Extraordinary ministers and witnesses

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW: Saint Tarcisius the Acolyte

In my late childhood I was an altar server, as were a great many boys of my age at that time. "Serving Mass" was considered a great honour and required careful attention to the duties, gestures, rules and etiquette of the role. There was to be no whispering, fidgeting or staring out at the congregation. At that time, shortly after the introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy, the paten was still used as communicants received Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling. One of the altar server's responsibilities was to hold a small metal paten beneath the chin of each communicant.

A decade later, after returning to the practice of my faith, I was commissioned as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, a role often referred to more informally as a Eucharistic Minister. The preparation involved attending a series of talks, obtaining the necessary liturgical booklets for bringing Holy Communion to the sick at home and, as far as I can remember, participating in a simple commissioning rite during Mass.

Where Mary Has Gone, the Eucharist Leads Us

 

Source: Dormition of the Virgin Mary

Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – it remains one of the great feasts of the Christian year – both in the Latin and Eastern Orthodox churches. While formally defined as dogma by the Roman Catholic Church only in 1950, belief in Mary's assumption into heavenly glory has deep roots in Christian tradition. Eastern Christians celebrate the same mystery as the Dormition, the ‘falling asleep’ of the Mother of God.

The Scriptures assigned to this Solemnity are marked by joy and triumph. The Book of Revelation presents the heavenly woman clothed with the sun. Psalm 45 depicts the Queen standing at the king's right hand. St Paul proclaims Christ's victory over death, and in Luke's Gospel Mary sings the Magnificat, praising God's saving power and mercy.

The others

Image: The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter

Naskh is the caligraphic style for writing in the Arabic alphabet that the biblical text is written in for this manuscript.  The artist, Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, was most likely a Coptic monk in the late 17th century in Egypt. 1684 from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

Sunday 16 August 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 56:1-7 Psalm 67(66)

Romans 13:13-32 Matthew 15:21-28 (See also Mark 7:24-30)

Meditatio:

‘I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.’ (Isaiah 56:8)

Commentary:

The second part of this Sunday’s Gospel presents us with a challenging encounter. We find Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon, territory that would have been considered foreign by many of his fellow Jews. In Matthew’s Gospel, this episode follows immediately after a dispute between Jesus and certain Pharisees and scribes concerning the observance of the Law, particularly ritual practices of purification.

Into this setting comes a Canaanite woman, a foreigner, who approaches Jesus and begins crying out for help. She is not one of the chosen people of Israel, yet she recognises in Jesus a source of hope and salvation. Her plea raises an important question: why should a devout Jew respond to the request of a foreign woman? At first, Jesus appears not to answer her. Then, when he does speak, his words seem surprisingly harsh: 'It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs'.

Greater Love: St Maximilian Kolbe and the Eucharist

Maximilian Kolbe(1894-1941) was a Polish Franciscan priest, missionary as well as martyr at Auschwitz.  Canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1982 he is often invoked as the patron saint of political prisoners, journalists, prisoners and the pro-life movement.  On his day of martyrdom, 14 August 1941, he volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek. He was living proof of the truth of Christ's words ^‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:13).  This was possible for Kolbe only because of the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, the fruits and effects of which were communicated to St. Maximilian through the sacrament of the Eucharist. For him, Holy Communion means not only receiving the Body and Blood of Christ but also participating in the mystery of self-giving love in our own time and place.

Fr Kolbe was active throughout his life in promoting the veneration of Immaculate Virgin Mary as well as in numerous apostolates and ministries.  In 1917, he founded the

Sunday Mass and the meaning of time

 

Credit: Timothy McIntyre

The Mass is rightly referred to as a ‘Memorial’ of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.  However, this does not mean that the Mass is merely a recall event in which past events are remembered and for which we give thanks.  It is infinitely more than that. Through the Eucharist, the saving events of Christ's passion, death and resurrection are made present in a living and active way here and now, whenever bread is broken, wine is poured and the prayer of consecration is offered.  We are more than just verbally proclaiming our faith in the crucified and risen Christ: we are caught up in the mystery of that death and resurrection in the midst of our turbulent and troubled world.

At a general audience in St Peter’s Basilica, yesterday, Pope Leo XIV spoke of the special place of Sunday Mass in the liturgy of the church. The full text of his address is

The price of Eucharistic faithfulness

The last Catholic martyr executed at Tyburn in London, St Oliver Plunkett (1625-1681) served as Archbishop of Armagh and successor of St Patrick. During a period of anti-Catholic persecution, he risked his life to provide the sacraments, ordain priests and sustain Eucharistic life among the faithful.

Canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1975, St Oliver Plunkett became the first new Irish saint in almost seven hundred years.  After spending many years in Rome while Catholics in Ireland faced severe restrictions, Plunkett returned to Ireland in 1670 following a relaxation in laws against Catholics. 

During the Stuart Restoration, Plunkett dissented from the Test Act.  The Test Act of 1673 required

Not to be taken for granted

Bees at work while the summer lasts     

It occurred to me, while at Mass last Sunday, that the kneelers were in lots of use with people in and out and up and down. In many Roman Catholic churches, the pews are positioned closely enough that people often need to step onto or over the kneelers when passing along a row – this even in spite of churches being far from packed in most places in Ireland, at least. 

Now, kneelers do not clean themselves and neither do aisle passages, seats, access porches, sanctuary carpets, altar covers, chalice palls, purificators, corporals or lavabo towels.  The bills for insurance, heating, light and water do not automatically pay themselves from year to year and church buildings need to be maintained and renovated.  The holding of a Mass necessitates that someone opens the church, puts out the required vestments or other items, lights the altar candles, switches on the microphones,