Liturgy as Catechesis for Life Ostdiek.

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Liturgy as Catechesis for Life

Gilbert Ostdiek

from: liturgical ministry 7 (Spring, 1998) 76-82

Used in Liturgical Catechesis (RCIA) TRS 643MC


Notes

I. CATECHESIS AND LUTURGY

A Continuous Cycle

  • This vision was implemented in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, particularly in the often-quoted paragraph 75, which calls for an integrated formation in Christian life during the catechumenate period,
  • liturgy works through communicative signs
  • In a real sense, sacramental celebrations are "woven from signs and symbols" (CCC, §1145).
  • Symbols are rich, multivalent realities. They are not just objects; rather, they are actions in which those objects are put to use for the purpose of conveying a meaning beyond that of purely practical actions
  • The social sciences have alerted us to the fact that symbolic, ritualized actions such as table sharing are indeed a language that encodes our sense of who we are, what values we share, and how we fit together
  • Symbols, unlike more analytic and linear modes of expression, speak not just to the head, but to the whole person, especially the heart.
  • First, liturgy works, Kavanagh reminds us, by repetition and accumulation.17
  • Repetition, as an old saying has it, is the mother of learning.
  • Liturgy is a school in which we learn the habits of a Christian heart.
  • several things are needed on the part of those who prepare and lead the liturgy:

LITURGY AS CATECHESIS FOR LIFE

  • ...of the Emmaus account "they are ex-followers of a would-be prophet, with left-over lives and nowhere to go but away."
  • Life-bearing catechesis can only begin when we are ready to hear our life story told in a new way. And, so, using the familiar words of Scripture, the Stranger tells them the same story but with a very different ending. "Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this and so enter into his glory?" (v. 26).
  • At table in the dusk of that evening, Easter faith dawned in their hearts. In a striking moment of mystagogy, the two disciples are now able to put into words how the Stranger's story had set their "hearts burning" as he explained the Scriptures to them on the road
  • From mystagogy to mission is only a short step.
  • The cycle begins with meeting people as they walk their life journey, in order to listen to their story as the prelude to catechesis and liturgy; it reaches its culmination, not at the table, but in a moment of mystagogy that leads into witness and mission.
  • Three areas for connecting liturgy and life through mystagogy seem especially appropriate today.
    • The first area of concern responds to the rugged individualism and consumerism of today's me-first society. One of these is "a catechesis of the beatitudes."
    • The second area addresses the theological virtues that are the baptismal gift of every Christian. Faith is a customary object of concern in catechesis. But what of hope, and especially charity. What if we were to focus on "a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity" and "a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity
    • The third area reflects the current concern in the Church for justice
  • renewal of the liturgy has been the full, conscious, and active participation of Christian people. This is not just an option; it is their right and duty by virtue of baptism (SC, §14).
  • The rites of gathering and sending are not just a way to begin and end the liturgy. They are the bridges linking life to liturgy and liturgy back to life
  • SOME PASTORAL PRINCIPLES
  1. Make sure that catechesis and liturgy are prepared in collaboration,
  2. Insist that both the catechetical and the liturgical question be asked,
  3. Do not let the immediate needs of a given ministry overshadow the more fundamental pastoral concern, which the ministries must share, for the faith journey of the disciples.
  4. Since discipleship is rooted in relationship to Jesus and the God of the covenant, keep the person of Jesus at the center of catechesis and liturgy.
  5. Respect the difference between catechesis and liturgy, not reducing either to the other.
  6. Attend to the formative power that liturgy has as first catechesis; always ask what formative impact the liturgical celebration will have and whether this is faithful to both the larger tradition and the spiritual needs of the participants
  7. Specifically, shape the symbols of the liturgy so that people recognize them as rooted in their culture and time, yet fashioned and celebrated in such a way that they evoke a sense of God's presence and holiness.
  8. Symbols are richly ambiguous; do not try to impose a thematic one-meaning-fits-all on them; rather, shape and prepare the rites to be as authentic and full as possible, and let the people find in them the facet of meaning that helps them retell their life story.
  9. Since Jesus invites us to be his disciples and witnesses in the world of today, ask how the liturgy is forming your people to live according to the beatitudes and to be credible witnesses to Christian ways of love and justice.
  10. Be patient and don't lose your sense of humor when efforts to provide such a liturgy for the assembly yield
  • The U.S. bishops have written: "People in love make signs of love."25 That is what our liturgical symbols are all about, and that is why we do them over and over. Trust them to do what they do best, and they will be a catechesis for life.
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