Liturgy .....
IS THE SUMMIT TOWARD WHICH THE ACTIVITY OF THE CHURCH IS DIRECTED AND THE FOUNT FROM WHICH ALL HER POWER FLOWS
Together let us pause and reflect as we begin a journey toward greater understanding of our communal prayer life, liturgy and the Eucharist.Take time to reflect on the following handouts, pray about the topic and be attentive to whether you are a full active participant in the liturgy itself. We now practice a new prayer posture during the Eucharistic Prayer and these pages look at some reasoning behind this practice. This change began in the summer of 2000 and the handouts at the time have been provided here. The purpose has been to encourage your full and active participation in the liturgy.
Liturgy as Communal Prayer:
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Mass is the prayer of the whole Church. At Mass, we gather with each other as members of the body of Christ, to praise and worship God, to pray for one another, to be bound together as a local faith community. As St. Paul reminds us, "For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them." (Romans 12: 4-6)
The Liturgy, while Christ's action first, is the action of the people of God who sing, listen to scripture, praise and thank God, greet one another in peace, share in the Holy Communion of Christ and the Church and go forth to live and work in the world as bearers of the good news. It is our role to enter fully and deliberately into the celebration, to claim as our own those activities at liturgy that make us the sacramental sign of the Eucharist.
"Within the community of believers, the presbyter is another who possesses the power of orders to offer sacrifice in Christ." (General Instruction of the Roman Missal #68) The presider is the leader of, as well as a member of the gathered assembly. The presider greets the assembly and calls the community to prayer, introduces and concludes the petitions, leads the great Eucharistic prayer, leads the prayer after Communion and blesses the assembly. The presider serves the assembly and builds up its prayer by the way he speaks, sings, keeps silence and in general is at home with the flow of the liturgy. He is also most often the homilist.
Hospitality Minister/Usher: These individuals are often the first faces one meets upon entering the church. Their role is to make people feel welcome, help people meet one another, pass out information and assist those who may have special needs.
Music Ministry/Cantor: The choirs, cantors and instrumentalists are leaders of sung prayer. It is their role to enable all of the assembly to lift hearts and voices together as one. In special feasts and seasons there is often musical enhancement, solo work, or music offered for reflection. However, the goal of liturgical music is prayer, not performance. Musical competence is expected.Minister of the Eucharist: This special role makes it possible for the gathered assembly to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in a timely fashion so that we may eat and drink together. One-to-one attention is individual and total as the minister of either host or cup makes eye contact, addresses and touches each person.
Server: A server is an assistant to the presider. They are in charge of ritual objects: the book of prayers, setting the altar with bread and wine, setting plates and cups aside after Communion. They take care of candles, incense and the processional cross. They are trained to handle these objects and their duties with reverence.
Sacristan: The sacristan maintains the beauty of the church environment and tends to the physical well being of the assembly. They assist the presider in handling various preparatory details before Mass begins.
Note: some material taken from
Liturgy with Style and Grace by Gabe Huck
Questions for your reflection and prayer during the week:
What is your current understanding of the ministry of the assembly?
How does it feel to preside over a family meal? A meeting?
What qualities are needed to do it well?
How do you welcome guests into your home? How is the assembly best welcomed in church?
How does music affect your prayer? As a responder? As a listener?
What helps you to be attentive to the Word of God during liturgy?
Do you have beloved objects in your home? How do you treat them?
How does the eucharistic minister help you experience Jesus sharing his body and blood with you in communion?
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"The Church...earnestly desires that Christ's faithful when
present at [Mass], should not be there as strangers or silent spectators On the
contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take
part in the sacred action, conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and
full collaboration"
(Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 48).
"The uniformity in standing, kneeling, or sitting to be observed by all
taking part is a sign of the community and the unity of the assembly; it both
expresses and fosters the spiritual attitude of those taking part" (General
Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 20).
Body language expresses our inner sentiments. Although most people are unaware
of it, most of what a person is communicating at any moment is nonverbal —
genre, facial expression, body language. Body language has great influence on
our mental state and vice-versa For example "sitting back and
relaxing" is a very different experience than "sitting on the edge of
one's seat." At an athletic event, it is natural to stand up at a critical
moment of the game when something exciting happens. For a person to remain
seated at such a moment might indicate that the individual doesn't understand
the significance of what is happening, doesn't care - or is rooting for the
other team.
In addition to using body language to reflect our inner sentiments, every
culture uses particular postures and gestures to communicate. For example, it is
customary to stand during the singing of the national anthem. We bow our heads
during a moment of silence. We stand up to meet someone and shake hands. These
ritual postures communicate our intentions and our sentiments.
In the same way, our body language is a sign of our inner stance before God.
Even more importantly, our posture is part of our very prayer itself.
Attentiveness to posture and what it communicates can lead us to a prayer which
is richer and more expressive.
When we are called to kneel and genuflect, we should be conscious that each is a
sign of worship and petition.
When we are encouraged to bow, we should view this act as an act of deference
before God.
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"Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body for we all partake of the one loaf." |
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(1 Corinthians 10: 17) |
"Now you are Christ's body and individually parts of it." |
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(1 Corinthians 12: 27) |
When we celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy, we proclaim that Christ is present.
As we begin Mass, we are greeted with the words, "the Lord be with
you." Christ is present in his Word; he is the Word. Christ is present in
the consecrated elements of bread and wine ("the Eucharist.")
Although we most naturally identify "the Body of Christ" with "Communion," this is certainly not the only meaning we give to the phrase "the Body of Christ." One of the most ancient images of the Church is as "the Body of Christ." St. Paul wrote in his first' letter to the Corinthians, "As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit." (12: 12-13) Paul continues to develop the image of the Church community as a body very graphically, writing of hands and feet, eyes and ears, and relating individual members of the Church to the various parts of the body. He concludes by saying, "Now you are Christ's body and individually parts of it" (12: 27)(1 Corinthians 10: 17)
We are the Church, the people of God; it is proper to say that we ourselves are "the Body of Christ." We gather as the Body of Christ to be formed by his Word, and be nourished by his Body and Blood -- and so we are in communion with Christ and in communion with one another. There is a common saying, "you are what you eat." When we speak of the Eucharist, we believe that we become one with Christ; we become the Body of Christ. This is exactly what we pray in the third Eucharistic Prayer: "Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one Spirit in Christ." The Communion we receive makes us the Body of Christ; in a very real way, we become what we celebrate.
St. Augustine expresses this notion powerfully: "Thus if you wish to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle, who says to the believers. 'You are the body of Christ and his members' (1 Corinthians 12: 27). And thus, if you are the body of Christ and his members, it is your mystery which has been placed on the altar of the Lord; you receive your own mystery. You answer Amen' to what you are, and in answering it you accept it. For you hear, 'the body of Christ' and you answer Amen.' Be a member of Christ's body, so that your Amen' may be true." (Senno, 272)
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| The General Instruction speaks of the Eucharistic Prayer as "the center and summit of the entire celebration" by which the assembly joins itself to Christ in acknowledging the great things God has done and in offering the sacrifice." |
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(General Instruction of the Roman Missal, #54) |
The Eucharistic prayer recalls God's past works, proclaims God's activity on our behalf in the present, and invokes a future that surpasses our hopes and dreams. Expressed in ritual language which is both formal and beautiful, the Eucharistic Prayer summarizes what it means to celebrate Eucharist together.
Like so many elements of Christian worship, the Eucharistic Prayer originated in Jewish cultic life, especially in the prayer form known as the berakah. Jewish people prayed the berakah on both public and private occasions. Jesus used this kind of prayer at the Last Supper, i.e. a short formula over the bread and a longer formula over the wine, as was customary in Jewish meal practice.Although assuming various forms, the berakah prayer contains four elements:
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"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." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #14)
The early Christian community developed various postures for its prayer. They celebrated the Eucharist by standing with arms outstretched. Kneeling was used as a penitential action and in private prayer.
By the Middle Ages, theology emphasized the great power and majesty of God and the humility of the individual before God. Popular piety centered more and more on adoration of the all-holy and sovereign God at Mass rather than the prayer of the whole community. In light of the great holiness of God and the sacredness of the Host, kneeling in reverence, humility and adoration seemed far more appropriate than standing at the table of the Lord. It was during this time that kneelers were added to church buildings.In the reform of the Mass after Vatican II, the General Instruction decreed "... the people should stand ... from the prayer over the gifts to the end of Mass, with the exceptions below.... They should sit ... after communion if there is a period of silence. They should kneel at the consecration unless prevented by lack of space, large numbers, or other reasonable cause." (General Instruction on the Roman Missal, # 21) However, the Instruction also states, "The conference of bishops may adapt the actions and postures described in the Order of the Roman Mass to the usage of the people, but these adaptations must correspond to the character and meaning of each part of the celebration. (#21).
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States chose to make such an adaptation: "At its meeting in November, 1969, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops voted that in general the directives of the Roman Missal concerning the posture of the congregation at Mass should be left unchanged but that no. 21 of the General Instruction should be so adapted that the people kneel beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the eucharistic prayer, that is, before the Lord's Prayer. (Appendix To The General Instruction For the Dioceses Of The United States of America, #21 Actions and Postures)
The General Instruction states that adaptations in posture must correspond to the character and meaning of each part of the celebration. (#21) Continued reflection on the meaning of the Eucharistic prayer as the whole assembly's prayer of thanksgiving has led many liturgists to the conclusion that standing is the most appropriate posture during the Eucharistic prayer. In the second Eucharistic prayer we pray "we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you." Thus, it has been proposed that standing be the posture for all to assume during the Eucharistic prayer at the Community of St. Malachi.This proposed change is not against kneeling, but is considered because standing seems to better symbolizes the "rising" with Christ. As the Eucharistic prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving, it seems a more appropriate and affirming posture. Posture is symbolic of what we believe and which is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy states that "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." (#14) All members will be asked to provide feedback regarding the experience of standing during the Eucharistic prayer and to comment on the extent to which it enhances and promotes "our full and active participation." Your feedback will help make clear the actual desirability of making the practice of standing during the Eucharistic prayer the norm for the Community of St. Malachi.
· What posture helps you to pray and participate most fully during the Eucharistic prayer? Why?
Bibliography:
McCarron, Richard, The Eucharistic Prayer at Sunday Mass, Chicago,
liturgy Training Publications, Inc., 1997
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