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Birthdays and other
catechetical celebrations
ML got a birthday present. On the cover you can see the new logo designed by
ML's art director, George Collopy. ML is celebrating its 25th
birthday, and there will be several commemorations taking place throughout
the year to celebrate.
What is there to celebrate? That is the question the editors of ML have been
asking in one way or another in every issue for 25 years. What we celebrate
is the paschal mystery -- Christ dead and risen. How we celebrate
that is also an important question. The document Music in Catholic
Worship says, "Good celebrations foster and nourish faith. Poor
celebrations may weaken and destroy it" (6). Everyone associated
with ML strives to make our celebrations good so that faith is
nourished.
We know that good worship does not happen without good catechesis and that
good catechesis does not happen without good worship. The editors at ML
have also been making clear the link between these two art forms. Liturgy
cannot happen in a vacuum, nor can catechesis happen only in a
classroom. Both are dynamic, interactive, constitutive elements of
parish life. While every issue of ML helps parish ministers grasp the
marriage of liturgy and catechesis, this issue is a particularly good
example. The first feature article, "Preaching As Catechesis"
(page 6), helps preachers understand what a homily should do for the
assembly and how a good homily is also good catechesis. Rick Goodwin
follows that with "Something Old, Something New: Los Angeles
Issues a Guide for Sunday Mass" (page 10), in which he
discusses Cardinal Roger Mahony's new letter, Gather Faithfully
Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass. There are few better
explanations of how liturgical catechesis works than this letter. In
every issue of ML, readers see the link between liturgy and catechesis
in the Planning Guide (page 16); while the most obvious use of this
column is for the direct implementation of Sunday worship, many parishes
also use it to catechize parishioners about the liturgy. Paul Turner's
Bulletin Inserts (page 46) is another regular department that helps
parishes catechize. These inserts deal with the very issues your parish
is struggling with and has questions about. The last three years of Paul's
contributions have recently been published as Modern Liturgy's
Bulletin Inserts (Resource Publications, Inc., 1997).
These are just a few examples of how ML is a useful, hands-on tool for your
liturgical catechesis efforts. ML's goal is to make liturgy better. If
you have been a reader for some of the last 25 years, you already know
that. If you are a new reader, check out this issue and see if ML can
help out in your parish.
Putting on Christ
On the cover and at right (in the printed edition) are spectacular shots of
Jorge Garcia being baptized. Jorge is a member of St. Mary's Parish in
Southbridge, Mass. The somewhat damp priest imitating a weight lifter in
the pictures is Rev. Peter Joyce. Thanks to Kathleen Newcomer for sending
in the photos. If you have pictures of full-immersion baptisms you'd like
to share, send them to ML, Baptism Photos, 160 E. Virginia St. #290,
San Jose, CA 95112.
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