The young pastor of Corpus Christi parish in San Francisco wrote to ask my opinion on placing the people in lines for the reception of Communion. It seems that he and the older associate pastor had a disagreement on the point.
Here is how I have responded.
Rome, 22 March 2006
Monza carissimo:
thanks for your note; I'm glad to know that "Boschetto's Dream" has been well used. Sr Kathleen Gibson was able to get some more information from the author's husband that the book's price is greatly reduced, from $15 that it was orginally to $6 now. So if there are groups that are interested, Sr Kathleen will know where to get more copies.
I'm afraid that I would be the wrong person to ask about any notion of the "orderly reception of communion". I agree with Don Bosco that enforced lines and directives from ushers are to be totally avoided at that time of the liturgy. If people naturally put themselves into line, that is great; they should not be placed into lines by others, in Don Bosco's thinking.
Note that this is not a cultural issue, Monza. Don Bosco was in fact very counter-cultural when it came to this point because he operated from a pastoral concern. And his concern, as Fr Pestun has said, was that every person, especially the young, be free to approach the sacrament or be free to NOT approach it. In fact, in Turin as in much of Europe people received communion in a very orderly fashion, and everyone could see who went to communion and who didn't. In parishes there were let out by rows… in monasteries of sisters or in convents of friars, the superior received first, and then every sister or confere by rank in office and order of profession.
Don Bosco absolutely wanted to avoid any formality at this point, and so he invited the boys to come up spontaneously but respectfully. To "cover the noise" of the shuffle and also to invite a type of spiritual recollectedness, he instituted the custom of singing a hymn during Communion, and not waiting, as was the custom, for the Post-Communion for a choral piece from the choir. The Communion songs were rehearsed before mass so that everyone could learn the simple refrain and join very easily in the singing. It was the most participated song during the 11:00 High Mass, and was always sung during the 8:00 Low Mass when the boys otherwise prayed the rosary together.
This practice at the Oratory of Valdocco became Salesian practice in all of our houses, and in all the houses of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. It was a Salesian practice, and we were looked down upon for not insisting on orderliness during Communion time in our schools, oratories, and in our parishes (when we took up this ministry rather late in our history). However, the Salesians always insisted on this practice and for pastoral reasons. No one, young or old, should be forced to feel inadequate because he or she is not ready to approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. No child should feel that his or her parents are unworthy or sinful if they do not approach the Sacrament (and there are many cases where divorced and remarried parents, struggling to right their situation, give up on church rather than face the embarrassment of not being able to join the Communion Line).
Is the practice out-dated? I don't think so. I have never felt comfortable with ushers directing people; I feel even less comfortable with the directives of Cardinal Mahoney for the communion lines… and while I have voiced my concerns, I have not been attached to parishes and so I have never pushed these considerations unless asked. And since you asked, Monza, I say that Don Bosco did not disregard lines for cultural reasons but our of pastoral considerations; he stressed prayer and insisted that Salesians follow the liturgical norms (and rubrics are really are addressed to the priest/celebrant and not to the people), he cultivated artists and musicians who could render prayer times and liturgies more beautiful and participated, and he continually invited people to frequent the sacraments, making himself available as a confessor and a preacher. He was criticized for this too: people complained that Don Bosco's boys prayed the rosary too often (daily); local priests complained that Don Bosco had too many kids in the choir (but the people loved to hear the young people sing with devotion, and many vocations came from those choirs in the singers and the listeners). And he asked that lines not be regimented by authorities, but that the people be free to approach the Sacraments as they felt ready.
Rather than simply pastoral, then, Don Bosco's teaching on this point is charismatic and moral. No one should ever be forced or conditioned to practice the faith out of fear or human respect. He never forced kids into prayer times at the Oratory; he never wanted anyone to be forced to receive the sacraments out of fear that someone would have motive to judge them badly if they did otherwise. In fact, from this point of view, to force young people or adults to go Communion by strongly conditioning them through administrative tactics is an abuse of the person.
The way to move toward a more reverent reception of Communion, it would seem, would grow out of "preaching the beauty of virtue" and instructing the people of the loving presence of Christ who invites and who is merciful, and in making the other sacrament, reconciliation, readily available… but that is another discourse. In any case, Monza, I'm sure you and Fr Pestun and the others will continue to search for a solution in keeping with Don Bosco's pastoral compassion and by being true to his charism.
Yours,
Joe
No comments:
Post a Comment