Sunday, March 17, 2013
Liturgy, Symbol, and Ritual
Good evening guys,
I'll begin this blog with words from Taft when he wrote, "Liturgy is not a thing but a meeting of persons, the celebration of and the expression of an experiential relationship: our relation to God and to one another in Christ through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, then, is the enabler of Christian worship" (Taft, 197). So often people of God get caught up in our own power, to which there is none without God, we seem to forget that it is through the Holy Spirit we are able to communicate directly to God; without interference from the "enemy". The bible says in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth". We need the presence of the Holy Spirit in order to ensure that our service is fit for God to be a part of. This is probably one of the most important aspects of any church I call home (the presence of the Holy Spirit).
I had an idea about why it seems people get confused about the Sacraments, and how it relates to society as a whole; it may be the use of the term rituals. We sometimes forget that not all rituals are associated to the occult or some form of witchcraft. By simply sharing the Eucharist, we participate in a ritual of remembrance of the last supper. We are reminded everytime we partake in Holy Communion, of how Christ died for the remission of our sins. The book, Ritual and Verbal Image, written by David Power has a passage which states, "In this century, a greater distinction must be made between acts of Christian worship and those rituals, formal or informal, whereby members of the churches effect their relations to the body social and politic" (Power, pg. 190). This equates to the passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that reads, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land".
In other words, Christians have to come together on one accord, not focusing on whether or not one is Episcopalian or Methodist, and make our works be about the Holy Trinity. The world is in the state it's in because the people of God cannot agree upon how we should best serve Him. I'm ranting now guys, what do y'all think?
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Thank you for getting the conversation going on this Simone! You rightly point out that the word "ritual" may carry a negative connotation to it, especially if the mind jumps to the occult as the immediate association.
ReplyDeleteI think the Power chapter was helpful in showing how rituals are simply culture's way of marking meaning. Rituals of the occult are just one very specific example of a much broader human tendency to symbolize and express meaning. Not all rituals are religious. College football has its own set of rituals. A birthday celebration has its own set of rituals. New Orleans culture has its own set of rituals (red beans Monday, cat fish Friday?)
The value of ritual in a religious context is that it helps order our reality and point us toward our root metaphor, the Paschal Mystery. Looking forward to a great conversation! Blessings, DZSJ
Simone, I appreciated how you shared Taft's idea of liturgy as a meeting of persons with God and with one another, and a celebration of those relationships. It made me wonder how I celebrate those in my life out side the liturgy as well as during the liturgy.In the reading for class I especially found myself reflecting on Chupungco's descriptions of symbols in the liturgy. "Liturgical symbols elevate the reality of our day-to-day lives to the higher plane of human existence" (160). The gifts we bring to the altar, the act of saying each liturgical prayer, the sign of peace, each of these symbols and rituals point to something transcendent and the liturgy is how we come to understand and feel that transcendent presence in those things that in another context may be viewed as "ordinary".
ReplyDeleteChupungco also states that sacraments are "Signs and symbols that embody, reveal, and communicate the real presence of Christ and his mystery" (159). In mass on Sunday I was remembering the discussion in class when Daniella explained to us that the offering of the gifts at mass is also an offering of ourselves, just as we are to God. After the mass we are called to carry on the celebration and feast we have just celebrated with one another in our day-to-day lives.
Sorry I accidentally hit publish before I was finished! I really like how Chupungco described the symbols of the sacraments. "Through bodily contact with the sacramental bread, water, and oil recipients enter or deepen their relationship with the Divine Persons" (159). When we celebrate the Paschal Mystery and literally eat Jesus' Body and Blood, Chupungco has reminded me of the Divine purpose in that. We are meant to be changed and become more like Jesus, and closer to Jesus and the Trinity through this sacrament. So in the Eucharist I have actions that must follow the sacrament, I must work to become more like Jesus through my words and actions.
DeleteDear Class,
ReplyDeleteSimone, thanks for such a lively start…Rant On! While I lean very heavily toward meditative encounters, many times it feels that we lack genuine passion in our expression of liturgy. My experience with “the frozen chosen” can generally be attributed to fear of change evidenced in excessively unyielding interpretations of the “General Norms” by priests, pastors and their patrons. It is interesting to note that in our V2 readings of “The Reform of the Sacred Liturgy,” there is a mandate (A-3) that nothing be “added, removed or changed,” yet soon after (D-37), we are encouraged that “Even in the liturgy the church does not wish to impose a rigid uniformity…rather does it cultivate and foster the qualities and talents of the various races and nations.” For me these are not either/or directives, but both/and whereby the balance beam between them is encapsulated in how we define and validate ritual. If we view it as an end in itself and not as the means to something greater, then we are ensconced within the rut of repetition. Seeing the broader spectrum, however, would honor the ritual in the way we as a community embrace in commnio, the remembering of a noble walk that has brought us into this shared reality that is the Mystical Body of Christ. This is the Pauline approach to liturgy that Taft speaks of in his second theses as “this same reality…the same pattern…Jesus Christ in us.” The frightening thing is that this Body is bigger than us, more powerful than us, refuses to be restrained by us, cannot be controlled by us and yet …is guiding us, protecting us, inspiring us. Sounds so like the Holy Spirit.
Dear Class,
ReplyDeleteSimone, thanks getting our conversation started, I am enjoying reflecting on the idea of ritual as it relates to liturgy and relationship with God. Rose, I especially liked your comments on how symbols represent and communicate our ideas and understanding of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In reading Taft, I am beginning to realize that sacraments and liturgy serve as a bridge of reality from the divine world to our human world of existence. Experiencing liturgy, in the active and fully engaged way, as the Sacrosanctum Concilium suggests, has the power to transform people. This is echoed in Taft, who says that the “purpose of Eucharist is to change you and me” (Taft, 201). This gives new meaning to what it means for me to participate in liturgy and partake in the Eucharist. With this potential, Walter I can understand how disappointing it would be for what you said was a lack of passion for liturgy.
An interesting thought I wanted to share relates to a quote from Sacrosantcum Concilium found in paragraph 6, which discusses how Jesus was sent and thus sent the apostles, “by preaching the gospel to every creature [14], they might proclaim that the Son of God, by His death and resurrection, had freed us.” The ritual of sharing the Word and Eucharist together remind us of our salvation through Jesus Christ. When I read this, I connected the “preaching the gospel to every creature” phrase to Pope Francis homily from his installation mass. He asks, “let us be ‘protectors’ of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.” Thus, it seems as though salvation truly is meant for everyone and to be proclaimed to all God’s creation. The rituals and symbols we use to mediate and recall and experience God’s presence come from the very things of this world - God's creation. It makes me trace back all of the elements used in liturgy oil, wine, bread, the wood that the cross is made out of, the cells in our bodies, the things we put in our bodies, and all of creation that we pass on our way to Church to celebrate liturgy together. So, all God’s creation then must be safeguarded so that they can effectively and authentically transmit and communicate the good news.