Tarcisius, patron of acolytes

I became an altar boy in Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Darby, Pennsylvania, when I was in second grade.

We had to memorize the responses in Latin and learn how to ring the bells, move the missal from one side of the altar to another, give the priest the wine and water and wash his hands, and, in general, to behave well on the altar.

We were there, close to the priest, close to the Eucharist, visible to all our family and the whole parish.

I learned that the patron of acolytes was St. Tarcisius, a twelve year old who was entrusted to take Communion. On the way he was accosted by some pagans but he refused to give up the Sacred Hosts. He was killed, a martyr for the Eucharist.

In a few days, God willing, our bishop, Monseñor Darwin Andino, will install me in the ministry of the acolyte.

As I prepare for this I thought again of St. Tarcisius.

Searching for more information on this early martyr, I came across an address by Pope Benedict XVI, in 2010, to altar servers, where he spoke about St. Tarcisius, who was martyred about the year 257:

Who was St Tarcisius? We do not have much information about him…. It is said that he was a boy who came regularly to the Catacombs of St Calixtus here in Rome and took his special Christian duties very seriously. He had great love for the Eucharist and various hints lead us to conclude that he was presumably an acolyte, that is, an altar server. Those were years in which the Emperor Valerian was harshly persecuting Christians who were forced to meet secretly in private houses or, at times, also in the Catacombs, to hear the word of God, to pray and to celebrate Holy Mass. Even the custom of taking the Eucharist to prisoners and the sick became increasingly dangerous. One day, when, as was his habit, the priest asked who was prepared to take the Eucharist to the other brothers and sisters who were waiting for it, young Tarcisius stood up and said: "Send me!". This boy seemed too young for such a demanding service! "My youth", Tarcisius said, "will be the best shield for the Eucharist". Convinced, the priest entrusted to him the precious Bread, saying: "Tarcisius, remember that a heavenly treasure has been entrusted to your weak hands. Avoid crowded streets and do not forget that holy things must never be thrown to dogs nor pearls to pigs. Will you guard the Sacred Mysteries faithfully and safely?". "I would die", Tarcisio answered with determination, "rather than let go of them". As he went on his way he met some friends who approached him and asked him to join them. As pagans they became suspicious and insistent at his refusal and realized he was clasping something to his breast that he appeared to be protecting. They tried to prize it away from him, but in vain; the struggle became ever fiercer, especially when they realized that Tarcisius was a Christian; They kicked him, they threw stones at him, but he did not surrender. While Tarcisius was dying a Pretoria guard called Quadratus, who had also, secretly, become a Christian, carried him to the priest. Tarcisius was already dead when they arrived but was still clutching to his breast a small linen bag containing the Eucharist. He was buried straight away in the Catacombs of St Calixtus….

Not a deacon, not a priest, not even an adult, he carefully carried and guarded the Body of Christ.

May I be worthy to carry the Body of Christ to the sick and the inform and all those members of the Body of Christ who seek to satisfy their hunger.

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This is the third in a series of blog posts on the ministry of acolytes, in preparation for my institution in the ministry on Sunday, January 17, 2016.

Coffee harvest extravaganza

More than two hundred people braved rain to come out for an event that they would not be paid for – several hours of hard work.

No, it wasn’t a group from the US coming to help the "poor" Hondurans. The workers were Hondurans - accustomed to hard work in coffee fields.

Saúl carrying a sack filled with coffee berries

It was a Dulce Nombre parish event – picking coffee in the two manzana (about 3.36 acres) parish coffee field in Plan Grande.

The upper part of the field

The field is a gift – one manzana was given by a former mayor (who also helps the parish remove the pulp from the coffee berries with his de-pulping facility); another manzana was bought by the parish with a donation from its sister-parish, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ames, Iowa. This year was the first harvest.

They came from several villages in the parish and even two sisters from Dulce Nombre. There were young people and even a few older guys (like me). The idea is to help the parish earn money for its ministries.

The day began in cold and rain. My shirt and pants were soaked within an hour. But the sun came out and it was a gorgeous warm day – perfect for harvesting coffee.

Coffee harvesting is hard work – especially when the coffee bushes are young and most people have to stoop to gather the berries. But this harvest was made a little easier because most of the bushes were very well laden with berries.

I spent a few hours picking, but only ended up with the equivalent of one five-gallon bucket. Others gathered several during the same time period. The young man I sponsored for confirmation picked five five-gallon buckets in the morning.

Yery hard at work

The parish, with the help of a number of women, did provide for a lunch.

Getting ready to distribute lunch

Enjoying lunch

these young workers earned their lunch - beans, rice, and tortillas

As people continued picking, several of us measured the berries and put them in sacks that contained about twenty-five gallons of berries. Our pastor, Padre German, helped.

Padre German and Carlos measuring the berries

Then two cars took the berries to the place where the pulp would be removed from the berries.

The de-pulping facility

Pouring the bags into the tank.

Coffee beans after the pulp was removed

About one hundred and fifty-three sacks of coffee beans were taken to the de-pulper over the course of the day and early evening. Each sack contains 5 galones (actually a galon is a five gallon bucket). So we picked about 3,825 gallons of coffee berries; if each gallon weighs 25 pounds that means about 95,625 pounds of coffee berries.

I transported about half of them in my pick-up to the de-pulper in seven trips. Luckily the trip takes less than ten minutes.

I'll need to get the suspension checked soon.

Most of the people were transported back to their villages in the late afternoon. But seven young men who had helped in loading and unloading the cars stayed around until the de-pulping was finished - at midnight!

I was glad to be part of this parish event. Even though I didn’t pick much coffee and let the young guys load and unload the 125-plus pound bags on and off the truck, it was important to be there, working with the people, encouraging them, fooling around with the kids and joking with the young guys – being present.

This is an important part of my ministry here – being present in joys and sorrows, in celebrations and work, seeing and showing the present of a loving God in our midst.

I am tired today and my face is sun-burnt, but this is what real ministry is for me.

The rite for acolytes

In the rite of institution of acolytes, the bishop to called to admonish those called to the ministry:

In performing your ministry bear in mind that, as you share the one bread with your brothers and sisters, so you form one body with them. Show a sincere love for Christ's Mystical Body, God's holy people, and especially for the weak and the sick.
Be obedient to the commandment which the Lord gave to his apostles at the Last Supper: "Love one another as I also have loved you."

“One body with them.”

To be an instituted acolyte is not to be called above others but to recall that I am one with them. The ministry of acolyte is a service to the community, not an honor. It is a call to be more at the service of God who becomes present on the altar in the Eucharist and to bear Jesus to those who cannot come to the table.

It is a call to share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ, a call to be one with the Body of Christ in all his manifestations.

It is a call to remember that we are all God’s Holy People – and many of them are really quite holier than I.

“a love for the weak and the sick”

I recall some of the ministers of Communion here in the parish who will travel long distances, sometimes on foot, to lead a day of prayer in another part of the parish. They will regularly visit the sick and elderly, bringing them the Bread of Life. It will be almost impossible for me to live up to their example, though God's grace will help, sustain, and encourage me.

"a life of service"

When the bishop hands the chalice and paten to the acolyte, he says:

Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church. May my life be made worthy – by the grace of God – to serve at the table of the Lord and of His Church.

May my life truly be one of service, especially of those most in need.

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This is the second in a series of blog posts on the ministry of acolytes, in preparation for my institution in the ministry on Sunday, January 17, 2016.

To be instituted acolyte

This coming Sunday, January 17, Bishop Darwin Andino will institute me as an acolyte in a special rite during Sunday Mass in Dulce Nombre. This is part of the road toward the diaconate.

The Second Vatican Council opened the way to the diaconate as a permanent order, open to married, as well as single, men.

In the course of the reform of the liturgy, the Pope reformed the rites and the steps toward priesthood and the diaconate.

Before the 1970s, candidates for the priesthood received the tonsure, four minor orders (porter, exorcist, lector, acolyte) and three major orders (subdeacon, deacon, priest). Only after all these orders could one be ordained a bishop. The process had, in some ways, the sense of a “cursus honorum,” a course or ladder of honors – with the higher order seen as more important and honorable. It had all the trappings of a top down ecclesiology.

In 1972, this was changed and the orders of porter, exorcist, and subdeacon were left aside. Only the ministries of lector and acolyte were retained and classified as ministries – which are also open to men who are not going to be ordained deacons or priests. The lector is called to service of the Word and the acolyte to service of the altar, assisting the deacon and priest. But a person is not ordained to these ministries, but instituted in them. As Pope Paul VI wrote in Ministeria Quaedam:

It is in accordance with the reality itself and with the contemporary outlook that the above mentioned ministries should no longer be called minor orders; their conferral will not be called ordination, but institution. Only those who have received the diaconate, however, will be clerics in the true sense and will be so regarded. This arrangement will bring out more clearly the distinction between clergy and laity, between what is proper and reserved to the clergy and what can be entrusted to the laity. This will also bring out more clearly that mutuality by which "the universal priesthood of believers and the ministerial or hierarchic priesthood, though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, are nonetheless interrelated: each of these in its own special way is a sharing in the one priesthood of Christ." [Lumen Gentium, 10]

What is important is that even the diaconate and the priesthood are not seen as something above the lay members of the church. The ministerial priesthood is to be seen in the framework of the priesthood that all Christians receive at their baptism.

But why the ministries of lector and acolyte?

In the instruction, Pope Paul VI noted

It is especially fitting that the ministries of reader and acolyte should be entrusted to those who, as candidates for sacred orders, desire to devote themselves to God and to the Church in a special way.  …Both by study and by gradual exercise of the ministry of the word and of the altar, candidates for sacred orders should through intimate contact understand and reflect upon the double aspect of the priestly office…  In this way, candidates are to approach holy orders fully aware of their vocation, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, constant in prayer, and aware of the needs of the faithful.

What strikes me is that these two ministries (no longer orders) are meant to help those who are to be ordained more “fully aware of their vocation.”

“Fervent in spirit” – We, as all the people of God, are called to open our spirits to the Spirit of God so that the fire of God’s love may burn in our hearts. Those who minister at the Word and the altar – whether commissioned, instituted, or ordained – are called to let that fire burn in their hearts, purifying them and making them signs of God, burning bushes and pillars of fire. God wants people with passion.

“Serving the Lord” – We are all called to put the Lord at the center of our lives, putting aside the gods of power, money, and pleasure, recognizing that there is one Lord and that all must be seen and used in light of the Lord who comes in poverty, in service, in tender love. God’s wants people who are servants.

“Constant in prayer” – We are called to “pray always,” to make our lives a prayer, so that every part of our life – from kneeling in church to bending over the kitchen sink, from changing a baby’s diaper to sexual love – a prayer, a way of praising God and proclaiming his love. God wants people who are constantly in contact with Him.

“Aware of the needs of the faithful” – We, especially those called to ministry and to ordination, need to read the signs of the times, to hear the cry of God’s people, to open ourselves to encounter all of God’s people, especially those at the margin. God wants people who see and respond to the other person, especially those in need.

The instituted ministers and the ordained deacons, priests, and bishops are thus called to be signs of God in the midst of God’s People, not over them but rather below them, kneeling before God and before people – sharing God’s Word and the Body of Christ, as servants who are not adverse to washing the feet (and washing dishes).

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This is the first in a series of blog posts on the ministry of acolytes, in preparation for my institution in the ministry on Sunday, January 17, 2016.

Between visitors

I had a family from Ames visit me for a week over Christmas. it was, for me, a good experience, including living with three teenagers!

For me one of the best experiences was Christmas morning.

I had gone with the parents to the church in Dulce Nombre for the Christmas Vigil Mass (at 9:00 pm) but we had decided to go out to a village, San Antonio El Alto, for a Christmas morning celebration of the Word with Communion.

The church in San Antonio El Alto

The church had recently been expanded and they put a ceramic floor to cover the previous dirt floor. The Celebration went well, with lots of people going to Communion.

After the Celebration there was coffee with sweet bread for the adults while we arranged the piñata we had brought – full of candy.

After the piñata was destroyed and I had handed out more candy I had brought, we visitors were fed coffee and ticucos, a cornmeal ball with some spices and either beans or meat in a corn husk.

Then the visitors kicked around a soccer ball, for about half an hour.

They left on Wednesday, after participating in the Posadas one night, picking coffee in the Plan Grande church field with people from Plan Grande, learning how to make tamales, playing Frisbee, attending many Masses and seeing baptisms, visiting the Mayan Ruins in Copán Ruinas, and more.

Plan Grande residents picking coffee

Another group is coming Sunday, but I’ve had a few days to catch up – cleaning the house, getting clothes washed, doing some work on a booklet on the saints of mercy for the base communities, visiting with Padre German, and more.

New Years Eve there was adoration of the Eucharist in the Plan Grande church followed by a Celebration of the Word with Communion. I went and got roped into leading the Celebration of the Word and giving a reflection. I was not really prepared and so I read a series of questions for the new year by José Antonio Pagola. (The text in Spanish is here.) 

New Years Day I went to Mass in Dolores and Padre German had me give a reflection – a sort of preparation for the diaconate. Someone caught a picture of me speaking there.

Then I headed for Gracias to spend some time with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters there, to celebrate Sister Pat’s birthday, and to help three of them move to their new ministry in La Entrada. As always, being with the sisters renews me and I get a few great meals!

Four of the sisters.

Saturday morning, two pickups from Gracias, my pickup, and the sisters’ car caravanned to La Entrada. A mini-bus took some of the parish’s communion ministers to bid the sister good-by.

As we took the sisters’ possession to their simple dwelling on the second floor of a house in a poor neighborhood, I was struck by the simplicity and the poverty in which they will be living.  It is a challenge for me. They are living their Franciscan mission in poverty, among the poor.

Now I’m back in Plan Grande, relaxing, preparing to head for San Pedro Sula tomorrow to pick up my visitors. I’ll first head out to 7:00 AM Mass in Concepción and then drive to San Pedro. We’ll stay overnight since two of the visitors don’t get in until after 5:00 PM.

But now little things: some writing, some reading, some preparing of materials, and getting the house ready.

That’s what a new year brings: many little things done, hopefully, well and with a sense of the presence of God – and the hope of living faithfully a new year serving God’s people.

New Year's morning sunrise