- Are there guidelines for when it is proper to repose the Blessed Sacrament when the church is being used for purposes other than Mass, Benediction, etc.?
- Recently at our parish there was a presentation that was billed as catechesis with levity. The presenter has an apostolate, which consists of a performance for parishes. The title is something like "Lighten Up - an Original Broadway-Caliber Catechetical Production ", "Where evangelization and entertainment collide. From all reports the performance is faithful, orthodox and entertaining. Anyway it seems to me that it would be proper to repose the Blessed Sacrament during this performance in the church. Am I being unreasonable to expect this?
CDF on Healing Prayers sheds some light on healing prayers that could conflict with Eucharistic Adoration, which could be generalized to the situation you mention.
"In sanctuaries, other celebrations are held frequently which may not be aimed
per se at specifically asking God for graces of healing, but in which, in the intentions of the organizers and participants, the obtaining of healing has an important part. With this purpose in mind, both liturgical and non-liturgical services are held: liturgical celebrations (such as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction) and non-liturgical expressions of popular piety encouraged by the Church (such as the solemn recitation of the Rosary).
These celebrations are legitimate, as long as their authentic sense is not altered. For example, one could not place on the primary level the desire to obtain the healing of the sick,** in a way which might cause Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to lose its specific finality,** which is to «bring the faithful to recognize in the Eucharist the wonderful presence of Christ and to invite them to a spiritual union with him, a union which finds its culmination in sacramental Communion.»(26)
(26)* Rituale Romanum,* Ex Decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum, Auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum,
De Sacra Communione et de Cultu Mysterii Eucharistici Extra Missam, Editio typica, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, MCMLXXIII, 82."
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html
Also there should be sufficient worshipers:
"88. Where there cannot be uninterrupted exposition because there is not a sufficient number of worshipers, it is permissible to replace the blessed sacrament in the tabernacle at fixed hours that are announced ahead of time. But this may not be done more than twice a day, for example, at midday and at night.
The following form of simple reposition may be observed: the priest or deacon, vested in an alb, or a surplice over a cassock, and a stole, replaces the blessed sacrament in the tabernacle after a brief period of adoration and a prayer said with those present. The exposition of the blessed sacrament may take place again, in the same manner and at a scheduled time.[8]"
ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWSACRA.htm