Handbook for a Pre-Liturgical Examination of Sacrifices by the Baptismal Priest

Handbook for a Pre-Liturgical Examination of Sacrifices by the Baptismal Priest

Section III of the Treatise: Liturgical Form and Liturgical Expression:Reflections Concerning Engaged and Active Participation by Baptismal Priesthood During The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Contents

• Introduction: The Need of a Guide for the Baptismal Priest for the Examination of Sacrifices
• Examination of Sacrificial Engagement Part I: Calling to Mind
• Examination of Sacrificial Engagement Part Part II: Consideration of Expressive Options

Glossary

Introduction: The Need of a Guide for the Baptismal Priest for the Examination of Sacrifices

There is a great need for the laity to “prepare” for mass.  Lamentably, most of the materials that help a layperson “prepare” for mass assume the educational approach for liturgy and absolutely lack the expressive approach in the way we have been discussing it.  Almost all of them have two basic points.  The first is to read the readings ahead of time.  This is presumably to be able to better invest in the homily, the point of direct instruction.  The second is to study the symbolism of the mass.  This is presumably so one can “better understand” the ritual in general and thereby better be instructed by it.  The remainder of any list of helpful preparations is generally filled out with extremely traditional “pious actions” one can do such as advice on how to dress, arrive early, genuflect “meaningfully”, and the like.  While these things are good, any expressive preparation for the baptismal priest is almost completely neglected.

The Council of Trent Session 13 offers advice “On the preparation to be given that one may worthily receive the sacred Eucharist.” but as the title suggests, it focuses mostly on how one is to prepare oneself “to be worthy” to receive.  What that means according to the text is to make sure one avoided sin, go to confession in case one had sinned and to show reverence “especially as we read in the Apostle those words full of terror; He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself.” But “worth” can be measured in many ways.  Not simply the “freedom from stain” that Canon XI demands, requiring confession of a mortal sin.  But also how one positively used one’s life, how one is going to bring those sacrifices to the mass as their offering, and particularly for our purposes, how one is going to express that sacrifice liturgically as a baptismal priest.

Some guidance seems needed such that when the ordained priest says something to the effect of “accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices [plural], which we offer you” we can recall and have somehow expressed the sacrifices we bring to the table as baptismal priests.  Paul is certainly right, in 1 Cor 11 when he says each person should “examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.”  But is “discerning the body” simply a moral examination in the way Trent implies, or could it be more?

The examination that this manual offers is no simple examination of conscience.  That is not to say that an examination of conscience is not a good practice previous to mass.  It would be helpful for two reasons, one may discover the need for confession according to the decrees of Trent and it helps one consciously participate in the penitential rite at the beginning of the mass.  But there is no shortage of good guides for an examination of conscience in Catholic devotional literature.  What we are suggesting is quite the opposite.  Not only should one make an examination of conscience, a baptismal priest should also make an examination of sacrifices.  The examination of sacrifices does exactly what it says.  It examines not the bad things one has done in order to seek forgiveness, but the good things one has done as sacrifices of time, talent, and treasure in order to consciously bring them to the collect as a baptismal priest.  One’s pre-liturgical examination of conscience is effectively exhausted at the end of the penitential rite.  But one’s examination of sacrifices is effective throughout the entire liturgy.  It affects how the baptismal priest engages spiritually and expresses ritually in the liturgy.  There are two parts to an examination of sacrifices.  In the first one recalls the sacrifices one has made.  The second part helps the baptismal priest determine how to appropriately express one’s sacrifices in union with the liturgy of the Church.  To these ends, the faithful would be much aided by a guide similar to the guides often produced to assist with an effective examination of conscience.  Heretofore I have never seen any attempt at such a guide in any detail.  We here shall attempt to sculpt a prototype and offer the development of successful guides to wiser minds.      

     

Examination of Sacrificial Engagement Part I: Calling to Mind

        The examination is meant to prepare the baptismal priest for active priestly participation in the sacrifice of the Mass.  These exercises would be helpful for laity who are married, consecrated, or single.  The examination would assist lay and ordained alike because as we noted in The Manifold Priesthood of the Catholic Church if one happened to be an ordained priest who is not offering or concelebrating the mass according to their ordination, they are participating under the mode of baptismal priesthood and their sacrifices are collected in the ritual as well.

        The first part of an examination of sacrifices calls to mind one’s sacrifices.  This can be a convoluted affair, given that our baptismal priesthood is called to live their office with their entire life, to be living sacrifices.  This means that all actions can conceivably be sacrificial offerings, both active and passive.  Most often the word sacrifice is assumed to be the passive variety.  Passive sacrifices are sacrifices of denial.  That is to say, they are “things given up”.  As the baptismal priest makes their examination, they will want to review this type of sacrifice carefully.  One reflects on what actions have they abstained from, what things have they denied themselves for their personal betterment, for the betterment of their relationship with a neighbor, and especially for the betterment of their relationship with God.    This certainly includes working on not doing certain sins, but it also includes pius acts such as fasting.  There are also spiritual ways of passively relinquishing.  For example, as one experiences humiliation, it can be used as a sacrifice for relinquishing pride.  Or as one experiences suffering one can sacrifice any sense of entitlement to be relieved of suffering or an easy life.  This sacrifice queues us into the nature of postlapsarian reality as invested with redemptive suffering.  This particular sacrifice hits a popular cultural flashpoint.  The example narrative runs thus, some small child in school stubs their toe and the nun teaching the class tells the child to “offer it up”.  How well one resonates with her advice is an indicator of how well one understands their role in the mass as a baptismal priest.  These relinquishments could be items, actions, spiritual dispositions, thoughts, etc.  It could be the struggle of one’s intention to abstain since the last mass, even if one did not succeed, the struggle itself is a sacrifice.

After reviewing the passive sacrifices one has made, the baptismal priest should recall the active sacrifices they have made. These could be the things they have done to advance themselves spiritually in relation to God or one’s neighbor.  These can also be things they have done to exercise their baptismal priesthood in advancement of the Kingdom of God.  We can break them down into the classic categories offered in a homily on ministry and tithing to the Church, time, talent, and treasure.  But we here are framing it less as “commerce” and more as priestly action.  The categories are helpful because they break the sacrificial action into the scope of life itself (time), the skills one has and how one uses them, and finally how the baptismal priest uses the material world as it is properly at their disposal.      

Under the first category, one can offer any personal/spiritual disciplines one has actively engaged in order to better one’s self or the world.  These types of sacrifices are specifically “time” sacrifices in that they don’t have immediate effect beyond the personal relationship one has with God.  Spiritual disciplines can be any action that meaningfully draws one close to God.  So adoration seems to affect no one but the adorer, it is a sacrifice of time and spiritual discipline that helps the adorer relate to God better.  The other categories of talent and treasure take time as well, but they involve immediate action and affect beyond the baptismal priest’s phenomenological observance of time.  Of course, a spiritual discipline actually does have a wider effect, but the effects are secondary.  It is when the social effects are secondary that we are calling these types of sacrifice a spiritual discipline.  Examples of spiritual disciplines would be spiritual reading and learning, Devotions of prayer, ritual devotional practices of official or dynamic popular piety, mindful meditative activities, such as adoration or working in the garden with the intention of focusing on God’s beauty in creation.  The example of adoration or spiritual reading would be easy to conjure, but as baptismal priests, the garden example is of useful importance because its consideration is so perfectly a simple way to approach God.  These are the sacrifices we can all bring as baptismal priests if only we are creative enough to cultivate them mindfully and exercise their craft.  A regular practice of an examination of sacrifices should help us cultivate creative approaches to such discipline.

Another sacrifice of time is any sacrifice that is offered as an erogation.  One can sacrifice passively, or use one's talents or offer one’s treasures in such a way that they offer the sacrifice “on behalf of someone else”.  In this, we still receive because we learn agapic love, but the grace or merit we would attain if one can conceive of what that means, is offered to or for another.  In this act, the time one spends on attaining merit is sacrificed for another.  

The next type of active sacrifice involves one’s talent and how one uses them in service of God and neighbor.  Talent sacrifices can be divided into two varieties, creative and servile.  A service talent is when one seeks to heal the world, for example by means of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy.  To intentionally do this as a presentation of priestly sacrifice is the primary mode of the baptismal priest.  It builds up one’s office in all capacities, regarding personal virtue, relationship to neighbor, and relationship to God.  To offer the example of the works of mercy is by no means exhaustive.  They take whatever shape meets the need of the people that one has the talent to offer service for.  Of course, service sacrifices can be extremely “creative” but we are distinguishing between service and creative because we usually think of service in utilitarian or practical terms.  Service “fixes something” or meets a physical need.  We thus call attention to creative sacrifices so we can include things like a sacrifice of artistic talent.  Of course, this meets a deep need of the people as well.  But in our modern world often this need goes under recognized.  To be able to offer one’s talent to bring beauty to the world and help people share in the beauty of God’s creation is absolutely a sacrifice of talent worth bringing to the altar of God.

The final type of sacrifice merges both previous varieties.  A meditation on how one offers one’s treasure as a sacrifice is a meditation on how one engages with the physical world apart from interpersonal relationships.  This can relate to how one has been an effective steward of the property one has used it according to gospel precepts.  As one can see, this meditation involves use of time, because it takes us time of investment to acquire physical goods.  In as much as that time is time dedicated to service of God or neighbor it is a sacrifice.  It could be that one’s “job” directly builds the kingdom. It could also be that one’s job is fairly morally neutral, in which case one is “earning money” in order to advance the kingdom through their sacrifices by other means.  In this case one’s sacrifices concern all of the other sacrifices above regarding how one uses the physical things one at one’s disposal as a means of serving God.  

Of course, these physical things are always at the service of interpersonal relationships and how they facilitate acts of love.  With that in mind, another type of consideration could be how one uses one’s baptismal priesthood as expressed through the interpersonal dynamics.  In the treatise The Manifold Priesthood of the Catholic Church we discussed the use of interpersonal relationships as both sacrifice and mediations of the baptismal priesthood’s ability to present alter Christus.  We called these dynamics the four modalities of Christo-analogical interchange.  Given the dual nature of presentation, which requires a “presenter” and a “presented to”, there are four possibilities, two offering first person presentations of Christ and two offering second person presentations. The relationship assumes some sort of help is being offered and the modalities work to “Christ as the helper”, “Christ as the helped”, “the helper of Christ” and finally“helped by Christ''.  In as much as one consciously brings Christ to others one is operating in a mode of mediatory baptismal priesthood.  In as much as one can swallow pride and allow others to bring Christ to them, one is sacrificing self to live for Christ. In that treatise we went through great detail on how these modalities are utilized according to the baptismal priesthood to sacrifice, mediate, and sanctify the world.  Each use is offerable on the altar of the liturgy.  Thus a baptismal priest would do well to consider any example of these as they call sacrifices to mind during their examination of sacrifices.

Lastly, when considering specific sacrifices it may help to use one’s relational life in the Church to help guide one to examples of baptismal priestly action in their life.  We abide in several frameworks that can help spark realization of how we offer our lives to Christ. So, for example, one may want to use the classic categories of vocation and ministry to analyze one’s life a look for examples to offer.  If one is married how has one used this as means of sacrifice for one’s life?  The same applies if one is consecrated or single.  Or another example of such a  framework is the micro-communities one belongs to.  One could consider how one relates to such communities and how one brings Christ to them as a ministry.  These communities could be specifically religious like one’s parish or an affiliation like the Knights of Columbus.  Or one’s micro-community could be cultural or kinship.  It could also be a completely secular community that one is engaged with, a pleasure club, or one’s workplace.  These secular communities are prime real estate for offering sacrifice to God because it is the baptismal priest’s job to sacralize the secular.

Part one of an examination of sacrifices involves recognition of intentional and conscious use of time, talent, and treasure to offer one’s life to God.  A good examination of conscience allows one to meditate on one’s regarding the intention and conscious choice of evil.  Through a good examination of conscience, one can learn of new sins to avoid or realize one is unintentionally doing evil and through the process learn to avoid that evil in the future.  With a well executed examination of sacrifices, one can realize much good one is doing without specific intention toward exercising their baptismal priesthood and learn to engage this good as an offering of that priesthood.  OR one may at times be pressed to find sacrifices and that may motivate one to engage their baptismal priesthood creatively and develop new ways to exercise their priesthood.  In this, like an examination of conscience, it is past looking present oriented and future focused.  

Both examinations look to the past to prepare for the sacrament.  Both examinations are oriented to the present sacramental ritual and reception of grace.  Both examinations look to the future regarding how willfully cooperating with that grace will consciously and effectively change one’s life in a sanctifying way.  In this respect, an examination of sacrifices specifically connects the liturgy to every aspect of the baptismal priest’s life and orients the sacrifice of the mass into a central role in the priest’s life.  An examination of sacrifice is meant to bring conscious active participation in the sacrifice of the mass.  With that in mind, we will now offer a general but pragmatic list of questions that reflect all we have discussed.  The hope is that others can create better tailored lists and improve engagement of the examination of sacrifices.  The first part of the examination concerns conscious participation in the liturgy. In it one consciously brings one’s sacrifices to the mass for the collect.  After the list, we will move on the consideration of expressive options, which applies to how one actively participates in the liturgy.                  

       

Relevant Questions for an Examination of Sacrifices

Sacrifices of Time

• In my life, what have I relinquished in faith to God?

• In my life, what have I relinquished for the betterment of my soul?

• How have I actively offered my life to God?

• What spiritual disciplines have I engaged in and how have I used the effect well?

• Are there any sacrifices that I have made through negation, use of talent, or offering of treasure that I would like to offer for someone else at this mass? Who and why?

Sacrifices of Talent

• How have I used my creativity to serve God?

• How have I intentionally served my neighbor as a devotion to God?

• How have I intentionally used my talents to bring beauty to the world and give glory to God?

• How have I been an effective steward of the physical goods God has granted me?

• How have I meditated Christ to others?

• How have I subjected my pride and allowed others to mediate Christ to me?

• How have I used my vocation in the Church to affect sacrificial action?

• How have I developed my ministries in the Church?

• How have I specifically made my vocation an offering to God?

• How have I developed and utilized ministries of the Church in my life?

• How have I brought Christ, whether overtly or covertly, to secular communities I engage with?

Sacrifices of Treasure

• What things have I offered to those less fortunate than me?

• In what ways have I recognized that “my” possessions are not my own?

• In what ways have I shown appreciation for “my” possessions as gifts?

• In what ways have I intentionally sacrificed my pride?

• In what ways have I accepted suffering as a sacrifice?

Examination of Sacrificial Engagement Part Part II: Consideration of Expressive Options

        Once one has called to mind their sacrifices they desire to bring to the table the next step is the consideration of expressive options for sacrificial communion.  The point here is to ritually express the intention of one’s offering in a way that is appropriately connected to the sacrifice of the Mass as the ordained priest offers it.  This should give one buy in to the ritual and offer an active participation in the sacrifice.  When considering this one would need to consider which form of the mass one intends to engage in.  Above we noted the diversity of methods of engagement open depending on whether one attends the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form.  If one has a choice of form, how one is able to express differs depending on which form one chooses.

The easiest option comes with the Ordinary Form of the Mass, which is, perhaps, why it is the Ordinary Form.  The important aspect from the ordained priest’s end regarding the sacrificial economy of the mass is the collect.  But from the baptismal priest's end, it is the offering of the gifts.  There are two ways this can be done in the most ordinary way.  First one can offer to bring up the bread and wine from the congregation.  This is a ritual expression from the baptismal priesthood end of the sacrifices we have made, “fruit of the vine, work of human hands”.  But there is limited space for this ritual engagement, so the other rubriced mode is to offer a monetary offering into the collection plate.  This money signifies the time, talent and treasure the baptismal priests have offered.  It is ritually important that some“thing” be put in the basket as a way of offering up one’s intentional sacrifices.  That said, the “thing” is often money, but could it be other things, at least paper things?  Could it a list of sacrifices or a small non-intrusive artistic representation of sacrifices as an expression?  Our parish moved to online giving for the collection several years ago.  When I signed our family up, we stopped getting the envelopes to put in the basket.  I considered the physical placement an important part of the ritual engagement.  The money offered was only a small part of the actual sacrifices I bring and to put the paper there was my major expression of our family’s efforts.  So I started printing off the receipt from the web page and putting it in.  The “handing over” as a ritual action should not be denied the baptismal priest.

Once one has developed a habit of examining their sacrifices, the entire liturgy of the Eucharist in the Ordinary Form clicks so much better as a medium of liturgical expression for the baptismal priest.  The way the ordained priest expresses in persona Christi as a dialogue with the mystical body, a collection of alter Christus’, truly comes to have a deeper effect.  As we noted above, the Ordinary form seems to hit at the higher anthropic points of expression so if one is inclined to express more communally, one need do no more than attend mass to express in the Ordinary Form.  The Church as One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, tends to macro express as a default, and thus it is not a bad idea for the individual baptismal priest to have that same bias.

That said, often we as humans have alternative longings to the macro.  We want to express as micro units or as individuals.  In this case, the ordinary form offers little consolation in the midst of the liturgy itself.  As we noted above, one must “attach” expressions to the liturgy, whether before or after in order to express down the food chain of our anthropic plot points.  But one can still be extremely individually creative in this regard.  One can creatively express in attached ways.  Examples would be expressions of official or dynamic popular piety whose role is just such expression.  Our Dom-Rite is an example of dynamic popular piety attached to the mass.  An individual baptismal priest or collection of them could create any multitude of ways to express their sacrifices in collection the mass.  As part of a school community for every schoolwide mass, we do there is an introductory procession that expresses the purpose for the mass and how we as a school community have bought into this purpose.  Usually, items that are significant to the purpose are brought up while someone reads a description from the podium.  All of this takes place before the opening procession.  Often after mass, there are rituals that express goals met or express meaning for the community.  

These types of rituals are sculpted by the baptismal priests.  The ordained priest will often check in on how these things are specifically oriented to the mass.  But this is an advisory role.  Such celebrations can be awards ceremonies, where it is clear that the work was done for Christ, fellowship meals in celebration of a sacrifice, and a host of other things that to the uninitiated observer seem to be “tacked on” to mass.  I recall that when we were children my parents would take each of us to a specific dairy queen after our confirmation in celebration.  It was definitely an auxiliary ritual for our domestic church.   In the same way, any micro-community or individual can do the same.  Our Dom-Rite is the expression of a micro-community, our domestic church.  It symbolizes our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in the form of a votive flower.    It is left at the Church as an offering.  We offer the flowers at the Altar of Saint Anthony because he is a wonder worker and we like to have him on our side.  This brings up the fact that our celestial companions can definitely have a role in our liturgical expressions as baptismal priests. 

Do the micro expressions of the baptismal priesthood need to perfectly line up with the particular current expressions of the greater church?  Well, they should as much as they can.  For example, in a purple season expressions should reflect the tenor of these seasons.  If there are solemnities or celebrations particular to the macro community, the micro communities would do well to synchronize.  But one should not be to pharisaical.  Barring any heresy or immoral offense, the expression is under the control of the baptismal priest.  Variability amid the micro is what allows for new macro devotions to develop.  

If one has the opportunity to attend the Extraordinary Form then one has the ability to express concurrently with the liturgy.  Again, there is no rubric for the laity.  Any side altars open during the liturgy are for this express purpose.  Hence we use the side altar for our Dom-Rite before mass, but at an Extraordinary Form mass, we could perform this rite during significant parts of the mass for added buy in.  In my vision of a church where clericalism does not exist, there would be no pews in a mass that has the extraordinary form for greater ability to utilize the worship space creatively.  The only restriction, in my mind, would be Pauline.  The baptismal priests' ritual engagement should be respectful of others present.  If there is food it should be a symbolic amount and offered to all present.  If there is sound and motion involved, give others enough space and keep volume appropriate to your space so as not to interrupt other expressions.  Expressions should suit the rhythm of the mass itself such that at the time of readings and homilies one is listening and at the time of reception, reception is possible if desired.

With these guidelines taken into account, there is much room for extremely creative expression.  The baptismal priest is able to use their own body, ritual objects, ritual motions, ritual voice, and song, to the best of their expressive ability.  Micro communities are able to appropriately bring their symbols into the mass and coordinate expression in order to sacralize the entirety of life.

It is important, as a baptismal priest, to connect an expression of sacrifice to the mass.  This not only gives one the buy in to actively and consciously participate, it also facilitates the function of the mass as a sacralization of the world.  A good examination of sacrifices should help one contemplate the best way to express, and then by expressing one should be given better advantage to participate with the grace of the sacrament as one applies it to the world.

In this manual, we began by discussing the need for an examination of sacrifices and how such an examination can be beneficial for orienting the baptismal priest to what sacrifices they bring to the eucharist as well as giving one skill for better engaging in their sacrifices in the future. Then we detailed the two parts of the examination of sacrifices.  The first part was to review what sacrifices one is bringing to the mass as an offering. We went over specific categories of sacrifices to consider and urged any reader so inclined to develop new and better methods and questions for such an examination.  At the end of this, we listed a series of questions to be used as an examination.  The second part was the consideration of expressive options.  We divided this consideration between the options available to the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the Mass. We then explored the extremely wide variety of ways the baptismal priest can express ritually in connection to the liturgy.