{"id":5020,"date":"2021-07-04T21:44:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T21:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=5020"},"modified":"2021-07-04T21:44:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T21:44:45","slug":"fourth-of-july-and-both-kinds-at-mass-whee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/fourth-of-july-and-both-kinds-at-mass-whee\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth of July, and Both Kinds at Mass! Whee!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"United<\/a><\/p>\n

I heard the occasional snap-crackle-boom of fireworks last night. Someone in the neighborhood, I’m guessing.<\/p>\n

Sauk Centre’s municipal fireworks show is usually during Sinclair Lewis Days. I don’t know if that’ll happen this year, what with the drought. And the racetrack’s intermittent pyrotechnic displays are one with Nineveh and Tyre, along with the racetrack.<\/p>\n

But someone, somewhere is honoring my culture’s traditions: or being a public nuisance, from another perspective.<\/p>\n

Me? I enjoy municipal and private-sector fireworks. In moderation.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there was that time, a few years back, where we heard \u2014 and felt \u2014 a whacking great BOOM!!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Turns out, someone had been planning to burn dead timber and other combustibles.<\/p>\n

No problem there. This is a rural area, so our rules and regulations aren’t nearly as tangled as a big city’s.<\/p>\n

These folks had a fair amount of burnable stuff, so they’d dug a considerable hole, shoved the trash in, banked earth around it and poured in \u2014 diesel oil, I think it was \u2014 to get the fire started.<\/p>\n

Which would have been a good idea, except for one thing: there wasn’t much wind, so conditions were just right for a little diesel fuel vapor to accumulate in that hole.<\/p>\n

Result, when they introduced an ignition source, was an abrupt exothermic reaction between atmospheric oxygen and petroleum vapor.<\/p>\n

A whacking great BOOM<\/strong><\/em>, in other words. Nobody, happily, was killed: or even hurt. Shook up a bit, though, I’d think.<\/p>\n

Which doesn’t have much to do with Independence Day fireworks, now that I think of it.<\/p>\n

I did, however, see a party cannon in the local Walmart; but never mind that. What I planned on mentioned happened at Mass today.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The Eucharist, COVID-19 and My Home Parish<\/h4>\n

\"The<\/a>Minnesota hasn’t had the worst possible experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we’ve had our share of deaths, illness and assorted inconveniences.<\/p>\n

I emphatically did not enjoy missing Holy Week Masses last year.<\/p>\n

But a pandemic was in progress, state civil authorities said that getting together in big crowds was a bad idea, and our archdiocese and diocese authorities agreed. To an extent.<\/p>\n

So public Mass was a no-go for months. I didn’t like that, but acting as if death and disease don’t matter isn’t required: working for the common good is.<\/p>\n

I’ve talked about that before, fairly often. There’s the usual links to what I’ve said at the end of this journal entry.<\/p>\n

At any rate, public Masses resumed \u2014 with precautions that I didn’t enjoy, but observed. Again, it’s a ‘common good’ thing.<\/p>\n

What I missed most was receiving Holy Communion under both kinds at Mass. That’s churchspeak for receiving bread and<\/strong> wine: the Body and<\/strong> Blood.<\/p>\n

What we were doing was just fine, a real Eucharist and all that. And what we’d been doing before the pandemic was just fine, too.<\/p>\n

Receiving under both kinds isn’t standard procedure for this region, but the parish had gone through proper channels and gotten the okay for our ‘both kinds’ Eucharist. That’s something I hadn’t pushed for, but which I was and am glad someone did.<\/p>\n

Until the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Just having public Masses again was great.<\/p>\n

I missed the ‘both kinds,’ not because I think it’s the only ‘real’ Mass or that I’m holier that way: but just because I like it. The Eucharist seems more complete that way, even though I know the standard procedure for our area is good, too.<\/p>\n

So this year’s Independence Day Mass was particularly special.<\/p>\n

Pandemic precautions have been gradually eased back. And today we had the Eucharist under both kinds again.<\/p>\n

And, like I said, I like it.<\/p>\n

I’d have been okay if we didn’t resume the practice, but I’m glad we did.<\/p>\n

More, or less, of the same; America, COVID-19 pandemic and worship:<\/p>\n