Inside ML

There are those in the church who argue that we have become a people without mystery, for whom sacrament has lost its meaning. They contend that with the celebration of liturgy in the vernacular, widespread inculturation and the prevalence of lay ministry, the sacred aura of the church has been lost. No matter that many of these folks are too young to have experienced the church they claim to miss; they still yearn for a greater depth of experience. There is no monopoly on that yearning, and there is no lack of mysterion in the church. This hidden reality takes form whenever our sacred artists transform their vision into a tangible form. It lives when our young people discover their own lives reflected in Scripture. It moves in every effort to learn, understand and to live as sacramentum, the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation. It has its being in the lay ministers who answer the call of their baptism to serve God’s people, even in the face of betrayal, rejection and disdain.

“The Church’s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being, and in her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 738). To actualize this mission, we who minister in the name of Christ must come to a greater understanding and ownership of what it means to be sign and sacrament in a world that rejects both. By continuing to grow in faith and in understanding of the sacramental nature of who we are called to be, we perpetuate the invocation of the divine and bind it inseparably to our own human nature. By actively working to make visible the connections between sacrament and sacramentality, we strive to be true to the challenge of the Gospel to be a light shining to all (Mt 5:14–16). By word and action, sign and symbol, we are commanded to make visible the grace so often hidden from the world. Our celebration of sacrament must extend far beyond the physical boundaries of the church. But fidelity to this challenge does not mean that the race has been finished nor the prize won. Constant growth is vital. As Avery Dulles so simply states, “Where the church as sacrament is present, the grace of Christ will not be absent.”

Correction
The internet site for CAVE CO. appearing on page 36 of this issue of ML is incorrect. The correct site address is www.churchgoods.net.
The internet site for THE LITURGICAL PRESS. appearing on page 36 of this issue of ML is incorrect. The correct site address is www.litpress.org. ML

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