SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN Examining My Conscience
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Why aren’t the corporal works of mercy the focus of an examination of conscience before receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation? I have tended to be scrupulous regarding sins to confess. Now I wonder, in light of Jesus’ explanation of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31–46), whether this would be a better place to start my examination of conscience.
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When did Saturday night Mass for Sunday start to be allowed?
irst, please remember that Judaism in Jesus’ day considered that a “day” began with sunset of the previous day. Jewish feasts still follow that custom. Although some Christians accepted this calculation for their own celebrations, most people considered a “day” to go from midnight to midnight. There were already late afternoon and evening Masses before Vatican Council II (1962–65). Until 1953, however, Catholics were normally expected to fast from everything (water included) from midnight before receiving Communion. In the decree entitled “Christus Dominus,” Pope Pius XII granted local bishops permission to allow late afternoon or evening Mass before a Sunday, holy day of obligation, or other major feast—as long as the Mass did not begin before 4 p.m. I have a very clear memory of participating in a parish Mass for the feast of Mary’s assumption on a late afternoon one August 14. This was sometime before 1962. In 1953, the eucharistic fast was changed to no solid food or alcoholic drinks for three hours before Communion. Other liquids could be taken up to one hour before Communion. On May 25, 1967, St. Paul VI approved “Eucharisticum Mysterium,” which made late afternoon or evening Masses more common. Pastors were instructed to explain that the biblical concept of “day” extended from sunset to sunset; later Saturday afternoon was already “Sunday.” The eucharistic fast was changed to one hour before receiving Communion, with no restriction on when medicine could be taken. As happens with some frequency in the Catholic Church, a liturgical practice already permitted for a particular region can later be extended to the whole Church.
TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: PARYS/FOTOSEARCH; BOTTOM: LEAF/FOTOSEARCH
Pat McCloskey, OFM
here is nothing to prevent someone from including this in an examination of conscience. It could, however, cause even more problems for an individual inclined to be scrupulous: “Did I really do enough in the situation when . . . ?” An exclusive focus on the corporal works of mercy might cause a person to overlook a sin not specifically addressed in that passage from Matthew’s Gospel: murder, bank robbery, adultery, theft, for example. Reviewing one’s observance of the Ten Commandments is not the only way to be “properly disposed” to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus’ parable does not cancel out the Ten Commandments. The usual way of examining one’s conscience has the danger of not taking sins of omission as seriously as they deserve.
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