Invariably
a few of our faithful will be analysing the Mass being monotonous and jarring with
routine way of celebration. Someone w
ill come with a confused mind, to say that
priest gave an excellent homily or the choir was melodious. There are blames on
our way of celebrating the Mass. My article in the previous Catholic Standard
on the Eucharist, highlighted some of the important as aspects of the Mass. But
there are many more who feel that our liturgy can be improved with more
vibrancy and gusto. My question is, who has to make the liturgy vibrant, the
presider or the faithful? Everyone can ask a question, what happens to me
(presider) and to the faithful whilst celebration of the liturgy? This question
could be crucial to keep in mind as we discuss this wonderful discussion on
liturgy.
When
we think of the liturgy, the first thing comes to our mind is rubrics. The
rubrics of the Church are the guidelines for liturgy. They are to be understood
and as far as possible applied in our liturgies. This can sound a little
traditional and ‘conservative’. Does following rubrics make me traditional or
‘conservative Christian’? I was also of the similar opinion about liturgists,
who are the strict followers of the rules of the liturgy. This makes us not to
talk about it in our daily conversations, thus resulting in remaining in the
archaic understanding of the liturgy, i.e. pre-Vatican understanding.
Liturgy
comes from a Greek composite word leitourgia,
which means a public duty, a service to the state undertaken by a citizen. Its
elements are leitos means public
(people), and ergo means to do. From this we have leitourgos, which means a man who performs a public duty or a
public servant. The above etymological definition of the word liturgy shows us
that liturgy is what people do, or simply what is done in public by both the
presider and the people.
Liturgy as participation: When we
celebrate the Liturgy we actively participate in the work of God, in other
words we respond to God’s call to mission. We participate in the life of God in
the celebration of the Liturgy. We participate in the Trinity, because
Trinitarian mission is witnessed through sending His Son and Son assuring us an
advocate, the Holy Spirit. Our participation in the Liturgy makes us
participate in the Ecclesia of the Church.
We
are privileged to join the heavenly court in singing “Gloria in Excelsis deo”, a song that is sung by the angels at the
incarnation of the Son of God. How beautiful to be part of that chanting. We
imitate the angels whilst we celebrate the Liturgy with an active and
meaningful celebration. In a way we are impersonating the angelic voice,
“Gloria.”
It
is not a passive participation. I was watching a cricket match at the
providence stadium. I was marvelled at the participation of the spectators in
the stands. Everyone with one voice supporting the home team with all their
heart and mind and with utmost spontaneity. I was inclined to think, how about
that kind of participation in our Liturgy, a participation that involves our
whole self, heart, mind and with utmost spontaneity. We have to know the mind
of the Church as it is prescribed by the rubrics but this must not curtail our
spontaneity and creativity.
Liturgy as a Journey: An apparent
question is, where does the Liturgy begin and end? I was delighted to see at
Meadow Bank parish, the choir master would come in advance and teach the
response to the Psalm to the congregation before the Mass began. I thought it
was wonderful when it is done in that Liturgical approach. Sometimes, people
read the readings before hand so that they set an ambience for the proper
Liturgy. So, the Liturgy begins much before the proper Liturgy. We have to prepare
spiritually to enter into the mood of Liturgy. Hence observing the journey of
the spirit, in other words, back and forth of the spirit within us. St.
Ignatius in his spiritual exercises asks the directees to observe and watch the
inner movements of the spirit. Therefore, my initial question would fit in
here, what happens to me whilst I celebrate the Liturgy?
When
we invite any guests for a meal to our homes, we prepare much in advance,
planning for the cuisine, and then we enjoy the meal together, and at last we
don’t just go away, rather we live that experience of eating together. Thence
our meal does end at meal time but it continues. The Eucharist is a meal, it is
a food for our nourishment, it continues to nourish us after the celebration of
the Eucharist. The new missal has wonderful dismissal rite, the ones I like the
most, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord”, “Go in peace, glorifying the
Lord by your life.” The Eucharist does not end rather it continues, we are send
forth by the presider on a mission of Christ, to bring good news. The
Liturgical journey does not begin and end just with the Eucharist. The journey
continues.
The
journey of the Eucharist itself is very much like the journey of the brothers
going towards Emmaus. The journey unfolds itself to the journeyed. The Liturgy of
the Eucharist has for ways of journeying, namely, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy
of the Eucharist (food), journey with the community, and priest who re-enacts
the sacrificial journey of Christ. Therefore, there is no alpha and omega point
for the Liturgy, rather, it sends us on a Mission of Christ, and hence it is
constant. We begin our Liturgy where we end.
Liturgy as an expression of faith: I
was enhanced to see a large group of young persons praying and expressing their
faith in their own ways at the world youth day at Rio. The prayer was initiated
by the Taize and a large cross attracted the youth with darkened ambience in
the hall. The youth went to the cross and expressed their deep faith through
the form of prayer as and when they were moved to do so. It was almost felt
like a form of Liturgy but with a spontaneous approach. The Liturgy is the
expression of one’s own faith and it is manifested openly whilst celebrating
the Liturgy. What happens to me, when I celebrate the Liturgy? May be I am moved
to express my own faith with other members in the celebration. In the
Eucharist, the prayers of the faithful, is the clear expression of the faith in
God. It moves one to express one’s deep faith in God. Hence, the Liturgy is the
manifestation of the faith of the people and something happens to each one in
the Liturgy.
Conclusion: Any footballer learns to
play football by learning at the street play style, where he is not too much
occupied with the rules of the game. Once the footballer learns the game, then
his task is to learn the FIFA rules, which eventually helps him to follow the
rule naturally.
The
Liturgy is in a way like the above example, we learn to celebrate liturgy in
our own way, but then eventually we are initiated into a formal Liturgy of the
Church, which after all becomes part and parcel of our lives. For most of us
the Liturgy has become part of our lives. In case it has not become part of us,
let us make it part of us. Let us celebrate the Eucharist as if it is our own
celebration, our own meal (food).
Liturgy
is not merely rubrics but also creativity. Sometimes, we think that the priest
has to be creative, which quite right, but it is the celebration of the people,
hence, everyone has to part of this creative Liturgy. It is not merely making
it lively through melodious singing; rather does the Creative Liturgy affect my
Christian life. We can participate in the Liturgy with all our minds and
hearts. Let us not be shy to be participative in the house of God, because we
are celebrating the Liturgy as an expression of our own faith in God that we
gotten from our Baptism. Let the Liturgy affect our lives, because it is
connected to our life experiences. We can go to the Eucharist, as it is the
first and the last Eucharist; which means not a routine another celebration of
the Eucharist.
The
work of our redemption is continued and the fruits are imparted during the
celebration of the Eucharist (Peter Fink SJ). We draw our redemptive source
from God and it is witnessed and expressed in the celebration of the Liturgy.
For St. Paul, the Liturgy and Christian life are one; in other words our
Christian life revolves around the Eucharist, and when we celebrate the Liturgy
we live a Christian life to the full.
With
these few thoughts, I appeal to all the Christians to be more participative in
the Liturgy and be more creative in our approach to celebration of the Liturgy
that does not mean we are shying away from the mind of the Church.
Ultimately
ask the question, what happens to me whilst celebrating the Liturgy?
Photo: An Amerindian village celebration of the Word of God.
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