Father's Notebook - November 12, 2019

Greetings brothers and sisters,

In these past few days and in the days to come, there are lots of liturgical workshops for various roles in the Mass. My desire is that we can come together to learn and clarify what it is that we do in the liturgy as well as why we do what we do. Our liturgical tradition goes back even to the Jewish temple in Jesus’ time, and much of what we do is imbued with meaning, symbolism and wisdom.

Often there is a desire for the Church to become “relevant” and the temptation is to make the liturgy “relevant”. But the danger is that sometimes in doing so, we can also strip the liturgy of all transcendence and grace. 

We must have the same attitude of humility as St. Paul when it comes to liturgy:

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” – 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

The beautiful liturgy which was the fruit of thousands of years of encountering God in worship that has been handed on to us, we must also handle it with care and reverence. 

“The glory of God is the living man, but the life of man is the vision of God', says St. Irenaeus, getting to the heart of what happens when man meets God on the mountain in the wilderness. Ultimately, it is the very life of man, man himself as living righteously, that is the true worship of God, but life only becomes real life when it receives its form from looking toward God.”  ― Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), The Spirit of the Liturgy

In the last year, Fr. Victor had instituted a year of the Bible, in which the parish turned it’s focus to the sacred scriptures and the word of God. In the following liturgical year, beginning with Advent, I hope to begin a Year of the Liturgy, in which we turn our focus to what is the liturgy, what has the Church taught throughout the centuries, and how do we encounter God in the liturgy.

As always, I will offer a Mass for all of you and you are in my prayers.

Pax,

Fr. Khoi