Bulletin 90

SAINT AGNES CATHEDRAL 533 South Jefferson Springfield, MO 65806 EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS: Celebrant Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

February 19, 2012 Quinquagesima Sunday

Epistle: 1Cor. 13:1-13
Gospel: Lk. 18:31-43

Mass Schedule February 20th through February 24th

Monday-------FERIA-NO LATIN MASS
Tuesday-------FERIA
Wednesday---Ash Wednesday (Mass at 2:00pm)
Thursday------Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Friday----------Friday after Ash Wednesday

February 22: Ash Wednesday. Latin Mass at 2:00pm. Ashes will be blessed and distributed before Mass. Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence.

Laws of Days of Abstinence: Current Practice
 Begins on one’s 14th birthday.
 Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.
 Obliges abstention from flesh meat.

Laws of Days of Penance: Current Practice
 Applies to all the Faithful.
 Lent and Fridays outside of Lent

Laws of Days of Fast: Current Practice
 Applies to everyone aged 18 to 59, inclusive.
 One full meal permitted and two other meals may be taken which, when combined, are less than a full meal.
 Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

The obligation to do penance is lifted on Fridays which are also celebrated as a solemnity. The following is a list of Solemnities in the New Rite which can fall on a Friday:
 January 1: Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God; Solemnity of the Epiphany
 March 19: Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of Mary
 March 25: Solemnity of the Annunciation
 June 24: Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist
 June 29: Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul
 August 15: Solemnity of the Assumption
 November 1: Solemnity of All Saints
 December 8: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
 December 25: Solemnity of Christmas
 Principal patron of a place (city, state, nation)
 Dedication of a particular church and the anniversary
 The Title, founder, or principal patron of a religious order or congregation

Laws of Days of Abstinence: The Discipline of 1962
 Applies on one’s 7th birthday.
 Complete Abstinence: all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigil of Christmas.
 Partial Abstinence (meat and soup or gravy made from meat permitted once a day at the principle meal): all the days of Lent, the Ember Days of Wednesday, and Saturday, and the Vigils of Pentecost and the Assumption.
 Abstinence from meat is dispensed on Holy Days of Obligation

Laws of Fast: The Discipline of 1962
 Applies for those aged 21 to 59, inclusive.
 Days of Lent from Ash Wednesday inclusive, Ember Days, and Vigils of Christmas, Pentecost, and the Assumption.
 One full meal permitted and two other meals may be taken which, when combined, are less than a full meal.

Laws of the Eucharistic Fast: Current Legislation
Under the New Code of Canon Law, the Fast for Holy Communion is one hour before the reception of the Holy Eucharist. However, in the document reducing the fast to one hour, the Pope has encouraged those who were able to maintain the previous discipline.

The Law of the Eucharistic Fast: The Discipline of 1962
The complete fast from all food and drink (except water or medicine) for three hours before the reception of Holy Communion. In the document reducing the fast to three hours, the Pope still encouraged those who were able to maintain the midnight fast which was the previous discipline.

On each of the Fridays of Lent, a plenary indulgence in granted to the faithful who, after Communion, recite the “Prayer Before a Crucifix”:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus while before Thy face I humbly kneel and, with burning soul, pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity; true contrition for my sins; and a firm purpose of amendment; while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me while I call to mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my Jesus: “They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones.” Amen.

Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians speaks of the three theological virtues; faith, hope and love. The theological virtues are among our greatest gifts from God. They are infused into our hearts through divine grace. However, we must remember our responsibility to nourish these God-given gifts. We must always and everyday pray for them. We should beg God that we grow in them, never take them for granted, but instead cherish them as our most prized possessions.

We are all people of faith. Perhaps we may know somebody whom we believe to be a person of great faith. Chances are we know somebody who seems to have little, if any faith at all. Faith is a precious gift. The strength of our faith depends a great deal on how we ourselves nourish it. We should constantly ask God for an increase in faith.

We see in the Gospel another great example of Jesus Christ demanding faith from the blind man who wishes to see. Our Lord gives the blind man his sight because “thy faith hath made thee whole.” The blind man believed in his heart that Jesus had the power to heal him. Therefore when the blind man asked for his sight, it was given to him.

Our Lord wants the exact same faith from each one of us. One of the easiest and most effective ways of nourishing our faith and praying for the other virtues is meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When we mediate upon the resurrection, for example, we must beg God for a greater faith. We should contemplate the unprecedented faith that was given to the Blessed Virgin Mary and ask God for a share in this same faith. When we focus on the ascension we should ask God for a greater hope that where He has gone, we will one day follow.

Saint Paul explains that virtues of faith and hope mean nothing if we do not put them into practice, therefore the greatest of these virtues is love. “Holy” people are people who exercise on a regular basis the virtue of charity. Hence, charity is the key to holiness and sanctity. We can find charitable things to do each and every day that help us grow in holiness. These can be the smallest of acts, because God looks at the intention of one’s heart, not the magnitude of the act.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching