| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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| Watching TV in front of the Blessed Sacrament | Mary Ann | Sunday, March 20, 2005 |
Question: To my absolute horror, after Last Sunday's Mass, the Deacon set up a TV set and VCR directly in front of the altar and Tabernacle and proceeded to show the RCIA candidates and catechumen a religious education video. I see this as sacrilege. There is no excuse for using the chapel as a classroom, for ours is a big parish with lots of other available rooms. Also, what a bad example! The Deacon teaches the new Catholics that the Holy of Holies is no different than their living rooms! I am outraged. Seeing this spectacle literally made me want to vomit. This parish also conducts bible studies in the main chapels of the church, when other rooms are available. This also seems sacrilegious. The Holy of Holies is not a town hall, a stage, a classroom, or a cafeteria. It is the Dwelling Place of God, and it is a place to offer Sacrifice. I was taught that the rooms containing the Blessed Sacrament are holy, and that the only sounds coming from us should be in the form of prayer or song. I was taught not to have conversations with others within the vicinity of the Blessed Sacrament; unless absolutely necessary, and in the case of the latter, only in the form of low whispering. What is your opinion? Thank you. |
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| Question Answered by Mr. Jacob Slavek
Dear Mary Ann, I think you are absolutely right, I feel that this should have been done in a classroom and not in the church. I agree with everything else you have said. Mr. Slavek Footer Notes: (a) A Eucharistic Minister is clergy (Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion). Laity are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and should never be called Eucharistic Ministers. (b) There is no such Mass called the Novus Ordo. The Current Mass is the Roman Missal of 2000, or the Oridinary Form of the Mass. The Tridentine Mass is the Roman Missal of 1962, or the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Please refrain from using the term, Novus Ordo. Thanks. (c) The titles of Acolyte and Lector belong exclusively to the Installed Offices of Acolyte and Lector, who are men (only) appointed by the Bishop. These roles performed by others are Altar Servers and Readers, respectively. |
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