Robert
Taft provides a very interesting perspective on the understanding of what
liturgy means. In our course text,
Sacraments and Worship, Taft offers that “liturgy is not just ritual, not just
a cult, not just the worship we offer God.
It is fist of all God’s coming to us in Christ” (82). He further
describes his thoughts in that liturgy is not singular or individualistic, but rather
the amalgamation of many parts of the whole, joining together in worship to
celebrate together as the Body of Christ.
Nathan Mitchell describes liturgy the in the form of “not something
beautiful we do for God, but something beautiful God does for us and among us”
(97). He further states that “our work
is to feed the hungry, to refresh the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to care for
the sick, to shelter the homeless; to visit the imprisoned; to welcome the
stranger; to open our hands and hearts to the vulnerable and the needy”
(97). He describes a movement that
starts in the form of a ritual, but moves beyond the ritual into that of a
performance of action.
Prior to
this assignment’s readings, I may have overlooked the significance of the
concept of such a liturgical dynamics. I
previously held an understanding of liturgy as mere public display of worship
or traditional acts of the church. I now
understand the dynamics of liturgy in a far more meaningful sense. I now understand it in the context of an
overarching energy or sorts. This energy
exists because we as Christians combine our dynamic energies toward an active
and participatory performance of our faith.
It is the outpouring of our faith in expression beyond that of a show,
but more so as a collective dynamic towards the will of God.
We can
use Newton’s 1st and 2nd Law of Motion to help us
understand this liturgical concept. For
the purposes of this blog, I’ll call it the Liturgical Law of Motion
Dynamics. In Newton’s first law, an
object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity
unless acted upon. His second law,
states that the force of an object is equal to the mass of the object
multiplied by the acceleration of the object (you may be familiar with F=ma). In our Law of of Motion Dynamics, we are like
the objects that remain at rest, until the Holy Spirit, through the Grace of
God, moves us into active participation in the community of faith. Our active participation can be explained by
the second law, in which we are like the object (mass) that is multiplied by
the acceleration (a) of our faith. This
mass (us) and the acceleration of our faith (acceleration) is equal to the
force that we make in fulfilling our expression of faith, hope and love. In other words: Force = Mass x Acceleration can also be describes
as Dynamic Faith Force = Us x Active Faith.
How large is our Dynamic Faith Force?
Amos,
ReplyDeleteI, like you, found Robert Taft’s description of the Liturgy as something that “moves beyond the ritual into that of a performance of action” very thought provoking. Unfortunately, some people see Liturgy as just something we do to meet our obligation to attend services or Mass. As Taft points out, it is so much more than that, “Sacrament, that is liturgy, is the existential, common expression of God’s self-giving in Christ” (207). He maintains that, “It is through the Liturgy that God feeds us, and we live” (209). When I worship with my church community, the Spirit’s presence seems tangible in the community of faithful people who are living out their faith; their very presence expresses their hope in the salvation brought about by Christ Jesus. As we process, listen to the Word, sing, move as one, share the “meal” that is Christ’s body, we are Church. And, Taft maintains that Christ’s presence is “dependent on the faith of the Church” and the “individual faith” that is “personalized in each of us” (207). “In worship the sources by which religion lives are made visible, its expectations and hopes are expressed and the forces which sustain it are made known” (208).
Like Taft, I have heard many people remark that “they don’t get anything out of” going to church. I try to school my directees on the parts of the Mass and what they mean. Even some of those who are cradle Catholics really do not understand the Mass entirely. I tell them that Mass is a place where we are fed with life giving food by Christ himself, who gives us new life. It is a place where we receive the grace to become Christ-like. Taft leads us to this conclusion when he points us to Gal 2:20, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”
I found it easy to get lost in this week's reading. So much discussion and details about liturgy. Does prayer drive belief or belief drive prayer? The protestants see it one way, the Catholics the other. I saw an interview with Sr. Joan Chittister who likened religions to fingers pointing at the moon, toward God. Religion/liturgy is designed to help us point our lives toward God. As you, Amos, described in your Liturgical Law of Motion Dynamics, we must be accelerated by faith. I admit that I was one of those people saying that mass and the priest didn't feed me. I am embracing the idea that we feed each other in the unity of the liturgy. What we get out of mass or worship and is what we bring to it. Some are moved by sacrament snd others by fellowship. I agree with Lawyer in that some times theology over complicates spiritual matters. If religion or liturgy is designed to bring us into the awareness of God's presence and to move us into action than is the discussion of lex orandi lex credendi critical in bringing us there? We were all created uniquely and God speaks to us each in our own way. It seems that as long as we continue to actively seek God and to do his will, then we will all be united in Him even if we find him through different modes of operating.
ReplyDeleteFriends,
ReplyDeleteI just inadvertantly deleted a response to your post and comments. I'll try to recreate my main point quickly.
1- Taft and Mitchell do a good job of explicating the soteriology of liturgy and Grace through the Spirit as the initial movement in the church's sacramental life in their essays for this week.
2- Taft's quote from Langemeyer which identifies liturgy as dialogue - Wort und Antwort - was the key revelatory piece for me. Liturgy is a call and response between Creation and Creator.
3- On this note, both Taft and Mitchell fail to connect in a meaningful way to the cosmic liturgy of creation. As much as the church is a a "primordial sacrament," the Universe is much if not more so, for God has given a pure gift of self through Creation. The Cosmos signifies and mediates God's presence to creation. God has loved all of Creation. That love is expressed concretely in history through creation. We love God only as created beings through creation. Thomas Berry often referred to Creation as an unfolding narrative. It is also a sacramental liturgy by which God loves and through the Spirit evokes our love in return. (Mitchell 353)
4- I sympathize with those who say they "don't get much out of (church)." Often enough I don't either. I will admit that it must be partially because I am not giving enough of my self to specific celebration (because of distractions, infrequent attendance, etc). But I can't help thinking that a lack of connection with the concrete expression of Christian faith - love of neighbor in the person of the poor - is as much to blame. How connected are the people kneeling in the pews with the people sleeping on the streets? "Can a church that does not feed the poor celebrate the Eucharist?" Mitchell asks.