Reverent Worship

The idea of an ongoing "Liturgical War" is something that I often come across in conversations and in perusing social media sites.  On the one side are the actions objectively classified as "liturgical abuses" that are practiced day-in and day-out by many of the faithful…many out of ignorance of the "abusive" nature of their actions.  On the other side are the actions that don't subjectively fit into the Tridentine model and are viewed by the "radical traditionalist" as abusive, irreverent, and/or worse.

I believe Ars Celebrandi captures the truth that reverent worship and celebration lies between the two sides of the "liturgical war".

Ultimately, we need to cultivate a liturgy that invites the faithful to active participation, creates a focus that is always Christ-centered, and draws the faithful into a sense of holiness and mystery.  Along the way, connecting how the liturgy and related piety connects to the reality taking place in the mystery.

We need to be charitable in helping the faithful understand and be obedient to the liturgical norms of the Church; i.e.,  rejecting the forbidden things and not forbidding the things allowed in the rubrics.

Like Bishop Elliott, I have a great appreciation to the Divine Liturgies used in the Byzantine Ritual Family of the Church.  I believe there is a lot we could learn from the East in terms of how to be more intentional in our worship. Intentional in the sense of a realization we are actively participating in the eternal worship of heaven.  A Liturgy that seems to flow as a continuous movement of grace with a spirit of reverence from the moment of entering the nave to the moment we exit the nave.

I have started to see this sense of mystery and reverence in the latest generation of priests coming through our seminary…a true movement of the Holy Spirit.  It gives me hope for the future.  It gives me hope that while Father Ratzinger's prophecy about the Church becoming small may come true, increasing the reverent nature of the Liturgy (that speaks to the heart of Ars Celebrandi) will spread the Flame of Love and enkindle a new Pentecost for the true faithful.