Feb 25, 2019
The Easter Triduum is the culmination of the entire liturgical year. It begins with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. Between the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the Easter Vigil, no other Masses are celebrated.
Because the Easter Vigil is “the greatest and most noble of all solemnities” (Roman Missal), there are two very important aspects to pay attention to when preparing your parish’s Easter Vigil: it must begin in the dark and there must only be one Easter Vigil.
Light vs. Dark
Our liturgies are filled with symbols that communicate the mystery of what we celebrate in ways that go deeper than mere explanations. Our senses—what we see, hear, feel, touch, smell, and taste—become the way we understand the meaning of our rites and rituals.
One of the premier symbols of the Easter Vigil is light. We experience this most physically when we gather around the Paschal fire where the Easter Candle is first lit. Once that candle, a symbol of Christ the Light, is light, the priest says, “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.” Those words describe the ritual we have just seen: the light of Christ breaks the dark of night.
But what if it’s not dark yet when you light the Easter Candle? What if the sun is still out, or it’s setting but there’s still enough light to call it twilight? The physical reality of the ritual gets lost, and the words we say of Christ dispelling the darkness becomes an intellectual assent. We all know that’s true—Christ is the Light that breaks the darkness of death. But what we believe should be reflected in the rituals we do.
The directives in the Roman Missal says this clearly:
The entire celebration of the Easter Vigil must take place during the night, so that it begins after nightfall and ends before daybreak on the Sunday (Roman Missal, Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, #3).
Therefore, the Easter Vigil must begin after nightfall. Ideally, it should be completely dark before the start of the Easter Vigil. So watch for the specific time for sunset in your area, and wait until the sun has gone down below the horizon. To find out what time darkness falls in Santa Clara county and what time we can begin the Easter Vigil this year, click here. (If you can, also turn off as many extraneous lights around your church property as you safely can, especially in the area where the Paschal fire is lit.)
One vs. Many
Further, the Sacramentary states:
In the United States, although it is never permitted to celebrate the entire Easter Vigil more than once in a given church or to anticipate the Mass of Easter before the vigil, in those places where the local Ordinary permits the anticipation of Sunday Masses on Saturday evening, for pastoral reasons an additional Mass may be celebrated after the Mass of the Easter Vigil. Such a Mass may follow the liturgy of the word of the Mass of the Easter Vigil and other texts of that Mass and should include the renewal of baptismal promise (Sacramentary, Easter Sunday, During the Night, Easter Vigil, #3).
Ideally, parishes celebrate only one Easter Vigil. So, on April 15, 2006, no Mass may be celebrated before the Easter Vigil, and, ideally, there should be only one Service of Light (blessing of fire, first lighting of Easter Candle, and exsultet) and one blessing of the baptismal font per parish. The initiation of Elect ideally takes place at the one parish Easter Vigil, though it may also be celebrated on Easter Sunday for pastoral reasons, and initiation sacraments are appropriately celebrated throughout the Easter season. Any additional Masses on the night of April 15, 2006, must be celebrated after the parish’s one Easter Vigil and does not include the Service of Light or the blessing of the water in the baptismal font.
Dec 31, 2018
Bishop McGrath, Bishop Cantú, and the Diocese of San Jose have been informed by former FBI Executive Assistant Director, Dr. Kathleen McChesney, that she and her firm, Kinsale Management Consulting, require additional time to complete the in-depth review of personnel files pertaining to the sexual misconduct with children committed by any cleric appointed by the Bishop of San Jose or, in the years before our founding in 1981, by the Archbishop of San Francisco.
This independent review is seeking to determine how diocesan leadership handled allegations of sexual abuse when they were received and provide recommendations to improve accountability and transparency. As a result of the examination, there may be additional offenders identified. If so, those names will be added to the Diocese’s Clergy Disclosure List.
The results of the Kinsale review are expected in the spring.
We are committed to accountability to foster healing in the lives of victims/survivors and transparency to rebuild trust.
Dec 13, 2018
To: Priests, Deacons, Pastoral Ministers, Principals, Liturgists and Liturgical Ministers
From: Bishop Patrick J. McGrath
Re: Temporary Liturgical Adaptations during the 2018/2019 Flu/Cold Season
Date: December 13, 2018
The Public Health Officer of Santa Clara County has again requested that we make a number of temporary adaptations to our celebrations of the Eucharist, so as to foster the health of our worshipping communities and also of the wider community. Given the anticipated increase of the flu throughout the Diocese in upcoming weeks, I ask that these adaptations be implemented by this weekend, December 15/16.
- For the duration of the flu/cold/virus season, Holy Communion will not be shared under the form of Consecrated Wine. Concelebrating priests and assisting deacons are to receive the Precious Blood by means of intinction. Provision should be made for those parishioners who rely upon receiving Holy Communion under the Sacred Species of Consecrated Wine because of Celiac Disease or other conditions that do not tolerate the ingestion of a consecrated host.
- For the duration of the flu/cold/virus season, Holy Communion will be distributed only into the hands of communicants; during this time, Holy Communion will not be distributed on the tongue. Should a communicant be unwilling to follow this directive, that person is to receive Holy Communion after everyone else has done so.
- For the duration of the flu/cold/virus season, people should refrain from holding hands during the recitation or singing of the Lord’s Prayer.
- For the duration of the flu/cold/virus season, the Sign of Peace should be adapted so as to allow for a greeting that does not require shaking hands or touching.
- For the duration of the flu/cold/virus season, all who administer Holy Communion are to wash their hands with an alcohol-based anti-bacterial solution, such as Purell, before and after they administer the Sacrament. This precaution also extends to those who minister to the homebound.
- These adaptations are to remain in effect throughout the Diocese until conditions allow me to rescind them.
When you explain these adapted procedures to your people, please remind them that the obligation to participate in Sunday Mass does not hold for those who are seriously ill, and that it would be a mark of Christian charity for anyone who has fever, cough or other such symptoms to remain at home. Please refer to the article, “Liturgy, Cold, and the Flu: Common Sense Practices,” Liturgy, Cold, and the Flu which has previously been circulated throughout the Diocese.
Thank you for your immediate attention to these matters and for undertaking the catechesis that will be necessary to introduce these adaptations to your parishes and other communities by the weekend of December 15/16, our celebration of the Third Sunday of Advent.
Dec 10, 2018
Spanish | Vietnamese
December 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
From Christ who was, who is and who is to come, grace light and peace be with you!
The coming of the end of the year coincides with our annual observance of Advent and Christmas. As we look back to a year that in so many ways has been terribly sad and disappointing, still we are full of hope in view of what is yet to come. This hope is founded in Who is to come: our Lord Jesus Christ.
The weeks leading to Christmas encourage us to be one with the prophets who foretold the Lord’s coming as they fervently hoped for an end to the bondage and captivity that so often marked the life of the people of Israel. Even now, we live in this same hope as we so often sing “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” We rejoice, for we are confident that, in spite of all things, God is with us.
Advent also serves to help us prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Birth, surrounded by the love of Mary and Joseph, the song of angels and shepherds’ witness. We look fondly to that first Christmas as the reason for our celebration so many years later.
These weeks before Christmas challenge us to see and welcome the Lord who breaks into each of our lives as surely as He entered the life and history of humanity long ago in Bethlehem.
Where do we recognize the Lord today? Do we allow ourselves to hear His voice speaking to us through the Scriptures? Do we encounter His loving care for us in the sacraments, most especially in the Eucharist? Do we know Him in one another and in the poor and needy who knock on the doors of our lives? Today, in December 2018, parents and young children, not so unlike the Holy Family, are seeking asylum from the violence that threatens them. They come to the borders of this nation in the hope that just as the Holy Family found safety in Egypt, so these families will find the welcome that we might reserve for Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Looking forward to Christmas and the New Year, we cannot erase the mistakes and tragedies of the past, but we can surely recommit ourselves and our Church to a renewed faithfulness to the Lord Whose Birth we prepare to celebrate with joy and love.
May this ancient prayer be on our lips and in our hearts are “Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in us.”
With every best wish and kind regard, we are,
Sincerely yours,
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Patrick J. McGrath
Bishop of San Jose |
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Oscar Cantú
Bishop of San Jose |
Dec 10, 2018
English | Vietnamese
Diciembre de 2018
Queridos hermanos y hermanas.
De Cristo que fue, quién es y quién ha de venir, ¡gracia luz y paz estén con ustedes!
La llegada del fin de año coincide con nuestra observancia anual de Adviento y Navidad. Al recordar un año que, en muchos sentidos, ha sido terriblemente triste y decepcionante. Sin embargo, todavía estamos llenos de esperanza en vista de lo que está por venir. Esta esperanza se basa en quién vendrá: nuestro Señor Jesucristo.
Las semanas previas a la Navidad nos animan a ser uno con los profetas que predijeron la venida del Señor mientras esperaban fervientemente el fin de la esclavitud y el cautiverio que tan a menudo marcaban la vida del pueblo de Israel. Incluso ahora, vivimos en esta misma esperanza, ya que tan a menudo cantamos. “Ven, ven, Emmanuel, y rescata a Israel de su cautiverio”. Nos regocijamos porque confiamos en que, a pesar de todo, Dios está con nosotros.
El Adviento también sirve para ayudarnos a prepararnos para celebrar el nacimiento del Señor, rodeado del amor de María y José, el canto de los ángeles y el testimonio de los pastores. Miramos con cariño a esa primera Navidad como la razón de nuestra celebración muchos años después.
Estas semanas antes de Navidad nos desafían a ver y dar la bienvenida al Señor que irrumpe en cada una de nuestras vidas con la misma certeza con que entró en la vida y la historia de la humanidad hace mucho tiempo en Belén.
¿Dónde reconocemos al Señor hoy? ¿Nos permitimos escuchar su voz hablándonos a través de las Escrituras? ¿Nos encontramos con su amoroso cuidado por nosotros en los sacramentos, especialmente en la Eucaristía? ¿Lo conocemos el uno en el otro y en los pobres y necesitados que llaman a las puertas de nuestras vidas? Hoy, en diciembre de 2018, los padres y los niños pequeños, no muy diferentes de la Sagrada Familia, buscan asilo debido a la violencia que los amenaza. Llegan a las fronteras de esta nación con la esperanza de que al igual que la Sagrada Familia se encuentren seguros como en Egipto, el deseo es que estas familias encuentren la bienvenida que podríamos reservar para Jesús, María y José.
En espera de la Navidad y el Año Nuevo, no podemos borrar los errores y las tragedias del pasado, pero seguramente podemos volver a comprometernos a nosotros mismos y a nuestra Iglesia con una renovada fidelidad al Señor cuyo nacimiento nos preparamos para celebrar con alegría y amor.
Que esta antigua oración esté en nuestros labios y en nuestros corazones: “Jesús, viviendo en María, ven y vive en nosotros”.
Con nuestros mejores deseos y bendiciones.
Sinceramente,
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Patrick J. McGrath
Bishop of San Jose |
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Oscar Cantú
Bishop of San Jose |
