Adoremus Bulletin For the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
MARCH 2020
News & Views
From Font to Font: A Mystagogical Reflection on the Updated Order of Baptism of Children Mystery—the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus—and so, the day when, from apostolic times, the Church assembles to celebrate the Paschal Mystery, Sunday, is most fitting for this first sacrament to be celebrated. Sunday is also the first day of the week, the day of creation, and the Church gives thanks for the new creation that this child is, as well as the new spiritual creation that the child will be in Christ through baptism.
Pope Francis’ Amazon Exhortation Calls for Holiness, Not Married Priests
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By Courtney Mares Vatican City (CNA)—Pope Francis published his response to the Vatican’s 2019 Amazon synod in an apostolic exhortation on February 12. Despite widespread speculation following the synod, the pope does not call for married priests, but seeks to expand “horizons beyond conflicts.” Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ much-anticipated post-synodal apostolic exhortation, presents the pope’s “four great dreams” for the Pan-Amazonian region’s ecological preservation and “Amazonian holiness.” The exhortation does not quote from recommendations made by bishops at the Vatican’s October meeting on the Amazon. Instead, Pope Francis “officially present[s]” the synod’s final document alongside his exhortation, asking “everyone to read it in full.” The topic of ordaining viri probati, or mature married men, was a point of considerable discussion at the synod, and made waves across the Church. While Pope Francis did not rebuff the idea directly in his exhortation, the Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, addressed it in a column released alongside the apostolic exhortation. Speaking of priestly celibacy, Tornielli wrote that “the Successor of Peter, after praying and reflecting, has decided to respond not by foreseeing changes or further possibilities of exceptions from those already provided for by current ecclesiastical discipline, Please see AMAZON on next page
Vol. XXV, No. 5
God desires to pour grace upon us, and the source of this divine life is baptism. It is in the interests of pastors, parents, and the entire Church to understand and celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism in such a way that this first sacrament is a true font of divine life. In the end, this is precisely the goal of the revised edition of the Order of Baptism of Children recently released for use this upcoming Easter.
By Father Anthony Strouse
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ne of the most noticeable objects in the celebration of Baptism is the font, in which the child is immersed or from which water is poured over the head of the child. And yet, at the Second Vatican Council, the Council Fathers also used the font in teaching about the relationship between the liturgy and grace: “From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God…is achieved.”1 In speaking about the liturgy, and especially the Eucharist, the Council seems to allude to the first sacrament, baptism, from which all other sacraments flow. As the Church in the United States is given a new Order of Baptism of Children, which will be required for use starting on Easter Sunday 2020, there is a new opportunity to understand the spiritual realities communicated through physical signs. Indeed, God desires to pour grace upon us, and the source of this divine life is baptism. It is in the interests of pastors, parents, and the entire Church to understand and celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism in such a way that this first sacrament is a true font of divine life. In the end, this is precisely the goal of this revised edition of the Order of Baptism of Children.
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Adoremus Bulletin MARCH 2020
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Let’s begin our examination of baptism at the end of the ritual book. Among the most noticeable additions in the new Order of Baptism of Children are those found toward the end of the book outlining the celebration of infant baptism within Sunday Mass: “To illustrate the paschal character of Baptism, it is recommended that the Sacrament be celebrated at the Easter Vigil or on a Sunday, when the Church commemorates the Resurrection of the Lord. Furthermore, on a Sunday, Baptism may be celebrated also within Mass, so that the whole community may be able to take part in the rite and so that the connection between Baptism and the Most Holy Eucharist may stand out more clearly.”2 Thus, the connection between the two fonts (baptism and the Eucharist) is made clear: the two sacraments are two opportunities for the outpouring of grace, the sanctification of men in Christ, and the glorification of God. (Although baptism often takes place outside of Mass, the present article imagines the baptism of one child during Sunday Mass.) This threefold effect of outpouring, sanctification, and glorification is accomplished through the rituals, the words—and the days—which communicate the spiritual realities. Baptism makes the child a sharer in the Paschal Vision and Revision The newly revised Order of Baptism for Children is out and, according to Father Anthony Strouse, it’s got a flood of vital insights, especially as they touch on the Eucharist..................................................1 Make Up with God As we travel the desert days of Lent, Christopher Carstens reminds us, God’s cosmetic beauty is no mirage, but gives true meaning to our less-than-glamorous journey.................................................................3
Sacramental Door The revised Order also points out that Mass itself doesn’t look the same when baptism is involved. Rather than the usual procession with the ministers to the sanctuary, the priest celebrant and ministers begin Mass during which a baptism occurs at the doors of the church, or from the place where the parents and godparents are gathered, and then begin Mass in the usual way with the Sign of the Cross.3 Often people take the church’s doors for granted because their practical purpose—their function—often eclipses their form. Indeed, the doors are literally entryways through which people enter into ordered creation, be it a business, a house, or a church. But in a church, a doorway is not simply re-ordered creation, but also a symbol—a sensible sign which signifies and causes the reality to which it points—of the heavenly Jerusalem. And so Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7). Jesus is the one, the only one, through whom people are saved (Acts 4:12); consequently, any gathering at the doors within the liturgy is not merely a convergence of souls at an architectural part of a building, but a gathering that manifests the reality of Jesus’ flock, those who profess belief in Christ, entering through him, the “Sheepgate,” into the heavenly reality of the liturgy itself. In the revised Order of Baptism of Children, too, the priest omits the Greeting and Penitential Act of the Mass. Instead, at the door he greets those present, especially the parents and godparents. To this end, the revised Order provides a text to help the celebrant express the joy that the Church has at the imminent baptism of the child. At the same time, the text begins to prepare those present for the unfolding of the mysteries in the Mass: “Dear parents Please see BAPTISM on page 4 No Blood, No Glory… The 16th-century Flemish painter Jean Bellegambe painted The Mystical Bath not to shock our senses, but to draw them to the next world. So says Denis McNamara..............6 Hand-to-Hand Combat The Last Supper teaches two kinds of giving: one that leads to love and the other to betrayal—and, as John Johnson notes, it’s a lesson we must keep on learning..............8 News & Views .....................................................2 Readers’ Quiz.......................................................3 The Rite Questions........................................... 10