{"id":50037,"date":"2019-11-22T09:33:57","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=50037"},"modified":"2019-11-25T12:40:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T18:40:26","slug":"not-always-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/22\/not-always-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Always a Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am struck by the fact that certain things are regarded as terrible ideas in liturgy until suddenly they become good ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;One example is the custom of those who are not receiving Communion to enter the Communion line, approaching the minister with their hands crossed over their breast and receiving a blessing. This was regarded as a liturgical abuse &#8220;to be feared&#8221; as this 2008 letter from  the Congregation for Divine Worship suggests (although admittedly the letter does say that the matter is under study).&nbsp;&nbsp;However, when the Pope Emeritus&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/06\/communion-procession-blessings-revisited\/\">suggested<\/a>&nbsp;that this was a good idea, suddenly everybody accepted that it was a good idea! (sorry for my technical inability, you will have to open the image in a new tab or download it to see the full letter from the CDW)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"691\" height=\"1031\" class=\"wp-image-50039\" style=\"width: 150px\" src=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/13_02_24_CDWDS_Response_Blessings_lr.gif\" alt=\"\"> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, not everybody\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/15\/cardinal-sarah-priests-dont-have-to-wash-womens-feet\/\">is happy<\/a>\u00a0with Pope Francis\u2019\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/letters\/2014\/documents\/papa-francesco_20141220_lettera-lavanda-piedi.html\">Letter<\/a>\u00a0regarding the Rite of the \u201cWashing of the Feet\u201d during the Liturgy of the Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper which modified the rubrics to explicitly allow women\u2019s feet to be washed.\u00a0\u00a0Today there is a story on\u00a0CHurchPop\u00a0entitled \u201cHusband Washes Wife\u2019s Feet at Wedding Reception Instead of Tossing Garter: \u2018You Deserve to Be Cherished.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 This story might also help change people&#8217;s minds on the reasonableness\u00a0of the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe being a celibate priest has made me somewhat prudish and crabby, but I think that most of us involved in the liturgical celebration of marriage would agree that some wedding celebrations tend to get a little too bawdy and the throwing of the garter (that, I hasten to add, is not part of the official&nbsp;<em>Order of Celebrating Matrimony<\/em> but often takes place in the reception) can be a particularly egregious offender in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stacey Sumereau, a Catholic speaker, podcaster, and television personality, and more importantly in this case the bride posted this experience to social media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cMy husband washed my feet at our wedding reception instead of tossing a garter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cThe garter toss signifies Eros- sexual attraction and a public hint of the private intimacy the newlyweds will enjoy. Physical attraction is a wonderful and beautiful part of marriage. However, I LOVE that my groom chose to surprise me with something different\u2026&nbsp;&#x1f929;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong>\u201cJesus washed his disciples\u2019 feet the night before he gave his life for them on the cross. That kind of love is agape: sacrifice.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cHusbands vow to love their brides like Christ loves the Church.&nbsp;&#x1f470;&#x1f3fc;&nbsp;To be the leader of our family is to be a servant. Whether it\u2019s prioritizing my desire of where we go to dinner or getting up with the babies early when I\u2019m exhausted, John lays down his life for me every day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Surely this is a much better way for a believing Christian to start their married life, and hopefully all Catholics can agree that foot washing of women is not necessarily a bad idea!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am struck by the fact that certain things are regarded as terrible ideas in liturgy until suddenly they become good ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;One example is the custom of those who are not receiving Communion to enter the Communion line, approaching the minister with their hands crossed over their breast and receiving a blessing. This was regarded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":50040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3119,167,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-marraige","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Not Always a Bad Idea - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/22\/not-always-a-bad-idea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Always a Bad Idea - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am struck by the fact that certain things are regarded as terrible ideas in liturgy until suddenly they become good ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;One example is the custom of those who are not receiving Communion to enter the Communion line, approaching the minister with their hands crossed over their breast and receiving a blessing. This was regarded [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/22\/not-always-a-bad-idea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-22T15:33:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-25T18:40:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/81AE550E-740F-4D4E-9599-1BD30900F518.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Neil Xavier O&#039;Donoghue\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. 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Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick\u2019s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren\u2019s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. 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