August 31, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

I mentioned a couple weeks ago in my homily about how many Japanese soldiers in World War II admitted, after the war, that the guns and anti-aircraft weapons they were firing were blanks. This was largely the case in Osaka, which was attacked from March 1945 until August 1945. The Japanese military had run out of ammunition at that point in the war and, to keep up appearances, both to themselves and to the civilians, the soldiers pretended to be firing weapons and defending their homeland. This devious effort was supposedly better for morale, better than admitting defeat and surrendering.

This image of ‘firing blanks’ stands out to me when I think about prayer and the spiritual life. I think it’s a real possibility for us to ‘fire blanks’ when we pray. We have the appearance that we’re praying when we show up to Mass or to the Adoration Chapel, but, in reality, nothing is going on. We wear crosses around our necks, keep medals in our pockets and purses, and have rosaries around our rearview mirror in the car, but we don’t actually connect with them. We frequent the sacraments, serve the poor, spend time with a loved one (remember the Five Ways to Pray from a few weeks ago?), but we don’t feel any closer to God in these things and we don’t see any growth in our soul. There’s a lot of noise but no substance.

Now, I suppose you could argue that the Japanese soldiers pretending to be fighting was good for civilian morale and prevented panic. If people saw their soldiers fleeing and no one shooting at planes overhead, they would be upset and order would break down. By the same logic, you could argue that there are still graces to be had by doing the spiritual activities even when there’s nothing really happening on a deeper level.

This counterargument gets to a deeper point about prayer and our spiritual responsibilities. They are not contingent on our feelings. Just because prayer “felt good” doesn’t mean it was good or effective. By the same token, it doesn’t mean “nothing happened” if you didn’t feel anything or know what was going on. Many saints experienced incredible dryness and a lack of affective consolation in their prayer. They prayed anyway and many graces flowed from their perseverance, both for themselves and for others. Grace can work in us despite us.

But the “firing blanks” notion I have in mind is something different, and it connects to our readings this weekend about humility. Again, the Japanese soldiers knew what they were doing. A person who fires spiritual blanks isn’t someone in desolation or a dark night of the soul. It is a person who wants to feel better about themselves and make others think highly of them. They do the spiritual activity, but no grace comes forth from it.

I brought up the Sacrament of Reconciliation last week and how we can misuse it by going too much (or not going enough) and not really knowing what we are doing. Allow me to bring up another somewhat thorny issue: receiving communion. Some of you will be offended by this. I don’t mean this to offend, but only to trigger your own prayer and reflection.

When I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s, just about everyone received communion on the hand. We were taught how to reverently make your hands like an altar fit to receive the Lord, with the left hand over the right hand (if you were a righty). My parents’ generation grew up mixed–some on the hand, some on the tongue–and my grandparents’ generation grew up receiving while kneeling. That, of course, all changed with Vatican II. The custom, in time, became receiving on the hand in the United States. It really wasn’t until becoming a priest that I noticed people receiving on the tongue. And then, really, it wasn’t until only the last five years or so that I noticed some people kneeling while receiving on the tongue.

I wonder if there is a risk of firing spiritual blanks with how we receive, if we are conscientiously making a decision to receive in a particular way. To reference the Code of Canon Law again, the Church doesn’t specifically require kneeling or receiving on the tongue. The norms only go so far as to say that communion cannot be denied anyone just on the basis of their receiving on the hand or tongue or while kneeling. So, when we choose to kneel while receiving communion, because it’s not the custom (look around…90% of the people do not kneel when they receive communion), it’s our own choice. This means, to invoke the image from our Lord’s parable, we are choosing to go to the higher/lower spot at the table.

Now, I’m not judging/condemning those who kneel and choose the specific spot at the table. Perhaps the Lord has invited you up/down and you are meant for it. And those who receive on the hand and have chosen your spot, maybe that’s where you’re meant to be. And maybe in 25 years the custom will change so that receiving on the tongue while kneeling becomes the norm.

I’m only saying be cautious and be discerning when you kneel, because it means you are choosing a spot. Is this the Lord’s invitation or are you firing blanks? If you’re firing blanks (kneeling without really knowing why you’re kneeling or doing it for appearances or to make yourself feel better), it’s more than just embarrassment of being sent down to the lower spot that will occur. Our spiritual actions don’t just affect us. We are part of a team as Catholics, and if we’re firing blanks while receiving communion in a unique way or doing some other extraordinary spiritual exercise, then we’ll be hurting the people around us. Like the Japanese we will lose the war and cause great suffering.

If, on the other hand, we keep it simple and let the Lord call us to something extraordinary, then there will be a great victory for the Kingdom.

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Happy Labor Day weekend to all of you. We will have only one Mass at 8:30am on Monday, September 1st. Enjoy your holiday.

This Tuesday, September 2nd and next Sunday, September 9th is the start of Religious Education. Welcome back to all of our Catechesis Students and Families. And a special welcome and thank you to our catechists who do such a wonderful job teaching our children their faith. I want to give a particular shout out to Anna Mae Parkhill, and her assistant, Jackie Lifton. We have a very large and tremendous program here at SPC, and it wouldn’t be possible without the efforts and dedication of Anna Mae and Jackie. Blessings to you all this year.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace