an article by Friar Bob & Friar Ray

In bygone days, the parish bought a paperback missalette called Breaking Bread, which we used both as a hymn book and as a missal with the Scripture readings and prayers of the day. Since March of 2020, we have set those books aside because passing paper from person to person can easily spread viruses and other microorganisms.

 
Fr. Bob wants to urge all parishioners to invest in their own personal missal. Take your missal with you to Mass and take it home with you after. Read it. Use it. Make it part of your life. Reading the daily Mass readings is one of the best ways to deepen your spiritual life.
 
Now is a wonderful time to be alive! Some centuries ago, a missal weighed 40 lbs., it took more than a year to produce one copy, and the final product cost more than a house. Now missals are available in all sorts of formats and in all price ranges, including lots of good options for free. Here are some suggestions from Frs. Ray and Bob. This list is certainly not exhaustive – they list some of the easiest to find options. The friars divide the suggestions up into three categories

• Apps for tablets and smartphones
• Paperback popular missals
• Hardbound missals and Mass books

 

 
APPS TO USE AT MASS
 
You may notice that Fr. Ray uses an electronic tablet when he celebrates Mass, because of his bad eyesight. Fr. Ray recommends the app “iBreviary”. Four of the most popular Catholic Mass apps are:

• myParish/St. Anthony of Padua in Angola – this is our parish’s own app, and we have all the Mass texts on it! Our app is limited but easy to use. If you don’t have it in your phone, get it now! More about our parish app
• iBreviary – published by the Franciscans of the Holy Land, this app is aimed at priests and religious, so all the texts are here, including all the Catholic liturgical books. It takes some practice to use. More about iBreviary
  

• Laudate – a free app, quite popular. Lots of ads, though. It does not do well offline.
  
• Universalis – an expensive app, but all the texts are here, and many other resources. A desktop version is available. It does not do well offline. More about Universalis
  

 
All of these apps are available from Google Play, the App Store, or wherever you get your apps for tablet or smartphone. If you would like help with these or other apps, contact the parish staff at webmaster@stanthonyangola.com, and we’ll get one of our “Holy Tony Geeks” to help you!
  

 
MISSALS IN MAGAZINE FORM
 
Many people prefer having a booklet made of paper in their hand, so they can read the Biblical readings and follow the texts of the liturgy both before and during Mass. These are called “liturgical periodicals” and usually appear monthly. Here, in alphabetical order, are the three most popular one in the United States:

• Living Faith. Daily Catholic Devotions. – published four times a year by Bayard, the same publisher as the next magazine below. This little magazine (in stapled pamphlet format) concentrates on personal prayer more than public Mass. For each day, there is a meditation. The chapters and verses for the Mass readings are listed, but you must use your own Bible for the text. $15.00 per year. Also available in Spanish and in large print, and for the Amazon Kindle, the Nook and on the iBookstore. www.livingfaith.com
• Living with Christ. Your daily companion for praying and living the Eucharist. – published monthly by Bayard, a well-established Catholic publishing house. The paperback magazines are bound with glue. For each day, there is a brief morning and evening prayer, the Mass readings and a brief reflection. Each issue has the complete Order of the Mass. There is a special issue for Holy Week. $25.95 per year. www.livingwithchrist.us
• Magnificat – Has morning, evening and night prayer for each day, the Mass readings and prayers, a Gospel reflection by a recognized Catholic theologian, and a saint’s life. There is a monthly artwork with reflection, a hymn of the month and a Marian antiphon with a theological commentary, and various blessings, essays and prayers. This magazine seeks to be a complete spiritual companion but is perhaps a little harder to use than Living With Christ. $47.00 per year (which includes both the paper and the electronic edition). Also available in multiple languages, as a children’s version (Magnifikid), etc. www.us.magnificat.net

 

 
HARDBOUND MISSALS AND MASS BOOKS
 
Some people prefer the weight and feel of a real, old fashioned hardbound book instead of a magazine or an electronic device. In the 1880’s, the Benedictine monks introduced the “popular missal”, a book for lay people with all the readings, prayers and other texts of the Mass, in Latin and the vernacular, so everyone could better follow along. (See Fr. Bob’s blog on this, "Listen to the Music of the Angels"). You have to learn how to use an old fashioned book, of course, but it’s worth the effort! Here are a few readily available modern missals.
 
NOTA BENE: Be sure to buy an edition published 2010 or later, so you have the current translations of the prayers.
 

• New St. Joseph Sunday Missal. Catholic Book Publishing Company, app. 1600 pages. $20 - $40, depending on the binding. The complete 3-year Sunday cycle in one volume. Many of the prayers are repeated to minimize page turning. The sewn cloth edition includes beautiful full color illustrations. A large print version is available. A two-volume weekday edition is also available.
  
• St. Paul Sunday Missal. Daughters of St. Paul. About 2700 pages. $25 to $50, depending on the binding. Like the missal above, it has all the readings, prayers and responses for every Sunday and Holy Day of the three-year cycle, but this edition also has a meditation/commentary for each Sunday and a “treasury of prayers”, so that it is also a personal prayer book for everyday use.
  
• Daily Roman Missal. Our Sunday Visitor. About 2500 pages. $45 to $90, depending on the binding. This missal has both the three-year Sunday cycle and the two-year weekday cycle in one volume, plus many Masses for special occasions, including all the saints’ feasts, funerals, weddings, etc. Includes English and Latin side by side. 200 pages of devotions and prayers. A big, heavy book that can be used every day of the year for a lifetime.

It was a happy event: St. Anthony's congregation gathered once more to celebrate Mass on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24, 2020 - the Feast of Christ's Ascension.

How many?

Saturday at 5:00 p.m. = 59
Sunday at 7:00 a.m. = 88
Sunday at 9:00 a.m. = 89
Sunday at 11:00 a.m. = 32

IN TOTO = 268

Perhaps not the huge numbers from "the before times", but a good start.

On May 23/24, we will return to congregational Mass, but it will be with lots of restrictions (see article below). The question arises -- Is it a real Mass if there is absolutely no singing? Is it Catholic tradition to nod to people six feet away while wearing a mask? Is this the Mass I knew and loved?

I am convinced that the predominant feeling, when we gather for Mass again, will be JOY! Overwhelming joy! It is a happy, happy moment. Underneath the happiness, though, will be a feeling of "weirdness". So many things will seem odd, maybe just plain wrong. We might even wonder if the whole thing seems sacrilegious.

It is not. 

Two centuries ago, the Benedictine monk Anselm Schott OSB, the inventor of the missalette, used to say, "The most important part of every Mass is the part that GOD does. Every Mass is God's Mass, not ours."

This is a central Catholic teaching. The real Mass is the one sung in heaven by the angels before the throne of God (see Rev. above). The Bible makes clear - when we celebrate Mass on earth, we are participating, "indistinctly, as in a mirror dimly" (1 Cor 13:12), in the Eucharistic Feast of Heaven. Mass on earth is a valid Mass only if it participates in the heavenly liturgy. That is why there must be a validly ordained priest, real bread and real wine, and so on. As the 1st Eucharistic Prayer says,

The classic expression of this truth is the hymn Holy Holy Holy, verse 2:

Holy, Holy, Holy!
Lord God Almighty!
All the saints adore Thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea!
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.
  

The angels know what they're doing. We'll be fine.

Friar Bob
15 May 2020

For the Feast of Christ's Ascension, our parish - together with the entire diocese - will resume public Masses. There will be restrictions. I will update this blog post regularly as things change and develop.

NEW MASS SCHEDULE:

Saturday at 5:00 p.m., Sunday at 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 a.m.
Weekday Masses resume on Monday, June 1, in the main church.
Spanish Mass resumes on Sunday, June 21.
Mass at Manapogo Campground still to be determined.

The new Sunday schedule allows proper time for cleaning and disinfecting between Masses. The schedule will be reevaluted after August 16.

Here is a short summary of the mandatory safety measures.

• There will be a maximum of 200 people per Mass.
• EVERYONE must wear a mask.
• Every other pew will be blocked off.
• In the pews that are open, maintain 6 feet between families.
• Handshaking and hand holding are suspended.
• Communion will be the host only, and only in the hand.
• There will be no choir.
• There will be no offertory.
• The collection will be taken up by different means.
• The church will be disinfected after every Mass, and fumigated weekly.

That sounds like a lot! This will definitely be a different experience of Mass. Who knows? Maybe we will learn something and grow from this!

Those who are particularly vulnerable - the elderly, those with underlying conditions, infants and small children - should consider not attending Sunday Mass just yet. Remember - the bishop continues to dispense you from any obligation to attend Mass. You might even consider attending a weekday Mass as your weekly Mass.

May the Lord continue to guide us.
friar Bob, pastor

Short answer: I don't know.

As Archbishop Lori has stated (see article below), the bishops will decide. In our case, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, our Ordinary, will decide. As of this writing - Monday, May 4, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. - we still await news from the diocesan administration.

Let it be said clearly: the Governor did not "open up the churches" again. He did not close them, he cannot open them, he claims no power to open or close them. The Indiana state government has consistently acted within the law.

On May 1, Gov. Holcomb announced a new policy called Back On Track Indiana. This plan foresees a gradual reduction of restrictions on public life during May, June and July of 2020. There are five phases. Today we begin Phase 2. That phase recommends - not orders - that religious institutions may consider, maybe, possibly, holding some liturgies again such as weddings and funerals, but only if there are fewer than 25 people present, no one over the age of 65 is present, no one is present who is sick in any way, everyone stays 6 feet apart in the pews, every other pew be left empty, there is no touching and no consumption of, for example, communion, and everyone wears masks. That's not much of a Mass!

So I am guessing that Bishop Rhoades will not start up public Masses again just yet. I remind you that Bishop Rhoades suspended all public Masses BEFORE the secular government issued a Stay at Home order, because it was the morally correct thing to do. As a Church community with a properly installed hierarchy, we will decide how and when to celebrate our liturgies for the good of the people.

So watch this space! As soon as the diocesan administration gives guidance, we will pass it on!

Thank you for your prayers and understanding, your wisdom and your patience. Patience is truly a virtue - and now is a time for virtue, not impetuousness. God bless us all.

__________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, Bishop Kevin Rhoades released new directives which foresee public Masses returning for the Solemnity of the Pentecost on May 31st. There may also be some (perhaps limited) form of Mass on the weekend of May 23rd and 24th. There is a lot of information to process. The parish staff will keep the parishioners informed as soon as we can.

by friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

This article originally appeared in the pariosh's eBulletin for April 24, 2020

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore has a clear message for people who think that the suspension of religious services is a violation of our religious liberty or is some sort of political plot: it is not. Even suggesting that it is puts life in danger and is therefore a sin.
 
Archbp. Lori used to be the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Committee on Religious Freedom. He is still the leading member of the board of theological consultants for that committee. On Easter Sunday, Archbp. Lori made a statement with several points:
 
1. The bishops will decide
 
The archbishop reminds Catholics that it was the Catholic bishops who suspended public liturgies, not the civil governments. In many places, Masses were suspended before there were any stay at home orders. It is the bishops who will decide when public Masses will begin again. [For example, in our diocese, Bishop Rhoades suspended public Masses as of March 18, Gov. Holcomb’s stay at home order was not issued until March 23.]
 
The U.S. bishops make this statement not to show their power, but because they want to make clear that no earthly power is forcing us to suspend public events, rather Catholic morality compels us. “One of the overriding responsibilities of government is to keep people safe. This is a health and public safety issue. And this is not only a concern that the government has, it’s also a concern of the church,” the archbishop said. “The Church has to take steps to ensure that we are kept safe and healthy and those steps have to be reasonable, rational. We do not feel as though we have been forced into doing this by the government. We feel like we’re doing the right thing.”
 
This means that it is possible that, even after some local governments lift the stay at home orders, the Roman Catholic Church might decide to wait a little longer.

2. We are a Church of faith and reason
 
“We are a people of faith and reason”, Archbp. Lori said, and the suspension of public liturgies is “eminently reasonable”. Following government orders and guidelines to stem the epidemic “does not in any way attack or undermine our faith or our religious liberty”. The suspension of public Masses and other sacraments is happening “out of pastoral love for our laity, our priests and the people of our society”.
 
3. Good will come of this
 
Even amidst suffering, we believe that God can draw goodness out of any situation. Indeed, there is opportunity here to develop aspects of our Church life and tradition that otherwise are somewhat neglected. “In extraordinary circumstances, God’s grace nonetheless reaches us. And we can certainly draw upon this tremendous treasury of holiness and merit unto which the Church has access during this time as part of our faith always has been and always will be.” As Pope Francis says, “The Church has many resources in our rich tradition.” Now is the time to explore that tradition and make use of our spiritual richness!

We could get an electonic number board and mount it there, where you suggest. There are several advantages to this: The numbers can be very large if we want (I have seen boards with 12 inch digits!); a lighted board is easier to see, even from a distance; the musicians would no longer need to climb a ladder to change the numbers; any changes to the music could be registered immediately; we could also post the page number in the missalette for the Scripture readings, responses, etc.

The counter-arguments: It affects the aesthetics of the sanctuary, making it more "artificial" and "electronic"; we lose the concrete symbolism of the wooden board; someone has to be trained to control the board; it is one more electronic thing that can go haywire.

Price is not an argument. Electronic hymn boards are actually CHEAPER than old fashioned wooden ones.

In the coming weeks, we'll discuss this more. If you have any opinions - for, against, or neutral - please do let us know! You can comment here, send a note to pastoralcouncil@stanthonyangola.com, or just mention something to Marilee Roederer or Fr. Bob.

Praise the Lord with music!

friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

There will be some changes in our Sunday evening Mass schedule.

St. Anthony's parish introduced Sunday evening Masses in January of 2018. At the time, we said that after a year or so, we would evaluate the reception of the new schedule. Now it is time to do that evaluation!

The parish pastoral council, the parish staff and the Conventual Franciscans have all contributed to the evaluation. Fr. Bob has also asked some of the groups involved.

The consensus is that the Sunday evening Masses are a mixed success. Here is our decision, pending more thought and discernment:

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT MASS - first Sunday of the month. This Mass will be stopped. The original idea was to have an evening Mass that ties in with our Sunday evening youth group meetings. Now that the high school group meets on Sunday morning, an evening Mass makes no sense.

NEWMAN MASS - second Sunday of the month. This Mass is a moderate "success". When there was a Mass for Trine University students during the week, an average of 6 students participated. On Sunday evening, the average is twelve. We will continue this Mass, although between now and December we will reevaluate the time.

SPANISH MASS - third Sunday of the month. This change was also popular. When the monthly Misa Hispana was on a weeknight, the average attendance was 30. Now on Sunday evening, we average 50 people. This Mass will continue. Again - between now and Christmas, we'll discuss whether 7:30 is the best time or not.

MASS FOR THE SICK - fourth Sunday of the month. This Votive Mass for the Sick with celebration of the sacrament of the sick never caught on. There are usually only 4-6 people present. Effective immediately, we will discontinue this Mass.

HOWEVER - instead, the priests want to emphasize that you may ask the priest AFTER ANY MASS ON ANY DAY for the sacrament of the sick, and the priest will happily anoint you with the sacramental oil.

To summarize:

• 1st Sunday: no more high school youth Mass.
• 2nd Sunday: Newman Mass at 7:30 p.m. Time night change later.
• 3rd Sunday: Spanish Mass at 7:30 p.m. Time night change later.
• 4th Sunday: no more votive Mass for the sick.

Fr. Bob
22 September 2019

Each year at Advent, the church offers us the opportunity to listen to the prophets of the Old Testament whose promise of a Messiah filled the people with hope at times of hopelessness. The Old Testament promise was fulfilled at the first coming of Christ into our world whose birth we are preparing to celebrate at Christmas.
 
Advent also invites us to make ready for His second coming, and to make room in our hearts for His arrival here and now--the Third Coming of Christ. It is with deep trust in God’s unconditional love for us that we acknowledge our failings in the presence of each other and seek his forgiveness.
 
John the Baptist is the great prophet of the New Testament who calls us to ready our hearts. John is the Prophet of Joy and the Forerunner of the Messiah.
 
God of mercy and compassion, as we come together to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, may the truth of His word bring love and hope to the darkness in our lives. Help us to bring down the hills and fill up the valleys, to straighten the crooked and to smooth out the rough until a highway runs right to our hearts, where Christ will make His home, for He lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.
 

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter three, verses one and following.
 
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
 
 The Word of God comes to us in the concrete realities of life — even as we go about our daily work, as we raise our families and build our societies, and sometimes when we find ourselves in the wilderness. Hearing the Word of God requires that we listen. So I ask myself:

• Do I pray every day?
•  Do I go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation?
•  Are there things in my life that get in the way of God’s word for me?

 
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
 
God has given us the holy sacraments as vehicles of His grace — we hear the Word of God in the celebration of the sacraments.

• How long has it been since my last confession?
• Do I prepare myself to receive communion?
• Do I ever think about or let myself be inspired by the promises of my baptism and confirmation?
• Do I keep the vows of my marriage or ordination?
• Do I visit the sick?

 
John said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

• God has given me the gift of faith. Do I take it for granted?
• Do I look down on people of other religions, or on those who have no religion?
• Do I think I’m better than anyone else?

 
And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
 
Sometimes I need God’s guidance. Do I ask for it? Do I listen?

John said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”
 

• Do I have a tendency to hoard and possess what is not necessary and still yearn to have more?
• What brings me contentment and security?
• Am I generous with my money and contribute whenever I can to charities which help to alleviate poverty?
• Do I make time in my schedule for other people?
• Do I reach out to the lonely?

 
Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.

We long for the salvation of God. We long to understand the meaning of our existence, to see an end to our problems, to receive God’s help in our suffering. We long to know that we are loved.
 

• Do I dare to hope in God?
  
• Do I trust God in my weakness? And come to God in my strength?
• Do I show love?
  

John answered them all, saying: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.”
 
Sometimes we have other gods besides the one true God. Sometimes we take it into our heads that salvation comes from our own will power and discipline, from some political party or program or some political messiah, from some philosophy or from wealth, comfort, food or entertainment.

• Who or what is my god?
• Am I humble before the Lord?
• Do I long to receive the baptism of God’s fire?

 
Exhorting them in many other ways, John preached good news to the people.

• What is my attitude towards the most vulnerable in the community?
• How compassionate am I towards those who have personal struggles?
• As an employer, do I treat my employees with respect and equality? As a parent? As a teacher? As a person of influence?
• As an employee, am I trustworthy and honest? As a son or daugher? As a student? As a citizen?
• In my relationships, am I self-centred?
• Am I more concerned with satisfying my personal needs than putting the needs of others first?

 
Now Herod the tetrarch, who had been censured by John because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed, added still another crime to his list by putting John in prison.

John the Baptist was a messenger of God, a prophet preparing the way for the coming of the Saviour by encouraging the people to repent. Prophets are often ridiculed, persecuted or simply ignored. As we strive to witness to the values of the Gospel in today’s society, we too, are likely to meet ridicule and ignorance.
 
We will be challenged by the prophets of our times, and tempted, in our turn, to ignore them, ridicule them or cheer their persecution.

• How do I react to such experiences?
• Do I easily ‘give in’ and compromise my values by finding ways to avoid the challenges?
• Do I resent it when some members of the Church call upon me to change my attitudes or preconceptions?
• Who and what helps me during the difficult moments of my life?

 

John the Baptist was the herald of the Messiah and made him known when at last he came. In his love Christ has filled us with joy as we prepare to celebrate his birth, so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise.
 
Amen.