St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church
From the Deacon’s Desk

Many years ago (1978) when Sharon and I moved from St. Clair Shores to Troy, we purchased a home in the Stone Ridge Subdivision. This home was owned by a Jewish family and on the door post of the master bedroom was a small gold colored decorative container. Being curious, I slid open the container and inside was a piece of paper with Hebrew writing. Again being curious I asked the owners what it was and they told me it is called a Mezuzah, a small piece of parchment inscribed with verses from the Book of Deuteronomy. These verses include the Shema Ysreal, “Hear, O   Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” These words welcome family members home and go forth with them when they leave. Touching the mezuzah, reminds Jewish believers to be faithful to God in all their comings and goings. We as Christians also must be faithful to God and our beliefs and always walk in the Lord. We lived in that house for 20 years and we never removed the mezuzah from that doorway.

Peace, Deacon Ron

A former co-worker once commented to me: “It’s almost impossible to maintain friendships these days.  People are continually coming and going often moving to other states.” I think this is one of the sad consequences of our modern mobile society. In fact this came to mind back when I was visiting the Holy Land in May of 2007. Jesus spent his entire life within the confines of very small community, relatively speaking. Aside from his childhood years in Egypt, he never left the general area of Jerusalem. In all likelihood, Jesus spent the majority of his life within about a 100 mile radius of Jerusalem, and to top it off, he walked nearly everywhere he went! (He must have been in pretty good physical shape with all that walking.) But this notion even applies to us here in metro Detroit. Over the years I’ve heard countless stories of people having grown up in close, tight-knit ethnic communities all within the confines of the city of Detroit. The automobile made traveling long distances possible over a very short period of time. Add to that the invention of the airplane, and world wide travel becomes the common place event that it is today.  And this kind of long distance travel does make friendships harder to maintain. The statement that Hilary Clinton made famous, “it takes a village to raise a child” is also true, to some degree. Neighbors cannot take the place of one’s own family, but a close knit community certainly helps us to grow and mature and to learn to properly interact with others and develop long lasting friendships. It is also worth   remembering that these small, close knit ethnic communities were almost always built around the Church. This is very evident in older communities where the Church would be the central, focal point of the village. This is, I think, the ideal.  God should be the center of everything including our everyday lives.

This week’s question deals with the Liturgy of the Hours. Mike asks: “Are the times for prayer set in stone or flexible to accommodate a wandering mind?” This is a good question and it shows that Mike already knows quite a bit about the Liturgy of the Hours. However, for those of you who are not familiar with this ancient practice of daily prayer I’ll answer his question by beginning with a little history.

There are three names that essentially refer to the same thing: “Liturgia Horarium” (Liturgy of the Hours – a public service officiated by a minister); “Officium Divina” (Divine Office – a divine service or duty which is sometimes also referred to as “Opus Dei” meaning the work of God); “Breviarium” (Breviary – a book or compendium of all the canonical hours).

I’ll paraphrase this week’s question from Anonymous who asks: “What happened to the Communal Penance Service, and can it be reinstated?” This can be a sensitive subject for some people who have grown attached to the Communal Penance Service, so I’ll do my best to answer empathetically, but please accept my apologizes if I sound too legalistic in my answer. It is almost impossible to answer these questions without referring to the Churches Code of Canon Law.

Now, I think this question really deals with the issue of general absolution rather than the Communal Penance Service, they are two different things yet they are often assumed to be one and the same. I’ll start by explaining the Communal Penance Service. This is a practice in which Catholics join together to go through what is know as an examination of conscience. There is usually a scripture service along with a homily followed by a review of, maybe the Ten Commandments, and/or some other moral principles to help us come to a better understanding of our faults and failings since our last examination of conscience. Following this examination of conscience, the priest, or priests available, will hear individual confessions at which time the penitent receives private absolution for their sins. This type of Communal Penance Service is still offered during Advent and Lent at various parishes throughout the Vicariate, sometimes including St. Anastasia, but it is not generally conducted on a weekly basis.

In the realm of moral theology, “Anonymous” asks: “A non-Catholic friend of mine has not spoken to their child for quite some time and when I brought up that Christians are called to forgive, I was told that, because we must ask for forgiveness from God in order to be forgiven that the same holds true in human relationships. This friend is saying that we need not forgive anyone until such time as they come to us and seek out our forgiveness. Can this be true?”

The short answer is no, this is not true. To not forgive until asked to do so is to hold a grudge, it is prideful and vengeful. It is as if to say: “I have been wronged; I know I am right, and I will not forgive until you recognize that I have been wronged and that I am right.”