Fr. Lawrence Mick's ruminations on the sacraments are quite popular with the worship office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. In the early part of this decade, he was asked to write a series of bulletin inserts under the title "liturgical catechesis." Unfortunately, he presents a horizontalized, incomplete picture of the sacraments at odds with what the Church teaches.

Take for example the following paragraph:

"The most important thing we find when we gather here is the presence of Christ himself. Christ reveals his presence to us in various ways. He is present in our very gathering, living in each of us who are his tabernacles. He is present as the leader of our worship. He speaks directly to us when God's word is proclaimed in our midst. He offers us his own body and blood as our food and drink so that we will be more closely united with him and with one another."

While Christ is spiritually present in Scripture and to a certain extent in the Assembly, it is only in the Eucharist that He is *substantially* present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. When I showed the paragraph above to my fourth-grader, she said, "he makes it sound like all those other ways are more important."

I mention that last bit not to crow about my child, but to show that a decently catechized ten-year-old can reflexively dissect this agenda-driven nonsense.

Readers seeking faithful explanations of the sacraments should first consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church and then consider orthodox books and catechisms by Fr. Oscar Lukefahr and Fr. Alfred McBride.