Byline: Msgr. William J. King

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Sacraments

Eucharistic Processions

Msgr. William J. King

August 4, 2022 11:09 am August 4, 2022

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Processions have long been a form of liturgical prayer. Processions to and within sacred sites, especially the Temple in Jerusalem, marked numerous festivals in Jewish prayer, and many of the…

Processions have long been a form of liturgical prayer. Processions to and within sacred sites, especially the Temple in Jerusalem, marked numerous festivals in Jewish prayer, and many of the psalms were composed to accompany such processions. As an example, the Talmud describes processions on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, during which the people would process around the altar with willow branches, singing a litany that included Psalm 118:25 as the refrain.

St. Basil (d. A.D. 379) in the East and St. Ambrose (d. 397) in the West provide some of the earliest references to liturgical processions in the Catholic Church. Both state that these processions had been practiced for many years, accompanied with sung litanies.

Public processions with the Blessed Sacrament became popular only when Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist was questioned. For many centuries this sacramental reality was taken for granted, but in the 11th century an archdeacon named Berengar of Tours — who taught in the cathedral school of Chartres, France — was said to question the Eucharist’s real presence (though historians disagree on whether he actually denied the Real Presence, it is accepted that Berengar questioned transubstantiation as a description of the change that occurs when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ). Overt denial of the Real Presence in the Eucharistic species came with the Protestant Reformers.

In response to Protestant notions that the Eucharist was merely a symbol, the Church affirmed clearly the ancient understanding of the Real Presence — and processions through the streets of cities and villages became popular as a means of openly demonstrating support and reverence for this reality. The Council of Trent taught, in 1551, that the Most Blessed Sacrament “is to be honored with extraordinary festive celebrations (and) solemnly carried from place to place in processions according to the praiseworthy universal rite and custom of the holy Church.”

Theologically, processions remind us that we are pilgrims journeying through this earthly existence following Jesus on “the Way” (an early title for the Church). In the Eucharistic processions of Holy Thursday and the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) we publicly proclaim this truth, following the Lord physically even as we pledge anew to do so spiritually. We also give public witness to our acceptance of the Lord’s words: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). As such, public processions serve as tools of evangelization within our neighborhoods.

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Sacraments

Complete Penance Before Communion?

Msgr. William J. King

July 20, 2022 7:50 am July 20, 2022

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Through the centuries of the Church few things have seen more evolution than the actual practice of the Sacrament of Penance. In this beautiful sacrament, the penitent brings three things:…

Through the centuries of the Church few things have seen more evolution than the actual practice of the Sacrament of Penance. In this beautiful sacrament, the penitent brings three things: interior repentance, the verbal confession of sins, and satisfaction (a penance). The Church, in the ministry of a priest with proper jurisdiction, offers mercy through the verbal absolution of sins. These are what St. Thomas Aquinas called the matter and form of the sacrament — the elements brought by the penitent being the matter, and the absolution of the priest being the form.

In the first few centuries of the Church, confession and absolution were separated by time, and often by a considerable amount of time. Confession of sins was a rare occurrence and, in fact, some opinions stated it could be done only once during a person’s lifetime. After confessing one’s sins, a person fulfilled the penance given (often publicly) and then returned to the priest for absolution once that penance was completed.

Much has changed in how we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance today, but the need remains for a penitent to offer some satisfaction for sins as a means of self-denial and of positive action to repair harm resulting from personal sin. In the majority of situations we no longer need to return to the priest after completing our penance in order to ask for absolution. The priest does not withhold absolution until our penance is completed. It is understood that we will complete our assigned penance in a reasonable time after confessing our sins, unless we are truly prevented from doing so by illness or other reason.

Absolution, the forgiveness of our sins in the sacrament, is not given on condition that we fulfill the assigned penance. The effects of absolution are immediate and not dependent on completion of our penance or satisfaction. Even if we never complete the penance, our sins have been forgiven by God through the ministry of the priest. If a person simply forgets to complete the assigned penance, or cannot complete it for a good reason, there is no harm that results, and the person need not refrain from receiving holy Communion on that account alone. However, it would seem that someone who willfully refuses to offer satisfaction for sins through the assigned penance may be withholding an important element of the sacrament and ought to confess that a previous penance was never satisfied.

Msgr. William J. King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg,

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Eternal Life

Do pets go to heaven?

Msgr. William J. King

June 3, 2022 10:17 am June 3, 2022

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There are three ways of answering the question of whether pets will exist in heaven. One argument suggests that animals, along with all of creation, will be restored to life…

There are three ways of answering the question of whether pets will exist in heaven. One argument suggests that animals, along with all of creation, will be restored to life in the Resurrection. The contrary argument suggests that animals lack a rational soul and, therefore, will not be resurrected. Somewhere in between is the thought that some animals (and dogs especially) have sufficient self-awareness and personality to have a soul, though not of the same substance as a human soul, and therefore will be brought to life in heaven.

There is some support in the Bible for the notion that animals will live in heaven. The Book of Job sounds a beautiful note that all pet lovers want to hear: “In his hand is the soul of every living thing” (see 12:7-10). The prophecy of Isaiah portrays a Messianic world reconciled by God’s grace and at peace: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, / and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; / The calf and the young lion shall browse together, / with a little child to guide them. / The cow and the bear shall graze, / together their young shall lie down; / the lion shall eat hay like the ox” (Is 11:6-7). The vision of heaven seen by St. John in the Book of Revelation includes Jesus returning victoriously to earth at the end of time, astride a white horse (19:11-14).

Pope Blessed Paul VI told us: “One day, we will see our animals in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” Pope Francis has also weighed in on this. Despite the fact Pope Benedict XVI, a cat lover, said in a 2008 homily that animals “are not called to heaven,” Pope Francis teaches in his encyclical Laudato Sí’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”), “Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place” (No. 243).

We believe in the resurrection of the body, which implies physical and temporal dimensions to life in heaven. It is difficult to imagine bodily life without those things that support it: water, air, food, plants and animals. Even before the Fall, God provided for Adam and Eve with all sorts of living things. Will it be the same after our bodily resurrection?

Ultimately, the question will be answered in our experience of death and resurrection. One consoling truth is this: The love of our pets is intended to teach us in this life of the unconditional love of God. That love, which we taste only imperfectly in our corruptible world, will be experienced perfectly in heaven. In a limited sense, then, our pets can be understood to point the way to heaven and allow us to experience on earth a foretaste of the perfect love that awaits us in heaven.

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Sacraments

How Soon Should Your Child Be Baptized?

Msgr. William J. King

September 10, 2020 9:00 am September 10, 2020

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As infant mortality has become less of a concern with modern health care in many parts of the world, the rush to baptize infants in the first weeks of life…

As infant mortality has become less of a concern with modern health care in many parts of the world, the rush to baptize infants in the first weeks of life has also lessened. Alongside the physical health of the child is the spiritual health, however, and in speaking of the timing of the baptism of an infant, the Introduction to the Rite of Baptism for Children states that “the first consideration is the welfare of the child, that it not be deprived of the benefit of the sacrament” (No. 8).

The document goes on to note three factors to be considered: first, the spiritual welfare of the child; second, the health of the mother, so that she is able to participate in the baptism; and last, pastoral considerations, which would include allowing for the participation of family members.

There is, nonetheless, an obligation on parents not to delay the baptism of a newborn unduly. In the same section mentioned above, the document notes clearly, “An infant should be baptized within the first weeks after birth” (No. 8.3). This teaching is also captured in canon law: “Parents are obliged to take care that infants are baptized in the first few weeks” (Canon 867). The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides the theological rationale for this obligation: “The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth” (No. 1250).

These texts, and the constant practice of the Church, make the expectation clear that parents should employ the same zeal with which they care for the physical health of their newborn child in caring for the spiritual health of the baby. The celebration of baptism is principally about washing away original sin and allowing the inrush of God’s grace upon the soul of an infant, which are treasured gifts to be offered a child as soon as possible after birth. The social nature of a family gathering to celebrate this is important, as it demonstrates unity in faith and family support, but that is not the most important consideration.

For some families the delay could be because of a desire for family to attend. Given the clarity of the Church’s guidance on this point it might be best to celebrate the baptism of the baby as soon as possible, and later, if family is unable to attend, have a party to celebrate the child’s rebirth in Christ, sharing photos and videos of the event.

Rev. Msgr. William J. King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

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Sacraments

Can Catholic Couples Write their Own Wedding Vows?

Msgr. William J. King

February 7, 2020 2:07 pm February 7, 2020

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A sense of romanticism sometimes prompts couples to think that the celebration of marriage is “their day,” when in truth it is one of the important sacramental celebrations of the…

A sense of romanticism sometimes prompts couples to think that the celebration of marriage is “their day,” when in truth it is one of the important sacramental celebrations of the Church. It is a wonderful thing that the couple feels so close to the celebration, wanting it to reflect their joy and hope and their personal histories. They open their whole selves to God’s grace in accepting the gift of marriage to another. Still, it is the Church’s celebration and not the couple’s own. This is especially true of the content of marriage — what the Church calls the “object of consent.” The Church has received the gift of married life from its author — God himself — and joyfully celebrates that gift with the spouses. The spouses receive the gift; they do not define marriage for themselves. Their openness to receive the gift in its fullness is expressed in their “consent” to the gift, their consent to marry one another as God has defined marriage.

The Code of Canon Law for the Latin-rite Catholic Church contains an essential element of basic contract law: the words and actions of the couple during the wedding celebration are the best indications of their intentions (see Canon 1101). The canon says that the “internal consent of the mind is presumed to be in conformity with the words and actions used” by the couple in the wedding celebration. Hence, the words used by each spouse when he or she consents to marry (the “vows”) are very important.

The Rite of Matrimony offers great freedom to the local conference of bishops to adapt the words and symbols of the wedding liturgy to local culture and customs, but it does not allow the couple the same type of freedom in altering the Church’s liturgy. For a time there was laxity among some clergy in allowing couples to change the words of consent or to compose their own vows. This led to some unusual expressions of the couple’s consent to marry. Hopefully this experimentation has ended, because the couple does not have the freedom to write their own formula for the exchange of consent.

There are other opportunities for the couple to compose and include a prayer or reflection within the Church’s Rite of Matrimony, and even more freedom for the couple to include their own spiritual reflection on marriage within the rehearsal before the rite, or the reception following the rite. However, apart from the several options for standard and approved texts that the couple may choose from within the Rite of Matrimony, the couple is not free to compose their own vows in a Catholic wedding.

Msgr. William J. King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

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Sacraments

What Are Marriage Banns?

Msgr. William J. King

March 2, 2019 8:34 pm March 2, 2019

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In some places you will find “Marriage Banns” in your parish bulletin. But what is it all about? In the early Middle Ages, secret or clandestine marriages became a problem….

In some places you will find “Marriage Banns” in your parish bulletin. But what is it all about?

In the early Middle Ages, secret or clandestine marriages became a problem. The Church had no required form for celebrating marriage at that time, and so a couple could choose to marry privately and without any pomp or ceremony, and even without witnesses, friends or family in attendance. No one would really know if they were married.

It was only in the year 1215, at the Fourth Lateran Council, that the Church required a recognizable and public form of celebrating marriage, a requirement that was repeated by the Council of Trent in the late 1600s and made binding for all Catholics worldwide in 1908.

Before there was a required form for Catholic marriage, when a person approached the Church for marriage it was difficult to know whether they had been previously married. It was not unheard of for a person to conceal a previous marriage rather than disclose that fact. Hence, the Church began to require the publication of the Banns of Marriage. This is an announcement of an intended marriage, naming the persons to be married, which is publicly read or posted three times. It is similar to the dramatic scene often shown in film and television (though it is not a Catholic practice) of the officiant of a wedding solemnly declaring in these or comparable words, “If anyone knows why these people should not be married, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

The Code of Canon Law permits the local conference of bishops to establish norms for marriage banns (see Canon 1067). In the United States, this has been left to the determination of the local bishop. Many bishops today permit the local priest to dispense from the publication of banns if he judges that there is no practical need for them. Other bishops require the publication of banns only in specific situations, such as when a Catholic is marrying an unbaptized person. Canon 1067 also requires questioning the parties and witnesses to establish the freedom of spouses to enter marriage, so banns are often omitted or dispensed if the parish pastor is satisfied that he already has sufficient information to ensure that a couple is free to enter marriage.

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