Bulletin Insert, Feb. 17 2008

· The People of God gathered at Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Church are a good and remarkable people. The care and concern for justice and peace is legendary and a model for others throughout the States. The warmth and hospitality is no less well known. But even more remarkable is that warmth and hospitality extends itself in genuine care for others in need whether that be an ailing relative, a depressed friend, or a hurting passer-by. There is a spirit of inclusion where different ways of understanding Church are allowed to co-exist with great tolerance. There is awesome exuberance in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist leading to being lifted up and made whole; leading to God being worshipped and adored.

· Next Sunday, 24 February 2008, we, this remarkable parish, will have a TOWN HALL MEETING.

· The focus of the meeting is specifically and solely the Sunday Celebration of the Eucharist at Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Church.

· WHY?

· Because the Liturgy, especially the Sunday Eucharist, is the “source and summit” of all that we do as a parish. There is nothing more important that we do than this. Everything that we do in service to God, neighbor, the world, and self leads us to Christ who saves and set us free, in the Holy Spirit, to God’s glory (summit). At Mass we are transformed to go back into the world to transform it by justice and peace (source).

· The way we pray is the way we believe is the way we live (lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi).

· In December 2008 it will have been forty-five (45) years since the Second Vatican Council gave us a new order of celebrating Mass (Novus Ordo).

· Under the leadership and guidance of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, in consultation with bishops, experts, laity, and pastors from around the world, there have been evaluations of the last forty years and new guidelines for how Roman Catholics are to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist.

· Those guidelines, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002 (hereafter GIRM), while upholding the values of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy are to be enacted “with due regard for the nature and the particular circumstances of each liturgical assembly,” remembering that “the priest must remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass” (GIRM, 18 and 24).

· We, the faith community at Saint Aloysius, are the Church and as such we are unique. We are good and there is much of which we are rightly glad. We are also a part of the local Church that is the Archdiocese of Washington, and the universal Church. Consequently, the way we celebrate Mass at Saint Aloysius respects the particular circumstances, “the genius” of those here gathered and the values expressed in the GIRM.

· Over the last several weeks we have looked at the key values in the Constitution on the Scared Liturgy as they are now expressed in the GIRM: paschal mystery; full, active, conscious participation; community, and hierarchy.

· On Sunday next, we will ALL have an opportunity to express what values we wish to preserve here at Saint Aloysius.

· After listening and recording those values, the Parish Council, the Liturgy Committee, and the priests of the parish—after prayer and discernment—will make changes to our Sunday celebration of the Eucharist that respects BOTH the values, felt needs, and customs of the parish, AND the values and meanings of the GIRM. It will make for a remarkable Liturgy. These changes will be in full affect by the first Sunday of Advent 2008.

· Change is hard. Jesus Christ experienced the greatest change. But it was a change—brought about in death—that won for us the victory. It was a change that led to the glory of resurrection! We are all about to make changes. It will cause all of us to die, but for a purpose: for the glorious life of this local Church and ultimately for the life of the world and God’s greater glory! It may be worth it after all. Amen? Amen!

J–Glenn Murray, SJ

17 February 2008