In addition to learning some new words, here are a few reminders of common devotion and practices as we attend Mass and receive Communion. ….

BLESSING ONESELF WITH HOLY WATER AND GENUFLECTION

 It is customary to bless oneself with Holy Water as you enter Church.  This reminds us that we are entering a sacred place.  The Holy Water fonts are small replicas of the Baptismal Font, so this action also reminds us that we enter the Church through Baptism.  Before we take our seat, we should look at the Tabernacle, where the Blessed Sacrament is reposed, and genuflect as a sign of reverence.  The genuflection is not to the altar or the cross, for they only represent Jesus.  We kneel to the Tabernacle, because there Jesus is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.  These simple actions help to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Mass and send a signal of reverence and devotion to others.   

HOW TO RECEIVE COMMUNION

Catholics have the option of receiving Communion on the tongue or in the hand.  Whichever way one chooses, Communion should always be received with great care and reverence.  As you approach, you should make a gesture of reverence, usually a bow of the head.  After the announcement, The Body of Christ, you respond, Amen.  To receive in the hand, both hands should be extended, one on top of the other, and held high.  The Host is placed on the upper hand, and you make one step to the side, and take the Host with the other hand and immediately place Communion in your mouth.  One should never walk away with the Host.  Ushers and Ministers are instructed to stop anyone who has not immediately taken the Host.  Also, some people will reach out to take the Host.  Communion should always be received, and not simply grabbed or taken.  After receiving, unless there is an urgent matter, one should never leave Church.  You should return to your pew for a few moments of precious prayer time with our Lord. 

A DAY OF PRAYER AND PENANCE FOR LIFE, JANUARY 23

This day is set aside in all the dioceses of the United States as a day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.  Here is a meditation based on the Beatitudes.

How blessed are they!  The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness, and those insulted and persecuted for the their love of the Gospel of Life!
How blessed are those who march for life when they are insulted, cursed and spat at, for God will reward them.  How blessed are those who weep for the aborted child, for God will comfort them.  How blest are those who long for the day when abortion will end, for the day will come.  How blessed are all who seek to protect the life of the littlest and the most vulnerable, for God will hear their cry.
For Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.  On that day, the Scriptures tell us, the lion will lie down with the lamb, and there will be peace upon the earth.  We long for that day when “the desert will become an orchard, the orchard will become a forest of peace”; when all people, including the littlest and most defenseless among us, “will live in a peaceful country, in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.”
That day has not yet come.  Not even a child in her mother’s womb is safe from the deadly forces of selfishness and sin.  But that day will come and we must pray earnestly for its coming.  In the earliest days of the Church, amidst martyrdom and persecution, a frequent Christian prayer was “Come, Lord Jesus!” It should be our prayer as well.
For in the end, the most important thing we can do to promote the Gospel of Life is to pray.  To pray at Mass, to pray whenever we gather with others committed to preserving life, to pray in the quiet of our room.
As we long for the coming of the Kingdom and the end of sin in death, let us join our voice with that of our Holy Father as he prayed last year:  “Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies with the light of your Spirit, so that peoples and nations may recognize and respect the sacred nature of life, of every human life.  Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer, in whose womb you took on our human nature, we wait to receive from You, our Only True God and Savior, the strength to love and serve life, in anticipation of living forever with You, in communion with the Blessed Trinity.”