How do we Understand Ritual?

In today’s secular world, rituals are another fancier word we use to describe parts of our daily routine. Cooke and Macy write about how part of our daily experiences of growing up become part of a ritual of sorts, everything from the time of day we eat and what we wear to our relationships with our family such as daily meals and conversations. We develop and continue to change and adapt our rituals as they fit our current state of life (Cooke and Macy 25-26). Why do we eat at certain times? Why is it that we went to formal education, go to college, and then get a job? Perhaps it could be part of our culture, or our growing up (Cooke and Macy 26). As we grow older, we begin to question our beliefs and our routines we have; when we become adults and/or have our own families, we can decide in a way some of the rituals we want for our family to be the same and what to change.

There are also special ceremonial rituals, including graduations, fraternity initiations, and debutantes. There are Sacramental religious ceremonies: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Cooke and Macy stated that the point of marriage was union of two families and hope that their offspring would carry on family legacy. It’s interesting they wrote that while in some cases the couple could grow to love one another, that was not usually a goal (Cooke and Macy 28). This reminds me of the arranged marriages of old, royal families. Perhaps that’s why much of the royalty – even many “Religious” ones! – had affairs. Cooke and Macy write that Marriage we know is really part of close friendship – the kinship of two people who mutually admire, respect, and love one another. Over time, the idea of marriage and friendship would merge in the Christians’ eyes. Christians understood “that friendship and love is not simply fundamental to a marriage but even as a powerful symbol of the deep friendship and love that exists between God and humans” (Cooke and Macy 29). I remember teaching my students how Covenant of Marriage was between a couple who freely and knowingly entered into a union of love between themselves and God. In this Covenant they were to be faithful and exclusive, and also open to children, the ultimate gift of God’s love from the couple.

I also read that the word, Sacramentum, is different from what we assume to be Sacrament. It’s fascinating that in history, Sacramentum was referred to as specific examples such as the water in Baptism and the Bread and Wine in Eucharist. Baptism and Eucharist are the Sacraments we know; however, they are not the Sacraments that would have been translated by St. Thomas Aquinas. Instead, these “Sacraments” as known by Aquinas are really what we know as the Rituals of the Baptism and Eucharist (Cooke and Macy 37-38). We need the water in Baptism because part of that Ritual is pouring the water on the person’s head. The Bread and the Wine of course become consecrated into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Eucharistic Prayer. Without these Rituals, the Sacraments we know would not be possible. Many Rituals still accompany Christians today – as they are part of the symbolic impact of Jesus Christ from His birth – the Nativity Story in Advent and Christmas – to His death, Passion and Resurrection during Lent and Easter (Cooke and Macy 39). These Rituals help us understand our role as Catholics and Christians in the world, as well as help us understand the Ministry of Christ. Without these Rituals – and our daily Rituals – our life would not be ordered. God has instilled these rituals to order us – from when we wake up to what we wear to when we go to Mass and pray and love and serve God. For that, I am thankful for Rituals.