Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest

Last Sunday, Fr. Andrew called Frances Pope and Mary Ann Allen to stand before the congregation to be officially recognized as St. Elizabeth's designated worship leaders in the event that a priest is unavailable to celebrate Mass for our people.

Frances and Mary Ann recently attended a diocesan workshop for those deacons and lay worship leaders who had been chosen from their parishes to conduct the Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest rite. With many parishes facing the possibility of not always having a priest available, the Diocese of Richmond has encouraged parishes from all over Virginia to send parishioners to attend local workshops in their areas to prepare themselves for this rite.

Thus, in case of emergency with no priest available, Frances or Mary Ann or both together will be able to conduct a service which is essentially a Liturgy of the Word, with or without Communion. This honor also includes the permission to give a reflection on the Sunday Readings which would take the place of a priest's homily, which is generally denied to those not ordained.

Another important part of this rite is a prayer for vocations to the priesthood. The absence of a priest to celebrate Eucharist and the substitution of this rite by the worship leader highlights this loss for us. Even though the Word can be broken open for our people, there can be no Consecration of Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Communion can be distributed to our people only if there are enough consecrated Hosts in the tabernacle.

However, the Sunday Celebration does have a positive aspect to it and that is, this rite gives a parish the opportunity to worship together as a community despite not having a priest available. We do not anticipate the lack of a priest at this time, but our people now know that steps have been taken to insure that we can stay together as a community.

On a personal note and I know I speak for Frances too, when I say we are very grateful to be able to serve you in this way. Be assured that we approach this responsibility in humility and prayer; and we hope you will keep us close to your hearts.