How does the Church define 'profane'?

[Elzee]

Father Serpa,
Please allow me a follow-up to a question I asked a couple months ago (my original post and your response are below). Or, if this isn’t suitable for ‘Ask the Apologist’ could you PM me? I know you’re awfully busy so I understand if you can’t, but I’m so worried about our kids not being taught proper reverence towards our altar, tabernacle, etc. When I raised my concern below I was told that what constitutes ‘profane’ is up for interpretation…that using an altar to hold an overhead projector isn’t considered ‘profane’ as long as it’s used for ‘church purposes’ - during choir practice or during a ‘praise and worship’ serivce to project words on a screen. Is this correct? How does the church define ‘profane’? Thank you for your consideration of this question. God bless you for all you do.

One of our music directors will occasionally use the altar as a surface to place an overhead projector on (during practice - outside of Mass), to be able to project music on a screen that is placed behind the altar. Is this permissible?

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*Dear E,

No, it is not permissible. Cannon 1239, paragraph 1 states: “Both a fixed and a moveable altar are to be reserved exclusively for divine worship and entirely exempt from profane use" Placing an overhead projector on the altar would definitely constitute profane use.
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Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.*

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear E,

“Profane” as an adjective is defined: “showing irreverence toward God or sacred things.” Certainly, there are degrees of the profane just as there are degrees of the sacred.

What happens on that altar is the most sacred event that takes place on the face of the earth. You don’t turn the altar into a utility table for a projector or anything else. The fact that the projector is being used to project the words of hymns (which are sacred) does not elevate it to the sacredness of the altar. That which is more sacred is not to be used in the service of anything less sacred. This is why canon 1239 reserves the altar for the offering of the sacrifice of the Mass and nothing else!

We live in a time where there is widespread insensitivity for the sacred in our culture—and obviously in our parishes.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.