Liturgy Corner #2

One of the changes in emphasis in the Liturgy that was brought about by the Vatican Council was a new focus on the different ways in which Jesus is present to His People during the Mass. In particular, four ways or 'modes' in which He is present were highlighted: in the person of the priest, in the People assembled, in His Word as it is proclaimed, and in His Eucharist (cf. 2nd Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, #7). The Bishops teach that it is important for us to have a good understand of this: "In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the eucharistic mystery, the faithful should be instructed in the principal modes by which the Lord is present to His Church in liturgical celebrations." (Sacred Congregation of Rites, On Worship of the Eucharist, #9).
T ery important, because if we are consciously aware of the different ways in which Jesus is present at our Liturgies, we will be more present to Him during the entire Liturgy. This will help keep us from treating parts of the Mass as unimportant or from too narrowly focusing on only one aspect, e.g. His Eucharist presence. We will be able to more fully cooperate with His grace and the entire Liturgy will be the act of worship that God intends it to be.

In the last Liturgy Corner I focused on one of the aspects of how Jesus is present: in the full, active, and conscious participation of His People. As the Vatican Council taught: "He is present when the Church prays and sings, for He has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in My Name there I am in the midst of them.'" (2nd Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, #7). The more we fully, actively, consciously participate in the Liturgy, the more we are actually gathering in His Name, the more we will be open to the experience of His presence and give Him the worship that He deserves.

Another way in which He is present concerns the Word of God: "He is present in His Word since it is He Himself Who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in Church." (2nd Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, #7). The way Jesus is present to us in the Word of God proclaimed at the Liturgy is of great significance to us as Catholics: "Christ, present in His own word, is proclaiming the Gospel." (Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, General Instruction of the Roman Missal, #9). Therefore, we should bear in mind that what is happening during the proclamation of the Scriptures is not simply 'listening to a reading from the Bible,' in a very real way, in fact even similar to the Consecration itself, Jesus is being made present to His People and we would do well to honor and respect His presence as He is being proclaimed. This connection between the presence of Jesus in His Word and in His Body and Blood was pointed out by the bishops during the Vatican Council: "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord, in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ. (2nd Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, #21)

Tfont size=+0>he bishops teach that Scripture and the Liturgy of the Word are of great importance to us as Catholics. But this is particularly important to us as a charismatic parish. The American bishops stated that one of the positive fruits they saw concerning the charismatic renewal was how charismatic Catholics "are attracted to the reading of the Scriptures." (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Report of the American Bishops, November 1969). We (the priest team of Christ the King) think that it is appropriate at our Liturgies to continue to highlight the importance we place on the proclamation of God's Word by adding our own unique acclamation before the first reading: "This is the Word of God, this is wisdom from on high, let us be attentive to it, believe it, and obey it." By doing this, we not only honor the American bishops' observation about us, we honor in a special way how Jesus Himself has brought us as a People to treasure and honor His Word. As we choose to honor the presence of Jesus during the Liturgy of the Word, we grow in our understanding of this very important part of the Mass and we also grow in our understanding of its relationship to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, so that we may see that they "are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship." (2nd Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, #56)

In the Liturgy Commission section of our bulletin we are printing the Scripture citations for the given Sundays of the month. This is so that folks, who are so inclined, may prayerfully reflect on those Scriptures prior to the Sunday Mass where they will be proclaimed. The advantage of this is that when we spend time reflecting on and treasuring His Word, we prepare our hearts and minds to more deeply receive His presence and His wisdom when His Word is solemnly proclaimed to us in the Liturgy. Some folks in the parish actually incorporate that into their Lord's Day celebrations. You might consider adding reflecting on the coming Sunday's Scriptures to your personal prayer and Scripture time during the week. Folks who do that generally experience a richer sense of His presence during the Sunday Liturgy as well as a deeper reception of His truth--they have prepared the good soil for the Word to dwell richly in.

Concerning the Liturgy of the Word, there is a change we will be making in the Liturgy that has been requested by the American bishops and granted by the Vatican. In all of the American parishes, the acclamations following the readings are being changed: after the first and second readings from "This is the Word of the Lord" to "The Word of the Lord"; after the Gospel from "This is the Gospel of the Lord" to "The Gospel of the Lord." Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, the president of the National Council of Catholic Bishops, explained that there were two reasons that prompted the American Bishops to ask for the change. First, because the change is a more accurate translation of what the Mass's Latin text actually says. In the Latin text, the people's response after the readings is simply "Verbum Domini" -- (The) "Word of the Lord." So this new translation is actually more faithful to the official Latin text of the Mass. The second reason was that the Bishops thought there was some confusion among the faithful as to what was being acclaimed at that point in the Liturgy. For example, when the lector holds up the Lectionary and says "This is the Word of the Lord", is he or she talking about the book itself, or the reading he or she has just proclaimed? In fact, the acclamation is supposed to be in relation to what was proclaimed, not the book. The bishops felt that by deleting the "This is" from the acclamation, it would be perhaps less ambiguous, i.e. point not to the book but to the content of what has been proclaimed. In order to help reduce that ambiguity, we will also no longer elevate the lectionary before or after the readings. Jesus is not present because the book is there, He is present in the actual content of the Good News as it is proclaimed to us. In a real sense, the Word of God proclaims the Word of God to the People He loves. That is what we are acclaiming. May Christ the King, Who calls us to be His own, truly teach us how to grow in our love and relationship with Him through His Holy Word!