The world of liturgy

LET’S take advantage of the fever generated by the celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Nino to talk a little about the world of liturgy. It’s a reality that is often taken for granted, or badly reduced, distorted and misunderstood, and yet it is actually the beginning and end of our deepest beliefs and the culmination of our Christianity here on earth.

            As the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, liturgy is the “celebration of the mystery of Christ” through which the sanctification of humankind takes place. It’s a public worship offered by the whole Church as one organic body, with Christ as head and us as its members. (218) It’s a joint effort between Christ and us.

            As the “sacred action par excellence”, it is therefore the “summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed and it is likewise the font from which all her power flows.” (219)

            Even with this brief and general description of the liturgy, we can readily sense that a lot of catechizing is needed, since the very concept and reality of liturgy is so rich and complex, open to all kinds of insights and interpretations, both correct and incorrect, that we, especially the Church leaders, should not stop studying and preaching.

            We have to make everyone understand that our Christian life cannot be but liturgical in character, since it is in the liturgy that our sanctification is achieved not solely through our good intentions, best efforts and even heroic efforts, but rather mainly and indispensably through the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, our Redeemer. We are only co-redeemers. We cannot redeem ourselves without him.

            This is a truth that should not be left confined only in the world of the academe, the seminaries, churches, etc. It has to run far and wide, and should so enter deep into the mind and heart of everyone that it becomes a guiding principle in one’s Christianity.

            Of course, together with widely sowing this truth about the essentially liturgical character of our Christian life, we should polish and deepen our practice and participation of the liturgy.

            This is a most dynamic and complex area of concern that nevertheless should be reined in. Thus, we have to understand that our proper understanding of it, not to mention its proper exercise, requires nothing less than a continuing formation, both on the part of the Church leaders and the ordinary faithful.

            While laws and rules are necessary to regulate it, we have to realize that such laws and rules need to be constantly polished, updated, purified, revised, etc., because while there are essential things that should remain constant, there also are many other incidental things around it that need to adapt with the many changing circumstances.

            Especially these days when the changing circumstances are not only fast-paced but also are multiplying, we need to have a good grip on what is essential about it and what is incidental. Otherwise, there will be a lot of confusion and unfair situations, often giving way to superstitions and wrong practices.

            Vatican II, for example, has stipulated that there should be massive liturgical instruction and active participation in the liturgy among the lay faithful. I suppose a lot of things have been done to reach this objective, but still a lot more need to be done.

            On the one hand, there are any cases where liturgy seems to be held captive by groups labelled as conservatives and traditionalists, and on the other, by groups branded as liberals and progressives, etc.

            I imagine that each one has something valid to say, and so it’s imperative that an ongoing discussion and process of sorting out things has to be done in the different levels of the Church structure that should observe its proper hierarchy. We should stop, or at least minimize the air of tension and acrimony among the different groups.

            Everyone should be given a chance to air his views, presuming that everyone should also make due study before articulating his positions. We have to avoid the impression that the liturgy is too static, too legalistic, too Roman or too African, or too dynamic, too vague, etc.

            We have to observe the essential of the liturgy in as perfect a unity as possible, while respecting the legitimate diversity that can arise from the incidental aspects of liturgy, for example, in the area of the varied cultures in the world. Unity is never to be understood as uniformity.

            Thus, the crucial part is to know which is essential and which is incidental in the liturgy.