The Year of the
Eucharist |
|
March Reflection
“The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord, in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ.” (Dei Verbum (DV) 21) Word and Sacrament must be understood as complementing each other – a dynamic relation. One must never be understood without the other. The Place of the Word The first major ritual action after the rites of assembling is the proclamation of the Word of God. It is in the liturgical assembly that the deepest encounter with the Word is achieved. The believer realises that scripture is not so much a book as a living word from God, a word which, when announced in the assembly, defines the very event that is underway. It takes on a life of its own. This is symbolically indicated by the de-emphasis on the Book of the Lectionary after the proclamation of the Gospel. When the Word is proclaimed, it finds its meaning, not in the text, but in the hearers. The priest is not encouraged to lift the Book. The emphasis is now away from the static text and becomes alive in the hearers of the Word. It is God’s meeting with a particular community in the here and now. The Event of the Word “This economy of Revelation is realised by deeds and words, which are intrinsically bound up with each other. As a result, the works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and bear out the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain.” (DV 2) The Word in the Liturgy proclaims the event of the sacramental celebration. Scripture becomes sacrament. Every proclamation of the Word in the liturgy is a unique moment: the event of Christ becomes the event of the Church, the assembly that here and now hears this Word. The Word proclaimed in the liturgy is the whole reality made present. The most complete example of this is found in the Liturgy of the Word at the Easter Vigil. The Meaning of the Word Lucien Deiss, in his book Celebration of the Word, underlines that to be a Eucharistic Church also means to be a biblical Church, for the heart of the sacred mysteries is found and explained in the word. “… Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). We need to answer the question “why”. The Israelites did so when their children asked them to explain what the Passover rite meant (Exodus 12-13). They did so by telling the story of the Exodus: how they came out of Egypt. We also explain the rite of our liturgy by telling the story of the Exodus of Jesus from this world to the Father, and in so doing we discover that we are living this exodus as well. We do so through the Word. The Word in the Liturgy tells us of the event: Jesus Christ, crucified and risen: crucified and risen in his church, and in each believer. The Word brings meaning to the Liturgy and it brings meaning to our lives. The Lectionary and the Word The experience of the Ethiopian eunuch on the desert route to Gaza (Acts 8:26-40) is an indication that from the earliest times there was a need to understand the mystery of Jesus Christ in terms of the Old Testament and a concerted effort to understand and interpret the Sacred Scriptures in light of Jesus Christ. As such, the present form of the Lectionary is constructed, not on the basis of any directive found in the Scriptures; rather, it is the faith of the Church that shapes the Lectionary and guides its interpretation. It is the mystery of Christ that provides the key to unlock the meaning of the Old Testament. Thus, it is the Gospel – the good news of and about Jesus Christ – that is the cornerstone of the Lectionary. In the structure of the Sunday Lectionary, it is the Gospel that is read semi-continuously while appropriate passages from the whole of the Old Testament are coordinated so as to confirm and explain the gospel. The structure of the Lectionary testifies to the harmony between the two testaments. And the gospel throws a light on the first testament. The structure of the Liturgy of the Word follows the order of salvation history; it begins with a text from the Old Testament and comes to its climax in the Gospel. Everything points to Christ! PASTORAL FOCUS 1. Do I prepare for the Liturgy by loving the Word? Do I love the word by spending time in lectio? 2. Spirituality of Lector to be nourished by the Word. Do I regularly and often ponder on God’s Word? Do I prepare well to deliver the Reading with conviction, clarity and charity? 3. Do I pay as much attention to the Liturgy of the Word as I do to the Rite of Communion?
|
