after the second, but the law does not apply to the dying, and states, “The Christian faithful who are in danger of death, arising from any cause, are to be nourished by holy Communion in the form of viaticum. Even if they have received Communion in the same day [they] are strongly urged to receive again” (Canon 921).

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Sacraments

Can Children of Unwed Parents Be Baptized?

Father Reginald Martin

June 28, 2021 7:40 am June 28, 2021

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The Church’s Code of Canon Law states very clearly about individuals’ rights to receive the sacraments. “Sacred ministers cannot refuse the sacraments to those who ask for them at appropriate times, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them. Pastors of souls and the rest of the Christian faithful … have the duty to see that those who seek the sacraments are prepared to receive them by the necessary evangelization and catechetical formation” (Canon 843). Therefore, whether a child’s parent is married has little to do with presenting the child for baptism.

What must be considered, however, is whether the child will take subsequent steps in the faith after taking the first. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Baptism incorporates us into the Church” (No. 1267). If a baptized child will not grow with other members of the Church, she or he gains the sacrament’s remission of sin, but misses every other blessing baptism offers. Thus Church law cautions that for the licit baptism of an infant, it is necessary, “there must be a founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic religion; if such a hope is altogether lacking, the baptism is to be delayed … after the parents have been advised of the reason” (Canon #868).

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Religious Life

Are all Monks Priests?

Father Reginald Martin

May 21, 2021 8:04 am May 21, 2021

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The Church’s Code of Canon Law, reflecting on the consecrated life, observes, “[religious life] means separation from the life of the sinful world while at the same time ministering in…

The Church’s Code of Canon Law, reflecting on the consecrated life, observes, “[religious life] means separation from the life of the sinful world while at the same time ministering in and to the same sinful world” (comment on Canon 607). This ministry takes many forms, including the witness of those who pray for the world’s salvation within a monastery.

The words “monk” and “monastery” come from the Greek word “monos,” which means “single.” Monks originally withdrew from society to live by themselves, but later gathered together into monasteries, where, as today, their common life supports the individual, contemplative exercises that characterize the monastic vocation.

Because a monk is called to cultivate an intensely private, inner spiritual life, members of monastic communities do not ordinarily — like members of many other religious communities — undertake public, parochial ministries that require priestly ordination. Thus the question of a monk’s ordination is determined by the custom of a particular monastery.

In some monasteries, the monk himself is encouraged to discern whether the Holy Spirit is calling him to priesthood; in others, the community chooses brothers to undergo priestly formation when the sacramental needs of the monastic community demand additional priests among the community’s members.

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The Church

Coptic Christians

Father Reginald Martin

May 16, 2021 7:07 am May 16, 2021

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Coptic Christians are members of an ancient Egyptian community with roots attributed to the apostolic endeavors of St. Mark. The Copts are one of six Eastern Catholic communions (the others…

Coptic Christians are members of an ancient Egyptian community with roots attributed to the apostolic endeavors of St. Mark. The Copts are one of six Eastern Catholic communions (the others are Armenian, Chaldean, Maronite, Melkite and Syriac) with theologies that share the fundamentals of Roman Catholicism, although their leaders exercise authority independent of the Roman pontiff.

The leader of the Coptic Church (since 2013, Ibrahim Isaac Sidrek) holds the title of Patriarch of Alexandria, which was one of the four “Apostolic Sees,” so named from their association with Jesus’ followers instrumental in establishing them. The other communities to enjoy this honor are Rome (intimately connected with Sts. Peter and Paul), Antioch (St. Peter) and Jerusalem (Sts. Peter and James). Other early communities laying claim to the apostolic honor are Ephesus, Athens and Constantinople, from their associations with Sts. John, Paul and Andrew.

The See of Alexandria is considered second in importance only to Rome, and the Coptic Catholic community represents the largest number of Christians in the Middle East.

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The Church

Basilica or Cathedral?

Father Reginald Martin

May 5, 2021 7:40 am May 5, 2021

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The term “cathedral” comes from cathedra, the word describing a bishop’s throne. A cathedral, thus, is the principal church in a diocese. A bishop may preside over services anywhere in…

The term “cathedral” comes from cathedra, the word describing a bishop’s throne. A cathedral, thus, is the principal church in a diocese. A bishop may preside over services anywhere in his diocese, but one church — usually in the place where he lives — is designated the cathedral.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia makes an interesting point, observing a cathedral need not be the diocese’s most impressive church. Many Catholics are surprised to learn that St. John Lateran, not St. Peter’s, is the cathedral of Rome.

What is less clear is the designation of a “basilica.” Originally, the term described a hall for public business, with an area designated for a legislator to sit. In its early days, the Church celebrated its liturgies in private homes, but embraced the notion of a special site for the presider. As the Church grew, and constructed special buildings for its services, it adopted this form for its structures. Later, an altar became part of the area reserved for the presider.

The present Code of Canon Law does not mention basilicas, but the earlier code observed that the Holy See grants the title, and acknowledged the “antiquity, dimensions or fame” of a church (see 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 1180).

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Sacraments

What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

Father Reginald Martin

March 17, 2021 8:59 am March 17, 2021

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes a number of pages to its discussion of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. It remarks three degrees of the sacrament: deacons, priests and…

The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes a number of pages to its discussion of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. It remarks three degrees of the sacrament: deacons, priests and bishops, and describes the sacramental tasks properly assigned to each (see No. 1554). Bishops, because they represent the apostles, exercise a ministry of special honor — one that extends back to the earliest days of our faith, and, through an unbroken tradition, connects us to the early Church.

Priests share in this ministry, although to a lesser degree, and a document of the Second Vatican Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis, describes both the priest’s ministry and the authority by which he receives it from the bishop. The Catechism pulls from this document to teach that priests “depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own proper power” and “so are configured to Christ . . . in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head” (see Nos. 1563-1564).

The point here is to connect the Sacrament of Holy Orders with Jesus, the High Priest. For this reason, too, the bishop is the ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is to remind us of the apostolic origins of the sacrament (see Catechism, No. 1313)

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Byline: Father Reginald Martin

Communion More Than Once A Day?

Can Children of Unwed Parents Be Baptized?

Are all Monks Priests?

Coptic Christians

Basilica or Cathedral?

What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

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