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April 21, 2020
Father Bill Brown
Pastor, St. Hilary Church & School, Tiburon
The letter from the woman who asked why the president is not mentioned by name during Catholic Mass got me thinking.
The prayers of the faithful at Mass have a customary pattern of starting big, praying for those who lead us in religion and government, and then moving closer to home and becoming more specific.
The eucharistic prayer itself always mentions the pope by name and the local bishop by name but no one else. The Church of England mentions the queen by name because she is the governor general of that church, but the president has no such function in the Catholic Church.
So, it seems to me that we are always praying for the president and the other servants of the people who have been elected for a period of time and who come and go.
However, I imagine one reason these servants of the people are not mentioned by name is because each of them, depending on their behavior and language and voting record, could cause a visceral reaction in the faithful which would not be helpful at Mass.
These are just my thoughts but I hope they are helpful in some way.
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