ML helps you do your ministry in three ways: ML helps your parish celebrate better liturgy; ML helps your parish do catechesis; ML helps your parish develop a Christian spirit.
ML helps you celebrate better liturgy by providing consistently helpful, easily understood resources that enable your parish leadership team to carry out the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. ML gives you access to the thinking and teaching of recognized liturgical experts (e.g., see "A Church of Many Cultures" on page 9) and step-by-step practical advice from people in the trenches (e.g., see Lector Workshop on page 33 and ML Tips on page 39).
ML helps you catechize by giving you solid information about the reasons for doing what we do in the liturgy. All catechesis leads to and flows from the liturgy, and helping parishioners and parish leaders understand the deep structure of the liturgy gives insight and understanding to our faith. By making the articles and columns in ML available to the members of your community (e.g., by using the Bulletin Inserts, Incense and Sunday, on page 50 or the advice in "The Missing Liturgical Link" on page 14), the members of your parish will grow in their knowledge of the faith.
ML helps you develop the spirituality of your parish by furnishing you with the tools to forge an atmosphere of wonder and awe through imaginative worship. Using the resources in ML (e.g., Liturgical Spirituality on page 22 or Year of Matthew on page 35) can help your team make the connection between the words and actions of the liturgy and the movement of the Spirit in their hearts.
All this comes to your desk ten times a year in a clear, unpretentious style that is useful for both the master liturgist and the newest member of the liturgy committee. Spend some time looking through this issue and then let me know what you think.
You can write me at 160 E. Virginia St., #290, San Jose, CA 95112 or e-mail me at MdrnLitrgy@aol.com.
In the August issue (ML 23:6), Michael Fraser is incorrectly identified as being a North American (page 12). He is Manx (a native of the Isle of Man). The error is the editor's and not the author's.
--NW