A new catechetical tool: Introduction to revised Lectionary for Mass 

As the chief catechist for your community, you will want to familiarize yourself with this new resource. The Introduction can, for example, help you explain the significance of the word of God in the liturgy. The text points out that the many riches of the word are “brought out in the different kinds of liturgical celebration and in the different gatherings of the faithful who take part in those celebrations.” The way this happens, of course, is through the unfolding of the mystery of Christ throughout the liturgical year. But it also takes place “as the faithful respond individually to the Holy Spirit working within them. For them the liturgical celebration … becomes a new event and enriches the word itself with new meaning and power” (3).

I don’t know about you, but I’d want to call up every parishioner I know and tell them that we need them to be at Mass next Sunday because their individual response “enriches the word itself with new meaning and power.” That is a message that has not gotten through to the faithful. If you rephrase the sentence in the negative, you get a sense for the importance of the participation of the faithful. If the faithful do not respond, the liturgy does not become a new event and the word is not enriched with new meaning and is not enriched with power.

How do the faithful respond in such a way that the word is enriched with new meaning and power? The first response is one “of listening and adoring ‘in Sprit and in truth’ (Jn 4:23)” (6).

Listening might seem like a passive response and might seem to go against the grain of the Second Vatican Council’s call for full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy. But to truly listen is to hear the word deep within in our hearts. We listen with such an intensity that the word changes us. When I was a child, my mother would sometimes yell out, “Why don’t you ever listen tome?” I certainly couldn’t keep from “hearing” her. But I wasn’t taking what she said to heart. I was not changing my behavior so it would reflect the spirit and truth of the word she had spoken to me. So it is with God’s word and our required response:

The Holy Spirit makes that response effective so that what is heard in the celebration of the liturgy may be carried out in away of life: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only” (Jas1:22). The liturgical celebration and the participation of the faithful receive outward expression in actions, gesture, and words …. Accordingly, the participation of the faithful increases to the degree that, as they listen to the word of God proclaimed in the liturgy, they strive harder to commit themselves to the Word of God incarnate in Christ. Thus, they endeavor to conform their way of life to what they celebrate in the liturgy, and then in turn to bring to the celebration of the liturgy all that they do in life (6).
When our parishioners look at the face of God, do they see a frustrated mother yelling out, “Why don’t you ever listen to me?” Or do they see a divine face of contentment and joy because we have become doers and not just hearers? Have we listened in spirit and truth? How do we know for sure? How does the world know?

In the hearing of God’s word the church is built up and grows, and in the signs of the liturgical celebration, God’s wonderful, past works in the history of salvation are presented anew as mysterious realities. God in turn makes use of the congregation of the faithful that celebrates the liturgy in order that his word may speed on and be glorified and that his name be exalted among the nations (7).

I’m a news junkie, and I haven’t heard any reports lately of God’s name being exalted among the nations. I wouldn’t be surprised if the face of God looked a little frustrated right now. We obviously have more to do to help our parishioners listen more actively to the word of God in the liturgy.

The Introduction goes on to describe some of the necessary elements required to make the Liturgy of the Word effective. These include the three readings from the Scripture and the psalm. The order of these readings “is an arrangement … that provides the faithful with the whole of God’s word.” The choice of readings was determined in order to give the faithful a greater understanding of our Christian faith and of the history of salvation (60). The order and choice of the readings is, itself, a catechetical tool: “The celebration of the liturgy is not in itself simply a form of catechesis, but it does contain an element of teaching.” Thel ectionary, therefore, “deserves to be regarded as a pedagogical resource aiding catechesis” (61).

The Introduction also explains the various ministries involved in the Liturgy of the Word, including the ministry of the faithful. “As a help toward celebrating the memorial of the Lord with eager devotion, the faithful should be keenly aware of the one presence of Christ in both the word of the God … and ‘above all under the eucharistic species’ (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 7)” (46).

In addition, when the faithful “hear the word of God and reflect deeply on it, [they] are enabled to respond to it actively with full faith, hope, and charity through prayer and self-giving, and not only during Mass but in their entire Christian life” (48).

By being aware, by truly hearing the word of God and reflecting on it deeply, the faithful are carrying out our active ministry within the Liturgy of the Word. Our participation in the liturgy enables us to grow more deeply in faith and enables us to become more self-giving.

How are the faithful, then, supposed to go about growing in awareness and reflecting deeply on the word? That’s where you come in. First of all, you will want to work with your liturgical planning team to be sure the Liturgy of the Word is celebrated in such a way that it facilitates awareness and reflection. That at least means the readings must be proclaimed with passion and sincerity. You can also assist the faithful by providing opportunities for reflection before and after the liturgy. You might design a simple, short faith-sharing process based on the Sunday readings that could precede all parish meetings. You might list two or three discussion questions along with the citations of the readings in the Sunday bulletin. Get together with your catechists and brainstorm at least 10 other ideas.

It is the job of the faithful to celebrate the liturgy in such a way that we are changed. Our changed selves can then go out and change the world. If we do that well, if we do it often enough, and if enough of us do it, I will probably someday hear a national news report that begins: “Our top story tonight: God’s name exalted among the nations. World leaders stunned as mass demonstrations gather to glorify God’s word. Details at 11:00.”

Well, maybe not. But your job is to catechize the parish so they know that’s the goal. Somebody has to set out the target and challenge the parish to aim for it. The chief catechist of the parish is charged with bringing the faithful more deeply in touch with God’s word.

Fortunately for you, the Lectionary for Mass: Introduction is an excellent tool to help you with that task.

-- Nick Wagner