STORY - Source & Summit: Whose Liturgy?

We live in a time when it is customary to purchase furniture and other goods that require self assembling. Manuals provide step by step instructions and some furniture outlets even carry the appropriate tools needed to put together the parts that make the article whole and usable. On the other hand some goods are instantly operational. Recently a courier delivered to me a modem that I had ordered, and within seconds I had access to email on my laptop. Some of us enjoy the challenge of engaging in DIY skills while others prefer to purchase products that are already complete.

Since the Second Vatican Council liturgy teams, teachers, and on occasion even priests have prepared and celebrated liturgy with a similar DIY approach. They usually begin with the ‘tools’ at hand, the prayers, scripture texts and ritual actions, but they change, rewrite or adapt components of the liturgy. Some add their own embellishments – extra symbols, gestures, songs or verbal instructions while others omit parts of the Mass or even reorder the structure. Some people prefer the instant approach and simply follow the ritual books and make decisions about prayers on the run, perhaps immediately before, or even during the ceremony.

But is the liturgy something that we can either tamper with at will or become so familiar with that we only need give its celebration minimal attention? Both practices seem to assume an attitude of personal ownership, but the church reminds us that this is far from the case. Liturgy is first and foremost the work of Christ. Jesus Christ began his priestly work on earth – a work that included preaching and teaching, healing and forgiving, and that culminated in the final supper and the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. It is Christ’s work that we continue when we gather, Sunday after Sunday, in obedience to the divine command to ‘Do this in memory of me.’ As we leave Mass we continue Christ’s priestly work in every action we do in his name during the week. So while Christians are called to participate in the liturgy we do so as members of the Body of Christ and not as individuals. And because it is an action of Christ the priest and his church, the liturgy ‘is a sacred action that surpasses all others’.

The church continues to safeguard this sacred work by providing us with ritual books for the Mass and Sacraments. These include instructions that offer some flexibility for local adaptation and various prayer text options, to enable a particular worship assembly to exercise its priestly role to the best of its ability. The church requires all of us to engage in life long study, prayer and reflection so that we can fully participate in the liturgy. Our leaders of liturgy – bishop assisted by priests – are entrusted with the special responsibility of ensuring that the priestly work of Christ is carried out with the greatest dignity and respect.

Soon our church will provide us with newly translated texts of the Roman Missal. All of us will need to become familiar with these texts. The changes offer a new opportunity for us to review and refresh our worship habits, and are a timely reminder that the liturgy is not ours to own but a privileged engagement in the priestly office and work of Christ.

Carmel Pilcher rsj

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