Tag: Liturgy

Ash Wednesday

With Ash Wednesday we begin the season of Lent. I recently listened to the song Ashes. We rise again from ashes. This is a wonderful image of repentance and is fitting for the season of Lent. However, as I contemplated the older meaning of the word “Lent” as springtime, a different image came to mind. I imagined seeds and bulbs waiting beneath the dirt, waiting to struggle up from that dirt and into the light. I imagined seeds having something magical happening to them that causes their shells or skins to burst open and new life to push its way out, reaching up, somehow knowing how to reach for the light above. I have decided that this image is welcome as I think about what I want Lent to be for us this year.

As the disciples of Christ, we are called to live a new life, to become a new creation, to choose life and not death, to not only follow the light of Christ, but to become the light of Christ. I am constantly reminded of the shadow of sin that lies over our country and over the world. It is persistent darkness. This shadow of sin seeks to suffocate hope, divide communities, and threaten the dignity of all humanity. I want to imagine myself as being buried in this muddy darkness and then here comes Lent, and something happens that causes me to allow old skins to burst open and allow new life to push its way up into the light.

God’s kingdom is here now in our world. “Change your hearts and minds, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” shouts Jesus. Jesus specialized in bringing light to the fringes of society, to those dwelling in the land of gloom. We are living in turbulent times, times of chaos and distress. I think all of us have this urge to do something. But God’s call upon our life is first to be something; to be the children of God and remember that God values, cherishes, and loves us. Before God asks us to do anything, God calls us to be God’s own beloved children. We need to grow into this reality.

When we take in the reality that we are God’s beloved children we will find all kinds of things to do. There is a direct connection between who we are and what we do. Being comes before doing. As children of God we become, like Jesus, the light for our world. The light of Christ is still shining, right here, right now in the followers of Jesus. As his followers we no longer walk in darkness.

If we let that grace-filled identity seep into the deepest part of ourselves, the things we are called to do will become clear. So, let us take it in – we are the beloved children of God. Then we will be light bearers. Then we can stand between the world and the most vulnerable. Let us love, seek justice, forgive, show compassion, live with integrity, and serve others.

Let this Lent be our springtime, a time of new growth, new life, new direction. Let us shed old skins, old shells, and leave behind our failures and create ourselves anew.

Bishop Kedda

Eucharistic Liturgy

This reflection was on the Facebook page for the Reformowany Kościół Katolicki w Polsce, our sister Church in Poland with Bishop Tomasz. It is a good follow-up to our series on the liturgy of the mass.

The beating heart of the Church or a few reflections on the Eucharist.

Have you ever wondered why the Eucharist is so important in the Old Catholic tradition, including the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland? Why do we say that the Church is born out of it – and is fully revealed in it what it is?

In the Old Catholic understanding, the Eucharist is not just “one of the sacraments” or “a beautiful symbol of togetherness”. This is the birthplace of the Church Here – in a specific community, around specific people, at one table – the local church is fully the Church of Christ.

1. The Eucharist reveals the Church

When we gather around the altar, something far greater than a gathering of the faithful happens. The Eucharist is the Church’s fullest incarnation—the moment when its unity, diversity, Catholicism and apostolicity are manifested.

This is where we experience koinonia, this deep communion with God and with each other. In one Bread and one Cup, we recognize that we are one Body—not by our feelings or declarations, but by the grace that unites us in Christ.

2. Real presence and real transformation

Old Catholics believe that Christ is really present in the Eucharist – not metaphorically, not symbolically, but personally, bodily and spiritually. The bread and wine become His Body and Blood not because we know the exact “mechanism” of this mystery, but because we ourselves find ourselves with God who works in the power of the Holy Spirit.

At the center is not a theory, but a mystery: Christ is given to us as a sacrifice of love, as the Word, which has become bread for the life of the world.

3. The Holy Spirit incarnates Christ here and now

Old Catholic theology strongly emphasizes the epiclesis – the prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Spirit conceived the Son in the womb of Mary, so today he incarnates Christ in the signs of bread and wine, so that the Church can be fed with the life of God. The Holy Spirit makes the Eucharist not only a remembrance, but a presence of Christ’s saving work. The conviction of the importance of the epiclesis will be emphasized during the conduct of the Liturgy of the Eucharist according to the Old Catholic masses in signs such as incense or singing the epiclesislesis prayer. Every Eucharist Liturgy is a Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit descends upon the community of the Church.

4. The Eucharist forms the local Church

The Church in the old Catholic understanding does not exist “abstractly”. It exists in a place where the local community celebrates the Eucharist led by a bishop or his delegated deputy (presbyter or presbyter).

A bishop is not an administrator but an icon of Christ – a sign of His presence, a guarantor of the unity and authenticity of the Liturgy performed. This is why the Eucharist is not a priest’s “private worship”. Church happens when it’s celebrated by God’s people.

5. The source of mission and hospitality

Everything the Church does – its prayers, witness, service, evangelism, and care for the needy – grows from the Eucharist as a source of life and mission. The old Catholic practice of eucharistic hospitality emerges from the same place. In the Ecumenical Catholic Community, we believe that baptism and a sincere desire for God are enough to sit at the Eucharistic table of Jesus and receive His Body and Blood. We don’t require “faith tests” or “moral qualifications” because we are convinced that it is Christ Himself inviting and the Church must not stand in the way of His grace. And the person who abides with Jesus, at His word, in His presence and in His community – over time grows in his faith and gradually learns to live as Christ desires.

The Eucharist – genetic code of the Church

One could say that the Eucharist is the spiritual DNA of the Church.

It contains everything that the Church is and what it is called to:

unity, holiness, catholic, apostolic, mission, togetherness, love.

When we perform the Eucharist, the Church is fully the Church.

As we feed on Christ, we become His body.

When we sit down at the same table, we see that we really are God’s family.

That is why the Eucharist is neither an “addon” nor a “tradition”. He is the heartbeat of the church Where the church beats, there is the church.

Bishop Thomas Jordan Puchalski

Overview of the Liturgy of the Mass

We finished our faith formation series on the liturgy of the mass at Emmaus ECC. Below are the YouTube videos of each session. Each session was given before mass and kept as short as possible so as to not add too much time to our Sunday gathering. There is so much more to know about the mass, but these short videos will give you the basics. There is a book that I find especially helpful by Lawrence E. Mick called “Worshiping Well: A Mass Guide for Planners and Participants.” There are also the Liturgy documents published after the Council of Vatican II that prove helpful, and the Old Catholic essays and books on the liturgy. “Celebrating Church” by Mattijs Ploeger is an excellent reference for those of us in the ECC. You may also want to refer to the Book of Common Prayer and other resources published by our Episcopalian friends HERE. See also the liturgy resources on this website HERE.

The videos:

Gathering Rites

Liturgy of the Word

Eucharistic Prayer

Communion Rite