Fr. Michael's Liturgy Q&A

This question-and-answer column has appeared in The Visitor, the newspaper of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, since January, 2009. While I no longer teach courses in liturgy, this column invites me to share my reflections with a classroom as wide as the readership of this newspaper. I am grateful for this opportunity to write about what I have learned as a teacher and student of the liturgical "craft."

Fr. Michael Kwatera, OSB 

 

   

  • 14 Jan

    Have you made any liturgical resolutions for 2016?

    Q: Have you made any liturgical resolutions for the new year?

  • 20 Dec

    Nativity scenes remind us why we celebrate Christmas

    Q. One of your past columns on Advent got me thinking of how important my family’s Nativity scene is to me, and also the one used in my parish church for decades. I think they help us remember what is at the heart of Christmas. Do you agree?

  • 18 Nov

    Pondering mystery of faith — Christ in the Eucharist

    Q. I have heard dismal statistics about the percentage of Catholics who truly believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I see people falling away from the church, going either nowhere or to some other denomination, or increasingly to a nondenominational church. I think this is tragic, and if more people believed in the Real Presence, far fewer people would leave the Catholic Church. Can you please write something to help Catholics gain a greater appreciation for the presence of Jesus Christ in holy Communion and for this key mystery of our faith?

  • 23 Oct

    What gestures are appropriate during the sign of peace?

    Q. For the sign of peace at Mass I think many people would prefer a simple bow to a handshake (less germ transmission). What do you think?

  • 25 Sep

    Angels always point us to the One who is greater

    Angels remind us that the entire universe is shot through with God’s presence and activity

  • 28 Aug

    Parish festivals make all of the parishioners ‘liturgists’

    Every parish bazaar and every liturgical celebration are wondrous illustrations of what happens when many people work together generously for the common good