The "proper and correct" way of celebrating the Mass should lead people to be more holy and ready to serve others, said Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on Holy Thursday."We should appreciate the value of the Holy Mass that we celebrate everyday," said Vidal in his homily during the reenactment of Jesus' Last Supper, at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist during the last supper he shared with his apostles before he died. Vidal's message highlighted a central Catholic tenet days after local controversy erupted on allegations that he had instructed priests not to celebrate Mass for Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. when he visited Cebu last Monday. The cardinal has denied issuing such an order even as Lozada and forum organizers complained of difficulty finding Cebu clergymen willing to celebrate Mass during their visit allegedly because priests were instructed or "requested" not to by higherups. "The Mass should not be used for other purposes that sometimes are against or different from our religion," said Vidal in his homily. "The two parts of the Mass, the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist, would lead us to holiness if these are celebrated in the proper and correct manner." He stressed the virtue of humility, warning that selfishness and greed would disrupt unity inside and outside the church. Six years ago, the Cebu Archdiocese commission on worship headed by Msgr. Cris Garcia issued guidelines on celebrating the Eucharist outside of sacred places or church, which is discouraged. "Fuente Osmeña is one of those listed because you cannot control the traffic around. In malls, there is a restriction. The Mass should be celebrated in places that are self-contained. You cannot say Mass (when) there is somebody bringing food around," he said because the solemnity of the celebration would be lost. "You cannot use the Mass as an occasion for something else. For example, the Mass attracts people and you use the Mass so that it gathers people because you want to sell," said Garcia. "The Mass is not a commodity that is available for advertisement." In an interview, Garcia emphasized that "the Mass is the center of our faith." "The Mass should not be celebrated where the sacrament is exposed to profanity or to ridicule and where there are distractions," he said. The late Pope John Paul II had listed places where it is not allowed to say Mass such as in restaurants, where there are many tables and chairs. The only table in the room should be the Eucharistic table. "If the Mass should be celebrated outside the church, the area for the Eucharist should be separate from the area where the mundane food is served," said Garcia. Is it within Church guidelines to use the celebration of the Mass for a cause? "If you say 'using' the Mass, it sounds like - excuse the language - prostituting," he said. | 
