If there is time…if we can fit it in…if we feel up to it…if we have the spare change…each of us has probably used one of those excuses in our lifetime to avoid going somewhere or doing something. The excuses are abundant. When it comes to our faith life, there should be no excuses, right? An intentional disciple makes time, prioritizes time for service, gives abundantly. I get it, we are all busy. Between work, extracurriculars, family obligations, the list goes on and on for where we spend our time, talents, and treasure. However, when we are in pursuit of intentional discipleship you intend to pray more, serve more, and give more. It’s priority #1.

I have often said it is easier to teach children about stewardship than us adults. Take this example, when I ask children what the first day of the week is they respond Sunday. Easy. They look up at the visual calendar posted on the wall and see Sunday all the way to the left. To kids, Sunday is the first day of the week. Ask adults the same question and you get a totally different answer. In a small poll I did with some adult friends of mine, I asked them the first day of the week. Monday. The first day of the week in many of our minds, without really thinking about it, is the day when we have to get back to work, get the kids loaded in the car, think about lunches, snacks, after school activities, the board meeting later….and again, the list goes on and on.

Interesting, isn’t it? If you were to ask yourself that question before reading this article, would you say that your week started on Sunday or Monday? Now, why is this significant? Because depending on if you are a Sunday or Monday person, your state of mind regarding stewardship might change. “First fruits” mentality is seeing Sunday as the beginning of the week. Your week begins with Sunday Mass. Your first “appointment” is time in prayer, your first “activity” is serving during Mass (Reader, Usher, Musician, etc.), your first “expenditure” for the week is your gift to the Church. Time, talent, and treasure- a stewardship way of life, completed by 9am Sunday morning. What a way to kick-off your week! In the leftover state of mind, you might miss Mass because you ran out of time this weekend, or didn’t have extra cash to contribute, or energy to serve. Do we give our leftovers or the first fruits?

Now, don’t feel left out if you attend Saturday evening. I am sure you get the idea. We must make choices that prioritize stewardship, if we are on a pathway to intentional discipleship.

Katie Price is the Coordinator for Stewardship at the Cathedral and within the Diocese of Springfield. She can be reached at the Parish Offices or at [email protected].

A couple times a week I run along a small bay that neighbors my house. In the early mornings, if I’m able to get out at that time, I’m always struck by the stillness of that stretch of mirrored silver. The bay’s anchored tranquility brings me a sense of peace if I only take a moment or two to look at it. It’s an image that in some way sooths my soul.

In Father Jacques Philippe’s modest little book, Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart, he calls to mind this metaphor for the soul:

Consider the surface of a lake, above which the sun is shining. If the surface of the lake is peaceful and tranquil, the sun will be reflected in this lake; and the more peaceful the lake, the more perfectly will it be reflected. If, on the contrary, the surface of the lake is agitated, undulating, then the image of the sun can not be reflected in it.

It’s a deeply simple yet profound stroke of insight—our souls can only reflect God’s love and grace if they are calm and delicately moored. The peace promised to us by Jesus Christ two millennia ago only flowers in the soil of a serene heart.

What makes Philippe’s humble treatise so illuminating is its insistence that our highest priority when it comes to the spiritual life must be acquiring and cultivating this state of peace. If we don’t, though we may still do good works, we will be harried by the warring emotions and worries within us that keep us from experiencing God’s love. In other words, we won’t have the peace that God desires for us. There is a difference between serving and suffering accompanied with the balm of God’s peace, and doing so left to our own human—and tragically inadequate— devices.

When I was a little kid, I had this absurd fear that if I forgot to mention a certain family member in my prayers they would be left without the benefit of God’s grace. It’s funny now to look back on that, and though I’ve matured from such a grossly limited view of God these many years later, there is still a streak of that mindset tangled within my own spirituality. At times, I’ll still feel an overwhelming sense of obligation—an iced interior command—to do something, one spurred by fear, worry, or pride. And even though such an action may be good and well intentioned, it will cause me to lose something of immeasurable value—my peace.

What a premium we place on peace. We can easily spot a deep thirsting for peace within our culture—a desire to unplug from its charged pace—through the popularity of all types of activities with peace as their aim: meditation, mindfulness, yoga, tailored Spotify playlists, breathing exercises, and so on. As the human person yearns for food, sleep, affection, and purpose, it also yearns for peace. Speaking strictly of the body, we need time for peace and quiet—sleep, healthy exercise, and leisurely activities. But the same is true for our spiritual lives. The soul yearns for the respite that only comes from submersion into the cooling water of God’s grace. Jesus spoke about the soul’s desire for peace and fulfillment that exceeds the needs of the corporeal. After Jesus multiplied the loaves for the five thousand, the crowds sought him with unwavering determination. When they finally found him, Jesus addressed them in this way:

Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. (Jn. 6:26-27)

When we look at our own pleas for God to work in our lives—to gift us and our loved ones with good health, success, love, meaningful employment, etc.—when we’re honest, we don’t do it because we want simply the object of our intention. If we pray to be healthy, and God miraculously heals us, we soon find that it wasn’t enough. Not even close. The sign in and of itself is never enough. We don’t want miracles; we want fulfillment. We want to know complete love, peace, and union with the one who understands us perfectly, the one who created us for such an end.

And so this spiritual food—God’s love and peace—can only come from a commitment to following Christ and aligning our wills to God. In doing this, we acquire the peace of a clear conscience—a pure heart. Father Philippe highlights the necessity of our goodwill in order to experience God’s peace for our souls. He clarifies what he means by “goodwill” with encouraging language:

[Goodwill] is not perfection, nor sainthood achieved, because it could well coexist with hesitations, imperfections and even faults…it is the habitual disposition of heart which permits the grace of God to carry us, little by little, toward perfection.

A desire to love and know God is enough (despite our continued faults and weaknesses). It’s this desire that is necessary— something that must originate with God himself—for us to even have recourse to the peace Jesus promises.

We know, however, once we have allowed God into our lives and are taking seriously the spiritual journey, maintaining our peace is still difficult, especially in the face of suffering and temptation. But that is often the very goal of the battle—to keep our peace no matter our circumstances.

Therefore, maintaining this peace should be the priority of the spiritual life, more so than eliminating our faults and weaknesses. Obviously, we are to strive to eliminate these things as they keep us from loving God and others, though we should do so with a peaceful resolve that acknowledges we will not reach perfection in this life. Peace comes from knowing God loves us—and not just saying we know it, but knowing it in our flesh and bones.

On the contrary, the real spiritual battle, rather than the pursuit of invincibility or some other absolute infallibility beyond our capacity, consists principally in learning, without becoming too discouraged, to accept falling occasionally and not to lose our peace of heart if we should happen to do so lamentably, not to become excessively sad regarding our defeats and to know how to rebound from our falls to an even higher level.

If I’m honest, this idea was a major paradigm shift—a shattering realization. What if when we sinned, instead of allowing the spirit of unhealthy discouragement, vague despair, and gnawing worthlessness grab hold of us, we immediately sought to regain Christ’s peace by asking for forgiveness, accepting it with humility, and doing the best we can to do better next time? What if we didn’t do things for God because we felt we had to, or that we should in order to avoid punishment, or because our ego and the devil demand it, but because the peace of God dwelling within us desires nothing more than to serve others and God? Whereas fear coerces us to love, peace inspires us to.

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. (Saint Francis de Sales)

Let us not forget that Martha, the one who diligently labored for Christ, was told she had opted for the “lesser” part. Mary, the one sitting serenely at the feet of Christ, was extolled.

If we acquire peace, then we find that all the good we do pours out, even in the face of great suffering or hardship. The saints aren’t saints because they never sinned; they are saints because they harbored a peace laced with the understanding that they were loved infinitely by God—despite their own sins, sufferings, and temptations. When we accept our smallness with humility, we receive the light of his peace and presence.

We will still fail at times to maintain our peace. The lashes of suffering, trial, and hardship will jar us. But the battle won’t be over, and with grace, we will once again find peace. And as we do this more and more throughout our lives, like the thousands of saints before us, our peace will intensify and won’t be plucked from us as easily.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (Jn. 14:27)

Chris Hazell is the founder of The Call Collective, a blog exploring the intersection between faith, culture and creativity. (http://thecallcollective.com/stay-updated/) He holds bachelors’ degrees in English and Economics from UCLA and currently works as a Lead Content Strategist for Point Loma Nazarene University.

Some of you may remember TV commercials in the late 1970s and early 1980s with actor/director Orson Wells speaking for Paul Masson wine. Well’s tagline for those spots was “we will sell no wine before it is time.” The point of the line was stressing that Masson was not simply rushing out a product but that only when the time was right, when everything was ready, would a wine be released for sale. Today, with the wedding feast at Cana, the headwaiter is shocked because the best wine has been saved for a later time. Why? Because the time is right; the time is now.

This Sunday’s Gospel reading of the wedding feast at Cana is traditionally considered the Lord Jesus’s first miracle. Once again we find the theme of epiphany, of revealing or making known, in the Gospel this weekend, a theme that will continue over the next several Sundays. With that in mind, when we look at this Gospel selection, we may be naturally inclined to say that this passage in John is about marriage; yes, but to a lesser extent. Jesus is at the wedding feast with Mary his mother and his disciples. We can easily deduce that he sees marriage as something good and, naturally, our Lord in his plan of salvation raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, but there is something more here and its all about the wine.

There are two details about the water made wine that we need to note as recounted for us by John: its quality and its volume. As with any miracle, there are two realities at work: the actual miracle that takes place and a greater truth that the Lord is making known to us through it. It is clear from the testimony of the headwaiter that the wine made by the Lord is good, very good, and while other good wines have been served, surprisingly, and even better wine is offered later on. This wine is offered in superabundance, 120 to 130 gallons if you do the math in John’s account. That is MORE than enough wine for the celebration. Everyone can be satisfied without any worry that this new wine might run dry.

This miracle of the water made wine shows us that a special time has come. Now is the time of the Messiah. The quality and abundance of the new wine tells us that, while God’s grace has been made manifest in times past, it is being made manifest again in a new, wonderful, and abundant way in Jesus Christ. The time of the Messiah does not refer to the time only when Jesus walked on the earth. That time is now!

Here in the early days of 2019, this is the time of the Messiah and every day, month, and year will be until his glorious return. The grace of God continues to be offered to each and every heart freely and in superabundance. These are the days of redemption. Heaven has been flung open to everyone that will hear the word of Christ and strive to keep it, and the Lord will grant us the fullness of his grace to help us along the way.

Now is the time for the wine of God’s grace. He is lovingly and generously offering it to each and every one of us. Drink freely!

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

The other day I was asked to teach students about stewardship at one of our local Catholic schools. To get us started, I turned to the students to teach me something first. Have you heard about this “floss” dance? The “floss” is a new dance that has swept the social media networks and shows a person moving side to side with their arms moving in a similar fashion back and forth. At first glance, it looks easy, but don’t be fooled! In fact, the dance takes great coordination, which at one point in my life I probably had! When I asked for volunteers to help me with “the floss,” the kids were jumping out of their seats. I am not sure which was more appealing, the attention of doing the “floss” in front of their peers or showing “Church-lady Katie,” an adult, how to “floss.” Both probably sounded equally ridiculous and funny, which is perfect for a child! Once the students approached and I incredibly embarrassed my poor daughter in the audience, the laughter was contagious and we were “flossing!” Well, I was attempting, I wouldn’t say successfully.

As the students took their seats again and the laughter turned into “shhh” from the teachers, we regrouped and I asked if they could tell me what any of that had to do with stewardship. As you are reading this, you are probably wondering the same thing! The students responded with some great answers, “It’s fun,” “We did it together,” “We volunteered.” I asked them if they felt joy or laughed. All responded, nodding their heads. Then I said, “Perfect, that is the beginning of stewardship, acknowledging the gifts we receive.” Acknowledging that gifts are not just tangible, but often the grace filled moments of laughter, friendship, joy, and happiness.

Living a stewardship way of life is being intentional about prayer, service, and giving. But stewardship is not just sacrifice, it is acknowledging the many gifts around us. Because of the good stewards in the pews, we have many gifts at the Cathedral. The sacred space is maintained and beautiful. The ministries and formation programs are welcoming and plentiful. We celebrate daily Mass and have beautiful music ministry volunteers to enhance the Sunday Liturgies. We are grateful for the committed volunteers who serve the Alpha guests. We are truly blessed at the Cathedral and it is because of the stewards in the pews. Are you one of them? If so, thank you! If not, consider joining us in a stewardship way of life. Start by acknowledging the gifts in your life, spending time in thankful prayer to the Lord and giving the Cathedral your time and talents. Stewardship is the act of acknowledging these gifts and sharing them with others. It is the activity of the disciples and we are each called to respond!

Katie Price is the Coordinator for Stewardship at the Cathedral and within the Diocese of Springfield. She can be reached at the Parish Offices or at [email protected].

You may have seen me serving the 5:15 daily mass at Cathedral. No, I’m not a seminarian, and yes I’m a working young adult. So, why do I serve? I moved to Springfield five years ago after graduating college. As I journeyed out into the “real world” I knew I wanted to continue the practice that I developed right after graduating college of attending daily mass. I started to go the 5:15 mass at Cathedral and after about a year of attending, Fr. Seth Brown contacted me and asked if I would be interested in serving daily mass there. Somehow growing up I was able to wiggle out of altar serving all together (unlike my two brothers). I decided to give it a shot however when Fr. Seth Brown asked and quickly grew to love donating my time to serving the holy sacrifice of the mass. Serving has given me a greater appreciation for the mass and helped me grow into a deeper relationship with our Lord. It allows me to give back to the Lord for all the blessings and love He has shown me. Being involved in the mass in a different way has also helped in my own discernment in both big and little life decisions. If you have the slightest interest in altar serving (no matter how young or old you may be) I encourage you to give it a shot. I think you’ll be surprised of the graces you will receive from your service to the Church.

-Nicholas Gray, Parishioner and Altar Server

The Mass is without a doubt one of the most privileged moments in the life of a Christian. It is there that we hear the Word of God proclaimed once again among the community of the faithful. It is there that we gather as a community around the altar of sacrifice, offering ourselves and our intentions and uniting them to the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is there that we receive His very Body and Blood—the “source and summit of the Christian life”—which makes us united to God and to each other, giving us the strength and grace to live our mission as disciples in the world.

In the reforms to the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council, the council fathers explicitly stated that their aim was to consider before all else the “full and active participation by all the people.” It’s a phrase which has been oft-misunderstood in the fifty years since the close of the council. But primarily, this “full and active participation” consists of every individual offering their entire selves in the Mass—by engaging themselves in the Mass in every aspect: praying with the priest, singing, and, where appropriate, serving the liturgy through various roles.

One of those ministries of service—and a privileged one at that—is altar serving. An altar server is entrusted with serving the priest in the act of sacrifice. This entails holding the book during the various prayers offered by the priest, helping to prepare the altar, receiving the offertory gifts alongside the priest or deacon, and carrying the cross, incense, or candles during the processions into and out of the Church. But more than the mere responsibilities of the altar server, the role is privileged because of its proximity and importance to the Mass. Altar servers have a unique opportunity to serve directly the Body and Blood of Christ, to be present in the sanctuary for the sacrifice of Calvary, and to aid the priest as alter Christus (an “other Christ”).

Our Cathedral parish has a faithful corps of men and women, girls and boys who assist the priests and deacons at the altar, and for that we are all very grateful. Nevertheless, we invite anyone who has considered this ministry in the past or who is currently interested to come forward and join our team. This new year of God’s grace is a perfect opportunity to offer your full and active participation in the liturgy by joining this ministry—or any of our other opportunities to sing, pray, and serve.

Please RSVP for training! New and returning altar servers should attend!

A training for all youth servers (5th grade and older, current and new) will occur on Monday, January 21 at 11 am, with a pizza party to follow. Parents are invited as well! Training for all adult servers (weekday and weekend, new and experienced) will occur on Wednesday, January 23 at 6 pm, with a dinner hosted in the Cathedral rectory (TBD) to follow.

For interest and to RSVP to the training, please contact Fr. Friedel at 522-3342 or email Vicki Compton at [email protected].

My first experience with Eucharistic Adoration occurred in sixth grade at my Catholic elementary school when my homeroom teacher took my entire class to the church to pray in silence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. If you’re thinking it was difficult for 35 12- year-olds to sit still and pray in silence for an hour, then you’d be right. We squirmed and fidgeted and poked our neighbors to avoid giving our undivided attention to the Lord. Our behavior earned a mild scolding from our soft-spoken teacher, who reminded us of Jesus’ own words in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified: “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?”

After that, I didn’t go to Adoration again for many years. First, there was the challenge of carving out an hour in the middle of the week to get there, when so many other activities and errands felt more pressing. Secondly, I was worried that Adoration might only be for super holy people — ones who spend time with God in perfect, prayerful contentment. My mind is full of worldly concerns and distractions, so maybe Adoration wasn’t for me. Finally, my inner, fidgety sixth grader was concerned Adoration might be, well, boring. I assumed a Holy Hour would look like waiting for a big revelation from God and hearing nothing but crickets.

After moving to Colorado, though, I discovered that my new parish had a perpetual Adoration chapel, which meant I could sit with the Blessed Sacrament at any time of the day or night. And despite my years of doubts, I somehow found myself wanting to try again. Here are some things I that helped me commit to a weekly Adoration practice:

It’s not all about me

Like Mass, Adoration isn’t necessarily about what we will get out of it. True, the graces dispensed by God help us grow in holiness, but the primary purpose of Adoration is right there in the name of the act: to adore the One present to us in the Eucharist.

Just be

Remember that you don’t actually have to do anything. The Catholic faith recognizes that the greatest gift God gives us is himself, and Adoration is another way for us to recognize that gift outside of receiving the Eucharist at Mass. So, don’t overthink it. Just receive the gift.

Pray (with a little help)

If it’s been awhile since you’ve entered the Adoration chapel and you’ re wor r ied you might be a l i t t le bored ( that ’s understandable!), or you have no idea where to start (it’s okay!), I’ll offer the following suggestions:

• Pray the rosary. To contemplate the mysteries of Jesus’ life in the rosary is to contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist given to us and the Blessed Sacrament we praise in Adoration. So, pairing these prayers is a great habit to get into.
• Write in your prayer journal. Writing in a prayer journal is a great way of making your relationship with God seem more tangible, since we’re getting the words out of our heads and onto the paper. Think of the practice as writing a letter to God. Take all your worries of the day and lay them down during Adoration. Or write to him about everything that’s going well in your life right now.
• Listen to music. Music can be an extremely effective way to focus our thoughts on God. Just make sure you have headphones that will keep everyone else in your vicinity from hearing your music if they’d rather spend their time in meditative prayer. I usually find that slow, reflective melodies work best for this environment — anything by Audrey Assad usually does the trick for me.
• Read. While Adoration isn’t really the time to break out that thriller you’ve been working your way through, it is a great opportunity to pull out a book by one of the saints (such as “The Diar y of St . Faus t ina, ” St . Franc i s De Sales’ “Introduction to the Devout Life,” or St. Thérèse’s autobiography “The Story of a Soul.” Or prayerfully consider a few lines of the Catechism. You may also choose to read a set of devotional essays like Caryll Houselander’s “The Reed of God,” which is full of meditations on Mary. And of course, don’t forget the Bible!

You don’t have to sit still during your Holy Hour in order to make it count. It’s okay for it to be a natural extension of the rest of your prayer life. So, if there’s something that really helps you focus your prayer, bring it to Adoration. Most of all, remember to receive the gift of Christ in the Eucharist and just be present to God.

Sarah Zentner is a freelance writer and graduate student of literature at Colorado State University, who believes the written word can be an extraordinary place to encounter the grace and goodness of God. When she’s not ensconced in her studies, you can find her enjoying a steaming mug of tea, engaging in great conversation, or daydreaming about her next trip abroad. You can learn more about her at www.sarahzentner.com.

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Cathedral will be offering Adoration on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4PM to 5PM starting on Feb. 5th. We will have more information in the next coming weeks. If you are interested in participating, please contact Vicki Compton at [email protected].

The time has come for us to move beyond the manger; for white and gold to give way to green. This Sunday we come to the end of the Church’s celebration of Christmas with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and we prepare to enter into the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. This feast jumps us about thirty years forward in the Lord’s earthly life and is understood as the event that inaugurates his public ministry. The Scriptures that the Church has chosen for this feast bring us full circle from where our pre- Christmas journey began in Advent, to Christmas Day, and now to the end of this holy season.

Some six weeks ago we began our Advent journey and over the course of that journey we heard those familiar words of the Prophet Isaiah that are proclaimed to us again this Sunday. The second reading for this feast, from the letter of Titus, is the same second reading that was proclaimed at the Mass at Night on Christmas. We might say that in today’s feast we are given a recap of what has already been revealed and proclaimed: that God has heard the cry of his people and has responded to that cry in the coming of Christ his son. What was already made known to Mary & Joseph, the Shepherds, Simeon & Anna, and the Magi is made known to a wider audience by the Spirit at the Jordan River when the voice of God proclaims of Jesus “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Today’s feast is a continuation of last week’s celebration of the Epiphany because Christ is once again made known for who is; his identity is not a secret as it is revealed by the Father and his purpose as revealed in the preaching of John. As with the Magi so now at the Jordan, God continues to make known through Jesus that his life and love are open to all people who will receive him and all who receive him belong to him.

Now that we have celebrated the coming of Jesus at the beginning of the Church year, we are now prepared for the unfolding of another great mystery; the mystery that is life in Christ and what that means for us as his disciples as the events of his passion, death, resurrection, and overall ministry are recounted for us over the rest of the Church year. This mystery of life in Christ is what we are called to contemplate and celebrate each day and in every season. We have been called and chosen to be children of God, not because of any merit of ours but because of God’s great love for us; because of this we should in turn see our lives as something extraordinary.

Luke’s Gospel for today’s feast tells us that “the people were filled with expectation.” May it be the same for us. ay expectation of the good things that God wants to do for us each day be the fruit of our faithful discipleship. May we carry the light and joy of Christmas with us throughout the year and as this liturgical season of Christmas gives way now to Ordinary Time may we remember that, because of Jesus, there is nothing ordinary about who we are because we belong to him.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

Catholics have different strategies for putting Christmas decorations away, but it is always a bittersweet day.
Some choose the Octave Day of Christmas, January 1. Some choose the 12th day of Christmas, the eve of the Epiphany, or January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

Others wait all the way until the last feast of the infancy of Christ — the Presentation, February 2.
As our house returns to normal — for us on the last day of the liturgical Christmas Season, the feast of the Baptism of Christ (January 13 this year) — we pray this prayer. I have printed it out and hung it on the attic door as a reminder all year long.

Prayer for Putting Away Christmas Decorations

Lord Jesus, today we have put all of our Christmas decorations away. We are entering into Ordinary Time, and our house looks “ordinary” again, too.

But Lord, you know and we know that our house has a secret. Deep inside it, all of our Christmas decorations are still here. The blessing of Christmas is always with us, kept in the deep, quiet places of the house.

And Lord, our lives will become ordinary again, too, but you know that each of us has the grace of baptism. The grace you gave us is always with us, in the deep, quiet places of our soul.

May we live the grace of Christmas every day, only without all the trappings: May we always give generously, receive gifts gratefully, welcome others, and study your life.

Make our house be a home with Christmas at its core, and our souls a home where Jesus always dwells.

Amen.

 This article is written by Tom Hoopes and originally appeared on January 6, 2019 in Aleteia. (https://aleteia.org/2019/01/06/prayer-for-putting-away-christmas-decorations/)

The Mass is without a doubt one of the most privileged moments in the life of a Christian. It is there that we hear the Word of God proclaimed once again among the community of the faithful. It is there that we gather as a community around the altar of sacrifice, offering ourselves and our intentions and uniting them to the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is there that we receive His very Body and Blood—the “source and summit of the Christian life”—which makes us united to God and to each other, giving us the strength and grace to live our mission as disciples in the world.

In the reforms to the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council, the council fathers explicitly stated that their aim was to consider before all else the “full and active participation by all the people.” It’s a phrase which has been oft-misunderstood in the fifty years since the close of the council. But primarily, this “full and active participation” consists of every individual offering their entire selves in the Mass—by engaging themselves in the Mass in every aspect: praying with the priest, singing, and, where appropriate, serving the liturgy through various roles.

One of those ministries of service—and a privileged one at that—is altar serving. An altar server is entrusted with serving the priest in the act of sacrifice. This entails holding the book during the various prayers offered by the priest, helping to prepare the altar, receiving the offertory gifts alongside the priest or deacon, and carrying the cross, incense, or candles during the processions into and out of the Church. But more than the mere responsibilities of the altar server, the role is privileged because of its proximity and importance to the Mass. Altar servers have a unique opportunity to serve directly the Body and Blood of Christ, to be present in the sanctuary for the sacrifice of Calvary, and to aid the priest as alter Christus (an “other Christ”).

Our Cathedral parish has a faithful corps of men and women, girls and boys who assist the priests and deacons at the altar, and for that we are all very grateful. Nevertheless, we invite anyone who has considered this ministry in the past or who is currently interested to come forward and join our team. This new year of God’s grace is a perfect opportunity to offer your full and active participation in the liturgy by joining this ministry— or any of our other opportunities to sing, pray, and serve.

Fr. Michael Friedel is a Parochial Vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.