What is reverence?

I often hear people say that the liturgy has lost its sense of reverence. This question usually precedes a critique of the Novus Ordo Missae, the Order of Mass promulgated after the Second Vatican Council.

In order to respond to this statement, I think one first must come to grips with what reverence is.

Dictionary definitions use words like respect, honor, and adore. I think most people would equate reverence with serious, sober prayer, with heads bowed and eyes cast down. It may be...sometimes.

Pope Benedict XVI began his apostolic exhortation Sacrament of Charity (2007) with these words:

The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that “greater” love which led him to “lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us “to the end,” even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!

The two last sentences speak of intense reverence--what amazement, what wonder!

Quite honestly, when I first read this paragraph I asked myself, "Do I experience wonder in the eucharistic mystery?" While I did and do (of course!), it was somewhat a cerebral experience. But was I amazed? Does the Mass provoke wonder?

Since that time I have reflected on this concept often. It is one thing to sit quietly (reverently?) and hear the readings proclaimed. It is quite another to consider this a time that Christ "Himself ... speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 7); or that the Eucharist we celebrate truly makes present the Last Supper (at which Pope Benedict intuits the apostles' amazement); we're in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus asks the Father to take this cup of suffering from him; we're at the foot of the cross; we peer into the tomb; we're in the Upper Room. Somehow, the liturgy makes the entire Paschal Mystery present! (See Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1085 and following).

Now that's something which amazes! That's something that makes us awestruck with wonder!

So, back to reverence. Reverence is, I think, an acknowledgment of the reality which we can't see. It is acknowledging that what looks like a wafer and red wine is, in reality, the Body and Blood of Christ and that we are incorporated into that Body and Blood. It understands that Christ is speaking to us in the liturgy, even if the reader is hard to understand; Christ is with us even when the homily is too long or the organ is too loud; Christ even is there if I don't want to be.

But that's not all. Reverence is an acknowledgment that those gathering in the Church with me have "put on Christ" in the Sacrament of Baptism and become the Body of Christ just as I do in the reception of Holy Communion. Reverence pays homage to the fact that each person is made in the image of God and is loved completely and wholly by God. Reverence adores Christ in the tabernacle and serves Christ in the street. I have quoted Pope Benedict on this before: "A Eucharist without solidarity with others is a Eucharist abused" (General Audience on December 10, 2008).

Going full circle, has the liturgy lost its sense of reverence? No!! But sometimes we do. We show this loss when were are hurried, doing things for the sake of doing them, or placing our own likes and dislikes above the Church's liturgical rites. We also betray a lack of reverence when we celebrate with hard hearts, a feeling of superiority over others, or lack of charity.

This past May, Pope Benedict said in his homily on the Body and Blood of Christ:

...let us renew this evening our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We must not take this faith for granted! Today we run the risk of secularization creeping into the Church too. It can be translated into formal and empty Eucharistic worship, into celebrations lacking that heartfelt participation that is expressed in veneration and in respect for the liturgy. The temptation to reduce prayer to superficial, hasty moments, letting ourselves be overpowered by earthly activities and concerns, is always strong.

Many people picked up on the "risk of secularization" as another condemnation of liturgy today. However, Benedict speaks not of the liturgy, but of us! Unless we participate in the liturgy with the eyes of faith, acknowledging the unseen realities, we run the risk of reverence becoming something we simply do in church, rather than a way of life!

New (free) resource: Prayers of the Faithful

The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the Creed and the Prayers of the Faithful. Having heard God's word proclaimed in the readings and broken open in the homily, we profess our faith and intercede for those in need. In short, we ask God to do again today what he has done throughout all of history. In a particular way, it gives us a chance to look more specifically at the needs of our world through the lens of the day's Scripture.

It has been my experience (both as writer and pray-er of petitions) that this is a difficult task. We often go to the default of "For our Holy Father, our Bishops, and all Bishops..." regardless of the Scripture, feast or season. We need to ask ourselves, "what do we need to pray for in light of today's Mass?" Of course, we follow the prescriptions of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (nos. 69-71) which directs us to pray...

...For the needs of the Church;
...For public authorities and the salvation of the whole world;
...For those burdened by any kind of difficulty;
...For the local community.

Liturgy Training Publications [LTP] has a new resource to assist with this task called, Prayer of the Faithful: Intercessions for Your Faith Community. For each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation there is an invitation to prayer, intercessions, and closing prayer. This downloadable product is issued in two-month segments so that the prayers can respond to today's issues (and LTP assures that updates will be released in the case of sudden, significant world or national events that need our prayer). As is the case with most LTP titles, this is published both in English and Spanish.

And this is all free!

While you may prefer to discern your own prayers, this certainly provides fodder for your soul as you compose the intercessions for Sunday Mass.

The Tomb of Peter

The Vatican has launched an impressive online virtual tour of the Scavi--the excavation of the necropolis underneath Saint Peter Basilica.

This underground city of the dead is an impressive place which is remarkably preserved--it was filled with dirt to level the hill upon which the original Constantinian basilica was built.

As impressive as the underground city is, the story of its excavation and the (re)discovery of the tomb of Saint Peter is even more so. Secret digging, hiding from the Nazis, and archeological intrigue all make this a real-life mystery. If you're a church geek, you'll love it! Check it out here.

Accessible Liturgy

Have you ever thought about how you would go to confession if you were deaf? Could you be a lector who uses a wheelchair if there is a step up to the ambo? An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion with Parkinsons? Or a choir member who can't navigate the steps to the choir loft?

What if you are just a plain pew-sitting Catholic person who is losing her hearing and can't really make out the homily? Or your sight isn't what it once was and you can't read the small type in the hymnal? (I imagine that some reading this blog face these challenges every day!)

Statistics show the 20% of Catholics have a disability. Some are very noticeable to those around them. Some are known only to the individual and to God. Since our worship involves the whole body and all of the senses, this is a significant issue that rarely is addressed. The US Bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on People with Disabilities in 1978. In it, they said:

It is essential that all forms of the liturgy be completely accessible to people with disabilities, since these forms are the essence of the spiritual tie that binds the Christian community together. To exclude members of the parish from these celebrations of the life of the Church, even by passive omission, is to deny the reality of that community. (paragraph 23)

The Bishops realized that this isn't easy. They added:

If the participation of persons with disabilities and their families is to be real and meaningful, the parish must prepare itself to receive them. (paragraph 19)

Last week, I participated in a Webinar co-sponsored by the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions [FDLC] and the National Catholic Partnership on Disability [NCPD]. (This webinar will be available soon for replay from the NCPD website.) The NCPD has a wealth of information and resources on its website, as does the Xavier Society for the Blind, the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, and the Catholic Celiac Society (to name but a few important organizations). Many of these organizations offer free resources for Catholics with disabilities as well as information for parish leaders. Our own diocesan website has a page dedicated to posting material and links to promote the participation of Catholics with disabilities.

The FDLC has a wonderful document with the exceptionally long title, Guiding Principles and Strategies for Inclusion in the Liturgy of Catholics with Disabilities. It is available for download ($10) on the FDLC website, or it is free if you view the NCPD Webinar (which will be posted soon) prior to September 30. While this booklet focuses on liturgical ministry most of the principles are applicable to the congregation as well.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy reminds us that full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy is both a right and duty of the baptized. It is, in fact, demanded by the liturgy (see paragraph 14).

In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit...(paragraph 14)

While not everyone can participate in the same way or to the same extent, everyone has the right and duty to do so. As parish leaders, we need to ensure that this can happen.

The websites above are all good resources, but the best thing to do is to begin a conversation with the people with disabilities in your parish. They have much to contribute and may have solutions for accessibility that are wiser, simpler and cheaper than anything the pastor or liturgist can imagine.

Contact the Office of Worship if you would like some assistance as you get the ball rolling.

Apostle of the Apostles

Tomorrow (July 22) we celebrate the memorial of one of the great saints, Mary Magdalene. She was honored to be the first witness of the resurrection and the first to announce the Good News to the other disciples--thus she often is called "The Apostle of the Apostles."

Confusion and legend obscure the facts of her life. We know that she was a faithful follower of Jesus and we think that Jesus drove seven demons from her (Lk 8:2). She, along with other women, supported the ministry of Jesus "out of their resources" (Lk 8:3). With others she went to Jerusalem with Jesus where she remained at the foot of the cross with Jesus' mother and Mary, the wife of Clopas (Jn 19:25).

Early in the morning on the first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. She eventually encountered a man that she thought was a gardener, but when he said her name she recognized him as the Lord. Embracing Jesus, he said "Stop holding on to me...go to my brothers" (Jn 20:17, New American Bible). Scholars are uncertain as to what happened to Mary Magdalene after the Lord ascended, but there is a tradition that she moved to Ephesus where she lived with Jesus' mother Mary.

There are so many things that I find interesting and inspiring about Saint Mary Magdalene. First, she is one of the few saints that doesn't have a word or two describing her in the calendar (one often sees, for example, "priest and martyr," "virgin," etc. after the name of a saint in the calendar). Perhaps she doesn't need any further clarification. Perhaps we just don't know what to call her!

Secondly, she saw the Risen Lord but did not recognize him until he said her name. Once again, a mystery of Communion is revealed. You'd think she would have recognized him immediately and fallen down to worship in silence...but his voice, inflection, or the familiarity with which he spoke was how the Lord revealed himself to her. And then she went to hug him. Her love was personal, real, intimate. He wasn't a far-off God, but one who knew her name. He was one whom she and others had probably hugged before.

The Risen Lord's response to the hug? The Gospel of John says that he told her to go and tell people about what she saw. This reminds us of the unique relationship Christians have with the Lord...we want to stay and worship, but he calls us to go and proclaim. While Mary Magdalene saw the glorified Lord and proclaimed the Good News, our job is just the opposite: We proclaim with confidence that, as faithful servants, we will see the glorified Lord in his heavenly kingdom.

Father,
your Son first entrusted to Mary Magdalene
the joyful news of his resurrection.
By her prayers and example
may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord
and one day see him in glory.
(Opening Prayer, Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene)

From Mass to Mission

I mentioned in an earlier posting that the Third Edition of the Roman Missal (in its Latin original) has relatively few changes, most of which are the incorporation of feasts, ritual masses and other texts promulgated since the previous publication.

However, the new edition contains three new options--personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI--for the dismissal (in addition to the old standard, Ite, missa est) which highlight the connection between liturgy and life.

In the new missal, the texts offered for the dismissal are:

Ite, missa est.
Go forth, the Mass is ended.

Ite ad Evangelium Domini nuntiandum.
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum.
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

Ite in pace.
Go in peace.

I have to confess that, when I was a young boy, my statement of "Thanks be to God," was responding to the words of the priest with one addition in my imagination: The Mass is [finally] over!

Apparently, others have felt that its current form lacked a clear message. The idea for these additions came from the proposals given to the Holy Father at the conclusion of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 2-23, 2005). They gathered to reflect on the theme The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church. The Congregation for Divine Worship sought suggestions and whittled over 70 proposed texts down to nine, from which the Holy Father picked the three to be included.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken often and eloquently on the need to revitalize our liturgy not only through a return to "heartfelt participation that is expressed in veneration and in respect for the liturgy" (Homily on May 11, 2009), but also in one that truly acknowledges the mystical communion of all believers:

Christ personally unites himself with each one of us, but Christ himself is also united with the man and the woman who are next to me. And the bread is for me but it is also for the other. Thus Christ unites all of us with himself and all of us with one another. In communion we receive Christ. But Christ is likewise united with my neighbour: Christ and my neighbour are inseparable in the Eucharist. And thus we are all one bread and one body. A Eucharist without solidarity with others is a Eucharist abused. And here we come to the root and, at the same time, the kernel of the doctrine on the Church as the Body of Christ, of the Risen Christ. (General Audience on December 10, 2008)

So, the Mass both calls and enables us to "glorify God by our lives" and to "announce the Gospel" in word and deed, to those with whom we live and work. May we all do so in peace!

Summer School

Each summer I try to take some time to review a few documents from the Second Vatican Council. As part of this, I always re-read the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy [CSL] and then try to review one or two others. To some extent, this provides me an opportunity to reflect upon the work that I do as well as on my own spiritual journey. Is my ministry in harmony with these documents? Have I veered off course? Have I become too preoccupied with one aspect at the expense of others?

Reading the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy is always a shot in the arm, as well. The first 14 paragraphs alone provide such a wonderfully hopeful and optimistic synopsis of liturgical theology.

Paragraph 11 (one that I go back to again and again) enunciates an important, though challenging, truism about how the liturgy works:

But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain.

This paragraph, in my mind, says that in order for the liturgy to do what it is supposed to do, everyone (not just priest, organist, reader, etc.) has to come ready to be there and pay attention to what they are doing. In other words, God gives a full amount of grace to us whether we participate fully or not. We have to be open to it ("cooperate with it") in order to receive its full effects. It's not magic...it takes cooperation (work) from everyone!

How do we "cooperate with divine grace?" The U. S. Bishops Committee on the Liturgy, in their document Music in Catholic Worship (first published in 1972), summarized this very succinctly:

We are celebrating when we involve ourselves meaningfully in the thoughts, words, songs, and gestures of the worshiping community ‑‑when everything we do is wholehearted and authentic for us ‑‑ when we mean the words and want to do what is done. (paragraph 3, emphasis added)

I have often told the story of a question I was asked about 20 years ago when I was first working with some candidates for initiation. A young woman asked, "Why do Catholics scratch their heads before the Gospel?" What a great question!

Of course, we don't scratch our heads. We make the sign of the cross with our thumbs on our head, lips and heart. Some have a prayer that they recite, but the general idea is that prior to hearing the Gospel (Christ himself speaking to us, according to CSL 7), we want to remind ourselves that Christ is in our thoughts, on our lips, in our hearts. Her question made me realize that for many--myself included--these gestures can become meaningless or empty.

But the liturgy demands more. When we make this gesture--or dip our fingers into holy water, genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament, bow to the altar, offer another the sign of Christ's peace--we are reminding ourselves of how we are called to live, how we relate to God, and how we relate to neighbor.

The words of the liturgy are as powerful as the gestures. How many times have I said the Lord's Prayer, with its petition that God "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Do I consider that phrase when I am wronged by another? Do I hold on to grudges? Do I grant forgiveness as freely as I seek it?

Paragraph 11 of CSL reminds us that the words, gestures, and postures of the liturgy mean something--and require something of us. They are not magical formulas. They are there to change us through God's grace. God does the work but he seeks our cooperation.

The American Way

The liturgies on the weekend nearest the Fourth of July always seem a bit schizophrenic to me. We have a legitimate desire in our country to want to thank God for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, the blessing of freedom, and for the brave men and women who fought and died defending this freedom for us and for many throughout the world. There are also countless people who stood their ground amidst religious, racial or class persecution who have played an important role in the building of the United States of America.

At the same time, the readings of the Sunday falling closest to the Fourth are simply part of the Lectionary cycle and are not influenced at all by our important civic festival. For example, this year's Gospel (Mark 6:1-6) recounts Jesus' friends and neighbors rejecting his teaching in his home town.

What's a good liturgist to do?

One of the things that I believe is that the liturgy can't ignore what is going on in the world. In fact, I have a strong belief that in order to change the world the liturgy needs to inform (and be informed) by current events. One example supporting this idea is our three-year Lectionary--each time we hear particular readings our own lives are different (sometimes dramatically so) than when we heard the same readings three years before.

The preaching, music, intercessions, etc. do not need to ignore either the readings or the civic holiday. Somehow, they need to relate, and that is the trick.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States last year, his opening address on the White House lawn was an eloquent expression of freedom and the role it can play in God's divine providence.

From the dawn of the Republic, America’s quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. The framers of this nation’s founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the “self-evident truth” that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature’s God. The course of American history demonstrates the difficulties, the struggles, and the great intellectual and moral resolve which were demanded to shape a society which faithfully embodied these noble principles. In that process, which forged the soul of the nation, religious beliefs were a constant inspiration and driving force, as for example in the struggle against slavery and in the civil rights movement. In our time too, particularly in moments of crisis, Americans continue to find their strength in a commitment to this patrimony of shared ideals and aspirations...

...Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that “in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation”, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.

The Prayer for the Nation in the Sacramentary's Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions truly picks up on the Holy Father's words and can become the prayer of us all:

God our Father,
you guide everything in wisdom and love.
Accept the prayers we offer for our nation;
by the wisdom of our leaders and integrity of our citizens,
may harmony and justice be secured
and may there be lasting prosperity and peace.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ...

The Year for Priests

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a “Year for Priests” which began on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 19, 2009 and will conclude June 19, 2010. In his daily audience today, Pope Benedict XVI said,

The goal of priests' mission is, we could say, 'of worship': that all men and women may offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, receiving the charity which they are then called to dispense abundantly to one another. ... Love for others, concern for justice and the poor are not so much a question of social morals as the expression of a sacramental conception of Christian morality because, through priestly ministry, the spiritual sacrifice of all the faithful is accomplished, in union with the sacrifice of Christ, the only mediator.

Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, has been named by the Holy Father as the patron of this year. Saint John Vianney (1786-1859) was born in France a few years prior to the Revolution (1789-99). During the Revolution, many Catholic priests were killed and others were forced into hiding. Young John grew up in a Church in hiding.

He entered the Seminary at the "old" age of 20. He struggled with his classes and failed some examinations. However, he was ordained and sent to be the parish priest in the town of Ars (He often is called the Curé d'Ars--the "parish priest of Ars").In the aftermath of the Revolution the people or Ars had little religious education and were lax in the practice of their faith. Because of John's dedication, charity and example, the people and community were transformed. Over time, thousands came to his little parish each year, especially to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is said that he spent up to 16 hours in the confessional on many, many days.

But for those of us who are not ordained priests, what are we supposed to do during this Year for Priests?

Pope John XXIII published an encyclical, Sacerdotii nostri primordia, on the 100th anniversary of St. John Vianney's death. In it he exhorted the laity:

Those who are more fervent and devout are turning their eyes and their minds to the priest with a great deal of hope and expectation. For, at a time when you find flourishing everywhere the power of money, the allure of pleasures of the senses, and too great an esteem for technical achievements, they want to see in him a man who speaks in the name of God, who is animated by a firm faith, and who gives no thought to himself, but burns with intense charity.

So let them all realize that they can help sacred ministers a great deal to achieve this lofty goal, if only they will show due respect for priestly dignity, and have proper esteem for their pastoral office and its difficulties, and finally be even more zealous and active in offering to help them. (paragraphs 107-108)

Perhaps some time praying, reading and reflecting on documents such as this will provide us all new insight into the indispensible role of the priest in the life of our Church.

Finally, the Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes a prayer of the Cure of Ars (no. 2658) that sums up his fervent love and devotion to God:

l love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. . . . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.

Love of God, and love of each other, is a constant theme of Pope Benedict XVI's writings and teachings. We have much to learn about love. Saint John Vianney, pray for us!