Letter To Bishop Taylor

Thank you for the attention you will be giving this year to help Arkansas Catholics have a Eucharistic Revival. I am one of the 31 percent who believes in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In this year of the Synod on Synodality please take into consideration the following ideas to bolster the faith of Catholics, including many young Catholics and even non-Catholics who yearn for an encounter of the Eucharist that is transcendental, focused primarily on our Lord rather than the community.

Much ink has been spilt underscoring that it is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. Our way of prayer has changed drastically over the past five decades resulting arguably in the loss of faith in the Eucharist. What I ask of you is an intellectually honest consideration of the content of the documents of the Church while offering liberal permission to implement the following traditional ways of prayer to strengthen our belief:

Music:
“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium #112). We have lost in most parishes in Arkansas this treasure (Gregorian Chant) of inestimable value. The entire paragraph #41 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) has been overlooked in most places. We don’t have to recreate the wheel though in order to work towards its incorporation in the Mass. In 2013 Bishop Sample had issued a pastoral letter on Sacred Music in Divine Worship entitled “Rejoice in the Lord Always” with a detailed plan. It can still be downloaded from the Diocese of Marquette.

Ad orientem:
Jorge A. Cardinal Medina Estévez (Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship) on 10 April 2000 (Protocol No. 564/00/L) settled the question of ad orientem in the year 2000: “No preference is expressed in the liturgical legislation for either position. As both positions enjoy the favour of the Law, legislation may not be invoked to say that one position or the other accords more closely with the mind of the Church”. GIRM #299 is often quoted as a reason for Mass offered facing the people and it is mistranslated in the USCCB’s work Built of Living Stones.  The Latin of #299 was explained in Response to a Dubium from the Congregation for Divine Worship in 2000 (Prot. No. 2036/00/L).  The document explains that the phrase ubi possible sit refers to the layout of the altar not the direction it is used. Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Sarah and many other esteemed clerics have written on the importance of this posture of the priest and its influence on the worship of the people. Little Rock priests should be given, according to universal liturgical law, the freedom to lead us in prayer towards the Father with everyone all facing Liturgical East while giving the necessary catechesis.

Altar Rails:
Even though it is the norm to receive Holy Communion standing in the U.S. an individual member can always receive Communion while kneeling. Many faithful would love the opportunity to receive while kneeling but cannot because of a lack of a step and rail for support to kneel and raise after reception. An easy and efficient way to remedy this problem while offering the faithful the option to receive kneeling is to offer Communion along the first step of the sanctuary or existing altar rail. Another option is to have a kneeler available. Can ideological barriers and rigid uniformity be overcome to allow these options of reverence and devotion to our Lord by faithful Catholics in Arkansas?

Tabernacle:
An effort can be made throughout the Diocese to position the tabernacle in the middle of the apse in all parishes. What a statement it would be that all parishes place our Lord as the physical and spiritual center of the church during this Eucharistic revival.

As we pray, so we believe, so we live. For centuries Catholics have prayed on our knees, facing our Lord while chanting what is proper to the Mass (the Psalms of the antiphons for entrance, offertory and communion). I once again ask for your openness to discussing the implementation of these traditional ways of worship for the benefit of all. Will you be open to the valid options available? What hardness of heart and/or ideology are obstacles to implementing the suggestions listed in this letter? I pray for the success of the Eucharistic revival and may the Holy Spirit fill you with his gifts.

Sincerely,