God meets with his children: the nature of the liturgy

By Father Randy Stice

In last month’s column (“A historical survey of the Mass in the vernacular,” Oct. 11 ETC), I introduced the two documents that are guiding the translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal: Legitimate Differences (1994) and Authentic Liturgy (2001). These documents consolidate the church’s experience and reflection on 40 years of translating the Mass into the vernacular, a brief span when viewed against the 2000 years of the church’s existence.

These documents not only spell out the principles for translating liturgical texts into the vernacular but also talk about the nature of the liturgy—the Mass in particular. By listening to what they tell us about the profound meaning and mystery of the Mass, we can understand better why the church has devoted considerable time and resources to its translation into the vernacular. In short, the more we understand what is being done, the more we can appreciate how it is done and why it is important.

First of all, Legitimate Differences reminds us that the liturgy includes not only the Eucharist but also the other sacraments: “The whole life of the liturgy gravitates in the first place around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the other sacraments given by Christ to his church” (No. 25). The Mass is the source and summit of the liturgical life of the church, but when we speak about “the liturgy,” we are talking about more than just the Mass.

Legitimate Differences also gives us a concise summary of the liturgy: “the liturgy is always the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, the glorification of God the Father and the sanctification of mankind by the power of the Holy Spirit” (No. 24). This summary teaches us four things.

First, the liturgy always celebrates and draws its power from the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Second, in the liturgy we praise and glorify God for his goodness to us in Christ. Third, in the liturgy the Holy Spirit changes us, causing us to grow in holiness. And fourth, the liturgy is always Trinitarian—the Father communicating to us the fruits of Christ’s sacrifice through the Holy Spirit.

This summary also emphasizes the twofold movement of the liturgy: it is a dialogue, an exchange, between the Trinity and the people of God. In the liturgy, especially in the Mass, “God speaks continually with the Spouse of his beloved Son, [and] the Holy Spirit leads the Christian faithful into all truth and causes the word of Christ to dwell abundantly within them.” In response to the voice and action of the Trinity, the Church as the bride of Christ “offers the prayers of all the faithful to God, through Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” As she does this, “the Church perpetuates and transmits all that she herself is and all that she believes” (Authentic Liturgy, No. 19). Each time we participate in the Mass, we enter into profound and intimate communion with the Trinity.

Therefore, the language of the liturgy “must always express, along with the truths of the faith, the grandeur and holiness of the mysteries which are being celebrated” (Legitimate Differences, No. 39): the majesty and holiness of God, and the mystery of our salvation and sanctification.

This is why Legitimate Differences says that “the church has the duty to transmit” these mysteries “carefully and faithfully to every generation” (No. 25). In the Mass “worthy worship is offered to God the Most High” (Authentic Liturgy, No. 3). At the same time, it is “an abundant source of graces and a means for [our] own continual formation in the Christian mystery” (Authentic Liturgy, No. 1). With so much at stake, we can understand why the church is taking such care in translating the Mass into English.

In my next column I’ll discuss the relationship between the “rule of prayer” (lex orandi) and the “rule of faith” (lex credendi) as it applies to the new missal.

Read Legitimate Differences online at bit.ly/1qSFxa. Read Authentic Liturgy online at bit.ly/4cuyRb. Father Stice is director of the diocesan Worship and Liturgy Office. This article first appeared in the Nov. 22, 2009, edition of The East Tennessee Catholic newspaper.