The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Post-Lecture Q & A
Bishop Caggiano
Now, if you want to go get something teed, please go. Coffee, whatever. But we have time for about 30 minutes. Questions, conversation, discussion, corrections. Don’t throw anything. But other than that, we’re fine. Thoughts. Or if you want to know about the renewal, I can gladly give it the information I have.
Attendee
Well, I just have a thought.
Bishop Caggiano
Please, thought. Something that you said.
Attendee
I’m originally from Mexico. So when I’m here, I receive communion by hand because that’s what everybody does at church.
Bishop Caggiano
But when I’m home, I receive it on the tongue. On the tongue.
Attendee
And to me, it makes no difference. I I had never even thought about it being different.
Bishop Caggiano
Again, the goal is to be worthy in hand and tongue to receive the Lord, both all the time. To be honest, we can do more harm with our tongue than we can with our hands sometimes. Just think of the sin of gossip in communities can do such tremendous harm to people. Once a reputation is wrecked, it’s very hard to heal. Thoughts. But thank you. Thank you. Please.
Attendee
You mentioned the communion of believers, your excellent saying.
Bishop Caggiano
Yes.
Attendee
But it’s actually the communion of I was going to say, when we were there, based on the Apostle’s Creed, the bread of heaven came down, the bread of angels. The Latin word for eucharist is.
Bishop Caggiano
Is that correct? No. Well, it is a form that would be… No, but your point is the early Christians called each other saints.
Attendee
Right. So we also should be called saints, not believers. Let me finish.
Bishop Caggiano
Yeah, please.
Attendee
This bread from heaven should be received on the top. The ordained priest who is consecrating to Christ and is a servant, does all this on the altar, his sacrifice, and then not to receive it on the tongue is not what we were taught. Here we have, maybe we didn’t wash our hands, we’re not consecrated like a priest.
Bishop Caggiano
That’s why Also, you didn’t mention the word of God. The word of God.
Attendee
That becomes the sacrifice of the Mass, the Holy sacrifice of the Mass also. I believe that the Holy sacrifice The sacrifice of the Mass is creation, redemption, and sanctification.
Bishop Caggiano
And re-creation.
Attendee
Those three. Yeah.
Bishop Caggiano
But go back for a second, though. I would say this. There is nowhere that I know of that depicts the Apostles receiving on the tongue. Nor do I know that in the tradition of the church, that even if you go back to the earliest narratives of the, and I could defer to Father Lennox, who’s the expert, is that the only way you could receive would be on the tongue. Now, I think everyone should examine themselves because they should receive in the most pious in a way they know so that they are disposed to receive the Lord worthily. The only thing I would take exception to is to say that to receive in the hand, therefore, should not happen, because there are those who are disposed who can be truly worthily received the Lord on the hand. It’s not so much the consecration of the individual, but it is the disposition of the person to receive. In other words, you can receive on the tongue, and if you’re using your tongue in a sinful way, that is not receiving the Lord any more worthily than a person receiving on the hand who is trying to live a charitable and just life.
Bishop Caggiano
I think that’s my only exception to what you’re saying, really.
Attendee
In another words, what St Peter is, the chair that has given us everything from Christ down to us. We know from the beginning of time that it’s always received on the tongue. Suddenly due to Zadikian two, it becomes acceptable.
Bishop Caggiano
No, but like in the Didache and some of the earlier- We are in the We are desecrating… No, no, but listen to me. That we could take all night with them. But you also have to receive the uterus in the state of grace, not in the state of spirit.
Attendee
Oh, no, absolutely. There are other things, but I don’t take up because I’m sure other people have wonderful things to say.
Bishop Caggiano
Yes, absolutely. Thank you. No, no. No, but I would say, absolutely. You have to be in the state of grace. And again, anyone who’s in the state of mortal sin cannot come to Holy Communion. Absolutely. Because Communion is already broken. Absolutely. The sacrum of reconciliation is very important. Correct. If someone is in the state of mortal sin, if you’re not in the state of mortal sin, then you can come forward because the penitential right would allow forgiveness of venial sin.
Attendee
I don’t know about most people, but I tried to do a few things here and there. Between all this and that, there was a billion things I could have done. Then at the same time, many of the prayer groups or whatever, they’re trying to restore things like First Friday, Fatima, so you just get with all of this. Then all of that involves confession, the Eucarist. What is your sense of… Because I think my theory, and I could be totally wrong on this, But the women of the ’50s and the ’60s who tried to do all that with five kids and this and that, it just became too much. It was just too much. I think of my mom and her friends and this and that. Now I could feel like it’s building. How do we know?
Bishop Caggiano
How do you find your way through all of that?
Attendee
That’s to me. Be all and all beautiful.
Bishop Caggiano
May I make a recommendation? Yes. A recommendation to all of you. If there’s one practice that I would strongly recommend you find time to do as often as you can, is Eucharistic adoration.
Attendee
Amen. I agree with that. So even more than all the.
Bishop Caggiano
Why am I saying that? I’m saying that because it’s the antidote to the modern world. In a world that’s busy, it is a place of sacred quiet. In a place where there is no savior, they don’t want a savior. You are supposed to be your own savior. You’re standing in the presence of the savior and redeemer. Valed, but truly present. It’s a place where in a world that doesn’t understand how to pray, it is the place where you learn how to pray, because to pray is not to say prayers only. It’s to allow the Lord to speak to us and to discern how he speaks to us. We learn that over time.
Attendee
Doesn’t the word of God at the sacrifice, the whole sacrifice of the math give you that?
Attendee
In other You may listen to God.
Attendee
Actually, you speak to God. But at the sacrifice of the math, you are listening to the word of God. You are seeing it, you are hearing it.
Bishop Caggiano
Of course. Of I’m not suggesting that. But I’m not suggesting…
Attendee
This creation is not the only thing that one person should focus. No, no.
Bishop Caggiano
But you are not listening to me. So listen to me. I am not saying you go to adoration, not mass. Otherwise, you missed my entire point. What I’m saying is if there’s one spiritual practice that if you have not in your spiritual life, you may want to have, I would suggest adding adoration for all the reasons I gave. That’s what I’m suggesting. Father Holland.
Attendee
Cardinal, the Holy perceptively broke the entrance procession starts without a church, but when we leave on that.
Bishop Caggiano
Amen.
Attendee
Do you have any practical ideas to help people get to Mass on time?
Bishop Caggiano
I want to be invited back.
Attendee
I have been told that I can do something revolutionary every day because I start Mass on time.
Bishop Caggiano
Yes. No. Well, I think it’s habit. It’s priority. It’s rustling the troops. And some troops, you could get out of bed and into the car and relatively short and others, it takes a while to warm the engines. I mean, every family is different. For me, we had five minutes. When my The other day, when I was stood at the door, there was exactly five minutes. You were either dead somewhere or you were ready to go to Mass in five minutes. That doesn’t happen. My niece, it’s a 25-minute runway. She only has two kids, two children, to get everybody all gathered together. I think there really is, again, practically, it’s a great question, you want to be there even before the celebration begins to do everything I just spoke about, to prepare yourself. Like you say, because with the word of God, if you haven’t had a chance to read it, you have an opportunity to read the word of God that’s going to be complained before the mass actually starts. It’s a priority, and you have to gage how fast it takes the troops to get together, to get in the car, get here, and get into church.
Bishop Caggiano
Please.
Attendee
I love operation because it is really something like all of your folder. We want a hard time getting people to connect to come to worship or even to It really breaks our hearts to see sometimes the role that is a lot with a couple of people leading one person. I would love for you to tell our priest to talk about aberration, even during the moments. Maybe because so many people don’t know about adoration. I didn’t know what adoration was five years ago. It’s so special and so important. When you said that that was something that you I guess that I was happy as perfect.
Bishop Caggiano
It’s something that has to be a priority. You didn’t hear. Basically, her observation was that we who are priests need to talk more about adoration and the gift that it can be because of all the benefits that come. See, because I’m a believer that those who go to adoration have the ability to go when they come to the celebration of the Eucharist or actually even better prepared for the celebration. It’s not one in place of the other. One is the for the other. Because the Mass also can become a place where we’re filled with activity and we’re not really entering into the mystery, calming our spirit to understand and to allow the Lord to speak to us and nourish us, both in Holy Communion as well as in his word, as well as in the mystery of the assembly itself, which is the living mystical presence of Christ, his body. It’s all about your disposition. When the The Lord, in the agony of the garden, asked the disciples to pray, and they fell asleep. It’s almost as if, of course, they had the Lord with them. It was the Lord. But they couldn’t keep vigil with him.
Bishop Caggiano
They couldn’t keep watch with him. In a sense, adoration is keeping watch with him, is sitting with him. It’s just something beautiful about that in a way, because then we celebrate with him and enter into the mystery of our salvation when we enter into the mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Man. Most young people don’t know how to calm their spirits. They’re so hyperactive. It’s very hard for them to calm down. Technology is enslaved them even more to become ever more hyperactive. The church has to be the to that because you could go through all of life so hyperactive that all of life passes you by. Where do you learn that? That’s why I love adoration for that reason, because there is nothing except to sit in the Lord’s presence. What I like in it is, and again, this could be theologically stretching a bit, but it’s my religious imagination in this sense.
Attendee
It says when you love somebody, you want to be That’s right. If you could give. Sure.
Bishop Caggiano
Let me put it this way, too. If I could even go further, what would you not do, anybody in this room, if you think of someone you loved so dearly in your life who has now gone through the mystery of death, what would you not do if the Lord said, You can be with that person again? What mountain would you not climb? What ocean would you not swim to be able to be with that person? And yet we have him right We have him right here. We just got to walk across the parking lot on a Sunday, get here on time, and enter into the mystery of his death and resurrection. Please.
Attendee
Mr. Frank Stone, what Can I?
Bishop Caggiano
Yeah, please.
Attendee
What is the church’s current thought process on villages? Because I’ve been back to hero masses where Some were allowed.
Bishop Caggiano
And some aren’t.
Attendee
By family members. Other people have been gone. It was about 18 months ago where people were preparing a luge in commission.
Attendee
We were stuck.
Attendee
The priest who had never met her actually gave me what it was if she knew that he knew my mother. He did very well. But we were all sitting there, we want to honor her. It seems that the rules were different and different because that was affront to my family. Right.
Bishop Caggiano
This is basically where we are. That’s a very good question, where we are in our own diocese. The norm is that for a family to give a eulogy, it has to be discussed with the celebrant before. It has to be written out in advance, need not be too long, and has to be Christ-focused. Yes, Christ-focused. Because in the end… Yeah, right. But now, pastors have the option to do that or not do that. I gave the options to all the pastors about, I’m guessing, Father Lennox, about 55 of the 75 pastors do not allow them.
Attendee
It’s also important, Bishop, to note that there’s a difference between a eulogy and words of Eulogy, someone is remembering in person for who they are, the greatness of who they are as a man or woman in this context. Words of Remembrance actually center and focus one’s comments on participation in the pastoral mystery and how it is that their life has been transformed in Christ. So church herself does not allow for eulogies, but it does allow for words. And you have definitely- Right.
Bishop Caggiano
And even that. I guess the problem has been that many a time when words were allowed, it was not done well. In fact, I was at a funeral, honestly, where a person actually took out a beer can at the end, at the end, and said, This one’s for you, dad. I was presiding. I wasn’t celebrating the Mass. The pastor was mortified because he had not said it. He thought it would be a great way. I’m not suggesting everybody I would do that. But a lot of pastors have felt, Can I say yes? Not knowing what could possibly happen. What could possibly happen. But that’s an excellent distinction, too. In a sense, in the ritual, if I remember correctly, you could allow words of remembrance or remembrance of the person at the vigil service, which would be the wake, at the burial, the committal. There is a possibility after the prayer, after Holy Communion, and some pastors have decided to do it before Mass begins. So they have the words of Remembrance, and then they have the celebration, the starting of the celebration of the funeral Mass. But the thinking for most pastors is that they have had such horrible experiences that they’re very gun-shy to allow it.
Bishop Caggiano
That’s really where we’re at. Yes, absolutely. My guess is the majority are not there yet. Some do. The majority is still not there. I’ve not forced the issue either way because one of the principles of Catholic theology is subsidiarity. I can’t presume to know every community, every context, every church, every parish. I have to trust my pastors to make those decisions. I think most of the time they do. There may be, obviously, exceptions, but… Please.
Attendee
Complete with some conscience aspect of the man. I’m sorry, but they tend to celebrate the life of the person that has. We use conflicts at mass, directly at mass, with the person that has. They’re really two different things. It might contribute to why they’re shouldn’t be using all the time if there’s not an understanding of what we’re doing. Second point, there is in questioning. The sign of peace, that is where it’s the involvement of the past. Sometimes it serves to be more use, particularly young people who may have to be advertised because the last thing where we ask them to We’re present in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a very solid, irreverent event. And yet when it comes to the sign of peace, the expression of it is usually joyful and jolly and happy. And that doesn’t mesh with the concept that we’re in a crucifixion.
Attendee
How do you see that?
Bishop Caggiano
Well, again, it’s a very interesting observation. Coming out of COVID, for example, there are a number of pastors who have not… They exchange the sign of peace with their people, but they don’t invite their people to exchange the sign of peace with each other. Of course, during COVID, none of us did it because of the fear of transmission. Some have not returned it. Truth of the matter is, it’s with proper catechesis, it can be done reverently. Oftentimes, it’s not. For example, when I celebrate Mass in the high schools, I do not invite the young people to exchange to sign a peace for all the reasons you mentioned, because they are not catechized enough to be able to do it reverently. But in other cases, I’ve seen it done beautifully. For example, in the other rights of the church, like the Maranites, because I had my ritual faculties for five years, so I celebrated Mass for the Maranites as well as in the Latin Church. Of course, in the Maranite Church, the words of consecration are in Aramaic. They’ve always been in Aramaic for 2,000 years in Aramaic, which is the Lord’s language. Having said that, they exchange the sign of peace this way.
Bishop Caggiano
So may I? If you put your hands like this, they exchange this piece by this. It was just beautiful. It’s beautiful. Yeah. It’s like this. If you have your hands, they just put their hands on your hands like this as the sign of peace. It’s a beautiful way to do it. There’s a way to do it, but I think I agree with you in many ways that in many places, it’s not always done with mindful of what the moment is.
Attendee
It brings it to question whether we’re actually present in sacrifice. We don’t celebrate, do this, or shake hands with this one another.
Bishop Caggiano
You know what? I had read a report. It was funny you should say that. Before Pope Benedict, and Father Lenin, if you could correct me, but before Pope Benedict abdicated and retired. He had commissioned, I was told, he had commissioned a study to make two changes in the Mass. The first was to move the sign of peace to the offertory. And the second is to move the gloria as the prayer of thanksgiving, post communion. So to put it after the reception of Holy Communion and the sign of peace at offertory. And if you think about it in the scriptures, make peace with your brother and sister before you give your gifts to the altar. And it could very well be that in time it may migrate to that place where I think at least there is a logic there to your point, before it begins. Please.
Attendee
At least with a lot of young people, I go to Catholic University in America, so I’m really gifted where I’m surrounded by really well-catech people. A lot of people that have a relationship with Christ. But I see outside in the world and in older generations that I think got ripped. The catechism was ripped from them, and they didn’t get that opportunity. Even now, we’re still struggling with sugar covered.
Bishop Caggiano
Oh, yeah. Yes.
Attendee
How can the Eucharistic renewal not only help catechize people about the truth of the faith, but also bring them to a relationship with Christ, which is the goal of it already. The catechesis is to create a relationship.
Bishop Caggiano
Right. Okay, that’s a great question. Perhaps we’ll make that the last question because we’re approaching 8:30, and then there are cookies, whatever is out there. Help yourselves. You said it. You began the answer to that question. When you said, When you love someone, what would you not do for that person? I think what needs to happen is either in a moment of a transcendental being truth, beauty, goodness, or accompanyments in suffering. There has to be a moment where Jesus is no longer an historic figure or a religious authority, but actually he comes alive, that we fall in love. Because when that happens, then you want to know everything about him, truth. You want to spend time with him in prayer, beauty, adoration, wonder, and awe, and you want to do anything for him, which is the virtue and goodness and to the missionary discipleship. And then you go out to accompany those who are suffering. And when you do suffer, you never suffer alone. That encounter, it can happen in any of those ways and perhaps a way I haven’t even outlined. But there are too many of us, perhaps all excluding everyone here, please God, where that has not happened.
Bishop Caggiano
So in our renewal with the One, my hope is offer as many opportunities to learn the faith in catechesis, to learn to pray, to understand the beauty and the power of beauty, to be able to learn virtue and goodness, invite people to acts of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, not just service, and to be able to find ways to accompany people when they’re suffering? Because one of those is going to be the magic moment that the spirit chooses, not me, not you, not them, the spirit, and then everything else will happen. If you’re hungry to know about Jesus, we got plenty to tell you. But like our young people, if they think it’s class, it goes in one ear and out the other. So that’s why I said we’re doing it our renewal differently, because I want to lay all these seeds so that this This is a permanent renewal, that the life of the church will be changed for generations to come. Could we dare to hope that we could have hundreds of thousands of people at Sunday Mass every Sunday? That’s the hope. Father Lent. Of course you may.
Attendee
Have given us a magnificent beginning to this renewal in this talk now. Kind of like the antipostols, we’re doing That’s all I’m thinking about now, to be honest. But I think a lot of questions here which have to do with the Mass and about the Eucharist and theology and liturgy and understanding what’s happening as part of these efforts to catechize, as part of the one, the Office of Liturgy and Worship is going to be having a series of nine talks or nine presentations on these themes so that while this- He is the Office of Liturgy and Worship, by the way.
Bishop Caggiano
Just if you were I’m wondering.
Attendee
But in case people would like to continue this from more deeply, that will be coming up.
Bishop Caggiano
Yes. But the church All of its members have to fall radically in love with the Lord. Then we will fall radically in love with each other. Then everything else will fall into place.
Attendee
That is when the Who said- A radical. A radical.
Bishop Caggiano
Yes, that’s what I just said. I think there’s a time zone difference between here and there. Thank you, everybody..
