Christine,

Good question.

First, I must say that liturgy means work of the people or public work so one can not have private liturgy apart from the Church's liturgies, which include, preeminently, the Mass. There is no such thing as freelance on our own liturgy so the nun's use of that term is a clue to what she intends by this celebration. Another clue is the fact that she is doing this on Sunday.

Second, I would recommend that you simply ask her what she means by this action.

• Is she blessing the bread and wine?
• What does she understand by what she is doing?
• If she just wants to share bread and wine, why doesn't she just have a little meal of bread and wine and cheese and olives, etc.?

Thirdly, you of course, can attend this affair if she means it as a Scripture study and a party.

If she means it as a quasi-Mass, you may not, even if you have already been to Mass but you can come for the Scripture study and leave before the phony eucharist (otherwise you are participating in a deliberately heretical assembly). You would have a duty to correct any misperceptions about Catholic teaching and to bring authentic Catholic teaching to the group.

If you find out that she is:

• playing priestess
• substituting this for Mass, or
• even that her beliefs are contrary to Catholic belief

then you should not endorse the affair by your attendance.

You could, in that case, start your own Scripture reflection program on Sundays. You have a right to pay attention to your uncomfortable feelings and to act on them and get some clarity so that you can know what you are doing.

If you had gone to a political meeting, and were suspicious that it was a front for some terrorist or revolutionary group, you would either find out, or not go.

Mary Ann

Hi Christine,

Socializing with others and studying the Scriptures according to Catholic theology is very healthy and nature for any Catholic.

My concern is that she appears to be replicating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  I would make sure the Archdiocese in your area is aware of what she is doing, for the good of your own diocese.

This doesn't not sound like appropriate behavior for a Catholic nun/sister.

Catholic nuns and sisters are models of prayer and holiness according to their calling, not make-believe priestess'.

With permission of the local bishop, they are permitted to be Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist but what you have described is more that just distribution of the Blessed Sacrament.

Finally, you said:
If it was a Protestant service I was going to, I'd feel totally comfortable just going and listening to a religious discussion . . .

With a few exceptions, I would never recommend that a faithful Catholic attend a Protestant service with religious discussion. Their teachings, like most non-Catholic Christian denominations, have the underlying premise that Catholic teachings are wrong or in error.

Lay Catholics who have not been well catechized can be easily swayed to believe Protestant teachings are more true than their own Catholic teachings. Know the Catechism inside out first!

Hope this helps,

Mike