• Home
• Calendar
• Giving
• Directory
• About Us
  • A History of the Cathedral
  • About St. Catharine
• Bishop Barres
• Catechetics
• Youth Ministry
  • Junior Group (Grades 6-8)
  • Senior Group (Grades 9-12)
  • Young Adults
• SJV School
• CYO

Bishop Barres Letter on the Recent US Dept of Health & Human Services Ruling

Click here for a PDF version of the letter in English & Spanish

January 26, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be "of, by, and for the people," has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees' health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those "services" in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration's sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America's cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support oflegislation that would reverse the Administration's decision.

Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend John 0. Barres
Bishop of Allentown

A Letter from Monsignor Baker
February 5, 2012

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Immediately following the priest receiving Holy Communion, a Communion Antiphon or Hymn is sung. Like the Opening Antiphon or Hymn, the song is a processional song and therefore accompanies a procession. In this case, it accompanies the faithful’s procession to the altar in order to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

Any Catholic in the state of grace can receive Holy Communion. There are two ways to receive: on the tongue or in the hand. In the 4th Century St. Cyril of Jerusalem taught newly baptized Catholics that they should put one hand over the other and form a “throne” for their eucharistic King. An increased sense of respect and the need to protect the Eucharist from being stolen for use in occult and demonic practices brought about the prohibition of Communion in the hand in the 9th Century and led to the exclusive reception on the tongue. Since 1969 the national episcopal conference had the permission from the Holy See to allow communion in the hand if they so desire as an exception to the universal method of receiving on the tongue.

Pope Benedict XVI prefers communion on the tongue. His Master of Ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini explains, “It could also be noted that the (Pope's) preference for such form of distribution which, without taking anything away from the other one, better highlights the truth of the real presence in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful, and introduces more easily to the sense of mystery. Aspects which, in our times, pastorally speaking, it is urgent to highlight and recover.”

---

Click here for Information on the New English Translation of the Mass

---

Reading for Today's Mass