This is one of the strangest things I have personally encountered in the celebration of the sacraments. At the time, I was the associate priest at a large parish. One day, a baptism was scheduled at the same time as Mass, so I performed the baptism in a hall in the church building. Initially, the family seemed satisfied with the baptism. Days later, I learned that that family was saying that the infant had not been baptized properly. The reason they gave was because there were no statues of saints in the hall!

I recalled this story from my first years in ministry this week as I reflected on today’s gospel reading that deals with human traditions. In today’s gospel reading, Saint Mark talks about a discussion between the Lord and some Pharisees and Scribes. They criticize some of the Lord’s disciples for eating without washing their hands; they, however, did not mean washing as a way of cleanliness but washing as a way of moral purity. The people of Israel had kept man-made traditions like this for centuries.

The Lord’s response is strong. He tells them that they care more about man-made traditions than about fulfilling God's commandments. The Church gives us this gospel reading today paired with a reading from the book of Deuteronomy in which Moses tells the Israelites that they should not add to or take away from what he commands them. In the gospel the Lord criticizes the traditions that the people of Israel made and are not based on the word of God; he rejects those traditions that in fact deny the intent of the word of God. There is in us a tendency to substitute religiosity for sincere obedience to God and his word. What transforms our hearts is not human traditions but a personal encounter with the Lord. Let us ask the Lord to reveal himself to us.

On the Centennial Traveling Monstrance.

The Diocese of Raleigh is celebrating its first 100 years this year. This centennial anniversary began in October 2023 with the Eucharistic Congress in Raleigh. At that Eucharistic Congress, a beautiful monstrance with the Most Blessed Sacrament was brought from Sacred Heart Church (The first Cathedral) to the Raleigh Civic Center. That monstrance has been touring the Diocese this year, from parish to parish (two days at a time). Our parish's turn for hosting it will be Friday, September 13 and Saturday, September 14.

During those two days, we will have 30 consecutive hours of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. On Friday, September 13, I will celebrate Mass at 9:00 am and consecrate the host for exposition. During the exposition, prayers, liturgical chants, and readings from the Holy Scriptures should be arranged so that the faithful, attentive in prayer, can dedicate themselves to the Blessed Sacrament. Sacred silence occurs at appropriate times.

We have planned a schedule with all these liturgies and devotions during those 30 hours of exposition. We will have the Liturgy of the Hours with its moments of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. We will have Eucharistic services. We will have the recitation of the Rosary and the chanting of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Some of these services will be in English and other languages.

Everyone is encouraged to make time during those 30 hours to come and adore the Most Blessed Sacrament. We are encouraging everyone who is planning on attending to sign up. We would like to have an idea of the number of people present at different moments, especially at the prayer services. To accommodate Saturday afternoon Mass, the Exposition will end at 3:30 pm.

The fact of hosting the diocesan monstrance in our parish inspired me to arrange and hold a Eucharistic Procession. A Eucharistic procession is a solemn rite with singing in which the Eucharist is carried through the streets and by which the Christian people bear public witness of faith and devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Eucharistic procession we are planning will occur as the conclusion of the Saturday afternoon Mass on September 14. Importantly, in this case, the Eucharistic procession will be part of the Mass. In fact, the final blessing will be omitted at that Mass because there will be a Solemn Benediction at the end of the Eucharistic procession. We need several people to carry the canopy, which is a rectangular cloth that covers the Blessed Sacrament during a procession.

Hosting the diocesan monstrance will offer us a wonderful opportunity to grow in union with the Lord.