Adoremus Bulletin - March 2018 Issue

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Adoremus Bulletin

MARCH 2018

Pope Francis on Mass: Lift up Your Hearts — Not Your iPhones! By Hannah Brockhaus VATICAN CITY—Beginning a new series of Wednesday audiences about the Mass, a fiery Pope Francis chastised those who spend Mass talking to others, looking at their phone, or even taking pictures during papal liturgies, saying these are distractions that take focus away from the “heart of the Church,” which is the Eucharist. “The Mass is not a show: it is to go to meet the passion and resurrection of the Lord,” the Pope said Nov. 8. “The Lord is here with us, present. Many times we go there, we look at things and chat among ourselves while the priest celebrates the Eucharist.... But it is the Lord!” In particular, Francis condemned the use of cell phones to take photos at papal Masses. At one point during the Mass the priest says, “We lift up our hearts,” he said. “He does not say, ‘We lift up our phones to take photographs!’” “It’s a bad thing! And I tell you that it gives me so much sadness when I celebrate here in the Piazza or Basilica and I see so many raised cellphones, not just of the faithful, even of some priests and even bishops.” “But think: when you go to Mass, the Lord is there! And you’re distracted. (But) it is the Lord!” During the general audience, Pope Francis said the Eucharist would be the new focus of his weekly catechesis for the year, because “it is fundamental for us Christians to

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Vol. XXIII, No. 5

The Fellowship of the Liturgy: Each for All and All for Christ A Centenary of Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy By Father Cassian Folsom, O.S.B. Editor’s note: This examination of Chapter Two of Romano Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy is the second in a series of seven essays marking the centenary of Guardini’s book.

T

he philosophical writings of Romano Guardini on the relationship of the individual to the community are like a luxurious vine: trunk, branches, tendrils extending here and there, leaves and, of course, fruit in abundance. In this article, the reader will get a stripped-down version, reduced to the essentials, and poor in comparison. The hope is that this simplified explanation of Guardini’s thought will lead the reader to the text itself, The Spirit of the Liturgy,1 where he can enjoy the full breadth of our author’s insights. First a summary of Chapter Two, “The Fellowship of the Liturgy,” will be given. Next, the ideas presented in this chapter will be fleshed out by insights from other works of Guardini. Finally, there will be a reflection on the implications of Guardini’s thought for liturgical reform.

“ How does the individual person enter into this larger reality of the liturgical community? He does so in two ways: by sacrifice and by personal action.” Summing up “Fellowship” Guardini’s philosophical musings are rich and densely packed. In this second chapter of The Spirit of the Liturgy, it might be helpful to use the interpretive key of participation, although Guardini doesn’t use the word here. He explains that the liturgical fellowship or Gemeinschaft he is talking about is the Church, the corpus Christi mysticum, the “we” of the entire body of the Church. How does the individual “I” relate to this liturgical community? Or, in other words, how do I participate in the Church’s liturgy? Let us examine the

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Adoremus Bulletin MARCH 2018

AB/ WIKIMEDIA. REVELATIONS OF ST BRIDGET OF SWEDEN.

News & Views

For the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy

The person is oriented toward the vastness of the great human community, which in its turn, however, is composed of individuals who sustain and complete it. In the liturgical field, this relationship between individual and community indicates that a complete Christian humanity exists only where the Church and the individual person live in a natural reciprocal relationship.

following elements more closely: A) the community, B) the individual and C) the participation of the individual in the liturgical action of the community. A: The Community2 The liturgy is not celebrated by the individual, but by the entire body of the faithful, not merely those present, but all the faithful on earth (across the limits of time and space) and all the saints in heaven. “Who celebrates the liturgy?” In answer to this question, Guardini says: the Church, which is more than the sum Each for All and All for Christ A Catholic can frame worship as a personal love for Jesus, but Benedictine Father Cassian Folsom shows how Romano Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy sees a bigger picture.....1 The Passion of the Christ Mel Gibson’s 2004 The Passion of the Christ is an awesome award-winning epic, but as Pope Francis reminds us, the Mass is the real blockbuster. ...................................3 River of Fire The incarnate Jesus, says David Augustine, embodies the Lord’s glorious return to his Chosen People. But equally enlightening is the Fire of the Holy Spirit poured out to inflame our hearts. .........................................6

of its parts. It is the Mystical Body of Christ, animated by the Holy Spirit. The individual participates in this common action of the Church. In the liturgy, the individual “sees himself face to face with God, not as a [single] entity but as a member of this unity” (37). How does the individual person enter into this larger reality of the liturgical community? He does so in two ways: by sacrifice (Opfer) and by personal action (Leistung).3 The sacrifice required by the person who wishes to Please see GUARDINI on page 4 Merit Badges at Mass? While former translations of the Missal rarely spoke of “merit,” Mike Brummond explains how the present translation merits another look at the term as both right and just—and even meritorious...........................9 Book Review The House of the Lord: A Catholic Biblical Theology of God’s Temple Presence in the Old and New Testaments, by Steven Smith. Review by Jeremy Priest...............................12 News & Views..................................................2 The Rite Questions........................................10 Donors & Memorials....................................11


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