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Sunday, February 9, 2014

Changes in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Martha's chapel on May 29, 2013. Credit: L'Osservatore Romano.One of the things in the English language is that some words have a tendency to change over time.  For example, the word "gay" meant happy at one time. Today, when someone says "that person is gay"....it has nothing to do with being happy.  

It is the same with the word "concelebrate".  In Early Christianity, the meaning of this word is very different from today.  In Early Christianity, all Christians were concelebrants whereas today, this word now refers only to the bishops and priests.  

Do these changes mean that the former was wrong or in error?  Absolutely not.  When the Latin Mass was no longer celebrated, it did not mean that the Latin Mass was wrong.  In those times, Latin was the main language (almost like English being the universal language today).  Things change for a reason, and it's the Holy Spirit who guides these changes.  Doing away with the Latin Mass never meant that the Latin Mass was wrong.  But it was changed in a time when people were not participating in Mass because Latin was not their language.  Participation in the Eucharist is essential for the entire Church. Today, the Latin Mass was brought back for those who wish to celebrate Mass in Latin.        

The word "concelebrate" was also changed for a reason.  It was done to promote unity with the priests and bishops.  I think this unity with the Pope, priests and bishops is essential since there are actually some Catholic priests who don't see anything wrong with contraceptives (which goes against Church teaching).  Does this mean that the Early Christians were wrong in making everyone  concelebrants? Certainly not.  Who are we to say that we know better than the Early Christians? In fact, I think the Early Christians of the first and second centuries were very much united with the teachings of the Church and with their leaders.   

However, this is not quite true today as many of the Catholic faithful don't think anything wrong with contraceptives, abortion, same sex marriage, and even pre-marital sex. As a matter of fact, Catholic Spain passed same sex marriage. It appears that the whole idea of marriage is a problem because the number of Catholics practicing co-habitation on Guam is very high.  

In the Neocathemunal Way, the Mass is celebrated similar to a concelebrant Mass...a mass promoting the unity between the lay Catholic to the teachings of the Church. There are many Catholics walking in the Way who are open to marriage.  Many of them have large families and have also adopted children into their families.  




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