Posted on 03/21/2006 5:00:47 PM PST by NYer
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Jesus was a liturgist -- in the sense that he made his whole life a liturgy, says a theologian-consultor to the Vatican.
Discalced Carmelite Father Jesús Castellano recently published a book, "Liturgy and Spiritual Life: Theology, Celebration, Experience," through the Library of Barcelona's Center of Liturgical Pastoral Care.
Father Castellano is a professor at the Teresianum Faculty of Rome and consultor in the Vatican congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith; for Clergy; and for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
He shared some ideas about the liturgy in this interview with ZENIT.
Q: Is it true, as we read in your book, that we are going through a moment of salutary crisis of the liturgy?
Father Castellano: The Fathers of last October's Synod were very much concerned with giving a new splendor and beauty to the liturgy.
Among the most important topics were the propositions that speak of mystagogy, a very beautiful word of Christian antiquity which comprises catechetical initiation, the worthy celebration of the mysteries and assimilation in life.
There has been much talk of the art of celebrating. I believe, therefore, that a salutary crisis of the liturgy must lead us to know better what we celebrate, to celebrate in a more worthy manner the mystery of Christ in our life and to assimilate better what we celebrate, to manifest in life what we have received in the sacrament.
Q: Was Jesus a "liturgist"?
Father Castellano: He certainly was. He is so called in the Letter to the Hebrews, but with a very special connotation.
Jesus made his whole life a liturgy; he transmits to us the word and the Father's sanctification, with all his works of love toward men, and leads us to the Father with his prayer, his oblation and his obedience to the worship of love.
This is why the paschal mystery -- from the Supper to the cross and the resurrection -- is the high point of Christ's liturgy, of his life lived as a liturgy pleasing to the Father and perfectly sanctifying. This is the priesthood and worship of Christ.
Christian liturgy is the memorial, the ritual celebration, with words, gestures, prayers, of Jesus' life, of his mysteries, and in a particular way, of his paschal mystery.
Christian liturgy is the celebration of Christ's life itself, of the signs he has left us, of the mysteries he lived and now offers us so that we will live them.
Q: You allude to a "living liturgy." Do you think that in some cases the liturgy is not sufficiently alive?
Father Castellano: A living liturgy, exactly as I see it and try to celebrate it, is a liturgy in which we give primordial value, in the first place, to the living and sharing of faith, hope and love.
It is the liturgy which has a vitality in the Holy Spirit, in the presence of Christ, in communion with the Father, in an awareness of celebrating with the whole Church, in the communion of saints.
Starting from this indispensable condition, a living liturgy is that which values the word, gestures, prayer, the whole symbolic world of Christian worship, in a harmony of orthodoxy and orthopraxis of the texts and rites that the Church proposes to us, with a dignity and beauty capable of evangelizing today's world, which can still relish the beauty of God and recover the meaning of the mystery that envelops him.
Q: As a child, Pope Benedict XVI relished the liturgy with the German missals and became interested in the liturgical movement. What was this movement?
Father Castellano: The liturgical movement in Germany was altogether a resurgence of initiatives to know better and celebrate in a more conscious way the Church's liturgy, to favor the participation of the faithful and to recover the treasures of the Church of the first centuries.
Although there were some exaggerations, the liturgical movement was very positive in the liturgical and pastoral realm and gave new impulse to a Christian life more centered on the Bible, on the paschal mystery of Christ, on Christian initiation, on the recovery of liturgical times. Romano Guardini was a teacher of Ratzinger's thought on liturgy.
Q: How are liturgy and politics related?
Father Castellano: We must understand well what politics is. If it is understood, as the Pope explains in his encyclical, as a dimension of charity, which influences the life of society and shapes it according to the exigencies of the Kingdom of heaven, if it widens in love the dignity of all of God's children, if it is commitment to a new world, according to the will of the Father and the doctrine of the Gospel, then the liturgy leads as a consequence to a "political charity," as Pius XI called it.
In my book I quote a famous phrase of St. John Chrysostom who invites us to live the charity that comes from the Eucharist: to live charity with brothers "so that the earth will become heaven."
It is not utopian to think that the Kingdom of God begins on this earth when what is celebrated in the liturgy is lived in daily experience.
At the risk of redundancy, I am posting the following for the benefit of those who are new to the 'Catholic Pint List'.
Although it is not widely known in our Western world, the Catholic Church is actually a communion of Churches. According to the Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, the Catholic Church is understood to be "a corporate body of Churches," united with the Pope of Rome, who serves as the guardian of unity (LG, no. 23). At present there are 22 Churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The new Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, uses the phrase "autonomous ritual Churches" to describe these various Churches (canon 112). Each Church has its own hierarchy, spirituality, and theological perspective. Because of the particularities of history, there is only one Western Catholic Church, while there are 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. The Western Church, known officially as the Latin Church, is the largest of the Catholic Churches. It is immediately subject to the Roman Pontiff as Patriarch of the West. The Eastern Catholic Churches are each led by a Patriarch, Major Archbishop, or Metropolitan, who governs their Church together with a synod of bishops. Through the Congregation for Oriental Churches, the Roman Pontiff works to assure the health and well-being of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
While this diversity within the one Catholic Church can appear confusing at first, it in no way compromises the Church's unity. In a certain sense, it is a reflection of the mystery of the Trinity. Just as God is three Persons, yet one God, so the Church is 22 Churches, yet one Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this nicely:
"From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them... Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions. The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity" (CCC no. 814).
Although there are 22 Churches, there are only eight "Rites" that are used among them. A Rite is a "liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony," (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 28). "Rite" best refers to the liturgical and disciplinary traditions used in celebrating the sacraments. Many Eastern Catholic Churches use the same Rite, although they are distinct autonomous Churches. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Melkite Catholic Church are distinct Churches with their own hierarchies. Yet they both use the Byzantine Rite.
To learn more about the "two lungs" of the Catholic Church, visit this link:
The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15).
To locate an Eastern Catholic Church in your community, follow the following link:
Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.
A Roman rite Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic Liturgy and fulfill his of her obligations at any Eastern Catholic Parish. A Roman rite Catholic may join any Eastern Catholic Parish and receive any sacrament from an Eastern Catholic priest, since all belong to the Catholic Church as a whole. I am a Roman Catholic practicing my faith at a Maronite Catholic Church. Like the Chaleans, the Maronites retain Aramaic for the Consecration. It is as close as one comes to being at the Last Supper.
Scott Hahn’s The Lamb's Supper - The Mass as Heaven on Earth.
Foreword by Fr. Benedict Groeschel.
Part One - The Gift of the Mass
Hahn begins by describing the first mass he ever attended.
"There I stood, a man incognito, a Protestant minister in plainclothers, slipping into the back of a Catholic chapel in Milwaukee to witness my first Mass. Curiosity had driven me there, and I still didn't feel sure that it was healthy curiosity. Studying the writings of the earliest Christians, I'd found countless references to "the liturgy," "the Eucharist," "the sacrifice." For those first Christians, the Bible - the book I loved above all - was incomprehensible apart from the event that today's Catholics called "the Mass."
"I wanted to understand the early Christians; yet I'd had no experience of liturgy. So I persuaded myself to go and see, as a sort of academic exercise, but vowing all along that I would neither kneel nor take part in idolatry."
I took my seat in the shadows, in a pew at the very back of that basement chapel. Before me were a goodly number of worshipers, men and women of all ages. Their genuflections impressed me, as did their apparent concentration in prayer. Then a bell rang, and they all stood as the priest emerged from a door beside the altar.
Unsure of myself, I remained seated. For years, as an evangelical Calvinist, I'd been trained to believe that the Mass was the ultimate sacrilege a human could commit. The Mass, I had been taught, was a ritual that purported to "resacrifice Jesus Christ." So I would remain an observer. I would stay seated, with my Bible open beside me.
As the Mass moved on, however, something hit me. My Bible wasn't just beside me. It was before me - in the words of the Mass! One line was from Isaiah, another from Psalms, another from Paul. The experience was overwhelming. I wanted to stop everything and shout, "Hey, can I explain what's happening from Scripture? This is great!" Still, I maintained my observer status. I remained on the sidelines until I heard the priest pronounce the words of consecration: "This is My body . . . This is the cup of My blood."
Then I felt all my doubt drain away. As I saw the priest raise that white host, I felt a prayer surge from my heart in a whisper: "My Lord and my God. That's really you!"
I was what you might call a basket case from that point. I couldn't imagine a greater excitement than what those words had worked upon me. Yet the experience was intensified just a moment later, when I heard the congregation recite: "Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God," and the priest respond, "This is the Lamb of God . . ." as he raised the host. In less than a minute, the phrase "Lamb of God" had rung out four times. From long years of studying the Bible, I immediately knew where I was. I was in the Book of Revelation, where Jesus is called the Lamb no less than twenty-eight times in twenty-two chapters. I was at the marriage feast that John describes at the end of that very last book of the Bible. I was before the throne of heaven, where Jesus is hailed forever as the Lamb. I wasn't ready for this, though - I was at Mass!
So we have a PINT list now? Is it BYOB or are you buying? :-)
Lol ... do you prefer stout or lager ;-)?
I no longer drink, but I'm sure there's a bunch of good Irish Catholics who would be happy to take you up on your offer!
Our priest says Mass at our Roman Catholic Church at 9 am then books it up the hill to the little Byzantine Rite church. I haven't ventured up the hill yet with the little ones but hope to soon. He's an amazing priest. Best kept secret in our diocese!
Follow him! Take the little ones up the hill to the Byzantine Church. They will be totally mesmorized by the chant, incense and icons .... and so will you :-)
I second NYer's suggestion! When I was on vacation almost two years ago in Williamsburg, I'd been warned by some good friends not to go to the local Latin Rite parish because it was loosey-goosey. Instead, I attended Divine Liturgy at the Byzantine Rite parish in Williamsburg (it was my first time at a Byzantine parish). WOW! Reverent, beautiful, splendid! If I had not happened to find through good friends here my current parish that I've been attending for two and a half years, I'd likely be an Eastern Rite Catholic.
Thank you for the push! I may wait until the weather is a little warmer but I do plan on going. Honestly, I'd follow Father across town if I had to! I'm so afraid that they will take him away. Is it wrong to be so attached to a priest? After years and years of unpleasant church experiences I look forward to church every week. I even go more often now!
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