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I am on the faculty of the seminary of the Archdiocese of
Los Angeles, and so I regularly celebrate daily Mass with
the seminary community. When the pastor of one of our nearby
parishes needs a substitute for daily Mass, I am always happy
to oblige.
Somewhat frequently I am asked to help at St. Jude Church
in Westlake Village by taking the noon Mass. I come in time
to offer Daytime Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours with
the early arrivals. As I am getting vested for Mass, the sacristan,
a former L.A. policeman, tells me that he has set out 125
hosts for Communion, the number of people expected for Mass.
He also assures me that they will be a lector and ministers
for Communion from the cup.
As I walk out, a woman in the front begins a hymn (no instrumental
accompaniment). Some people are still coming into church,
having come directly from work. I give a two-minute homily
because I know that most of those present hope to get a little
lunch after Mass before returning to their jobs, but I nonetheless
welcome the many spontaneous petitions during the Prayer of
the Faithful.
I thank God
for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. And I
pray that Catholics will grow in both the letter and
the spirit of this great movement of the Holy Spirit.
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Everyone, as far as I can tell, goes to Holy Communion.
Three or four people get hosts to bring to the sick. I tarry
after Mass for a while to talk with those who do not have
to rush away, but then I too must leave to resume my duties
at the seminary.
As I drive back to the seminary, I feel very uplifted by
these devout Catholics. I thank God for the liturgical renewal
of the Second Vatican Council. I think back to the days of
my youth when I served Mass at St. Joseph Church in New Orleans
in the early 1940s.
Only a sprinkling of people were present in the very large
church, and only some of them went to Holy Communion. In fact,
as the time for Communion approached, it was my job to turn
around to see whether anyone was coming up to receive. If
I saw no one, I said in a loud whisper to the priest, "Nobody
for Communion," and he would purify the chalice and conclude
the Mass.
Of course, everything was in Latin, the priest did all the
parts of the Mass, even the scriptural readings, and it was
unthinkable that a lay person could bring Holy Communion from
the Mass for anyone who was ill.
 I
was ordained a priest in 1956, six years before Pope John
XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council. As I look forward
to celebrating my 50th anniversary as a priest, and as I reflect
on these many years with experiences which have been both
positive and negative, exhilarating and disappointing, I thank
God for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. And I pray
that Catholics will grow in both the letter and the spirit
of this great movement of the Holy Spirit.
The Bishops of the Council, upon completing the Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), congratulated
themselves for a job well done by observing that "Zeal for
the promotion and restoration of the sacred liturgy is rightly
held to be a sign of the providential dispositions of God
in our time, as a movement of the Holy Spirit in His Church."
I can certainly say "Amen" to that.
Vincentian Father Charles Miller is a professor of homiletics
at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, and the author of numerous
books on the liturgy.
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