ML Guided Study

Turn to paragraphs 41–46 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Set aside an hour to discuss this section, spending most of the time on paragraphs 42–43. Before the session, ask yourself: To what extent do I have “zeal for the promotion of the liturgy”? Have recent developments in the church made me cynical, tired, bored, afraid, angry, energized, excited, motivated, or inspired? If so, which developments and why? 

Before you read

Pray to the Holy Spirit. 

Read aloud paragraph 41

Underline any words or phrases that jump out at you. After reading: Share quickly underlined words or phrases. Discuss: 

• Have we ever organized a group from our parish community — not just leaders — and taken it to the cathedral church for liturgy with the bishop? Other than for the annual rite of election and Chrism Mass, might it be advantageous to do so? (Be honest here. If liturgy at the cathedral with the bishop is not well celebrated, perhaps this is not a priority unless other pastoral advantages can be identified.) 
• When was the last time that the bishop was here? Was it for an occasion for other than confirmation? Would it be pastorally fruitful for this community to invite the bishop to come and celebrate a Sunday or feastday Mass? If so, at what point in the year? Who will extend the invitation and follow up on this? (Again, be honest here.) 

Underline any words or phrases that jump out at you. After reading: Share quickly underlined words or phrases. Evaluate how well this community, “both in attitude and in practice” creates and nourishes “a lively sense of community … above all in the shared celebration of the Sunday Mass.” Identify and list three to five concrete steps that can be taken within the next one to five years (decide which timeframe is best) to foster community and Sunday Mass. Some examples: Do we need to decrease the number of Masses-of-convenience in order to build a right-size assembly? Do we need to add a Mass to reach an otherwise underserved portion of the community? Do we need to work toward better integrating sub-groups within the large community at Sunday Mass? 

Read aloud paragraph 43

Underline any words or phrases that jump out at you. After reading: Share quickly underlined words or phrases. Discuss frankly and charitably each one’s answers to the questions in the first paragraph above. Then discuss: What might we, as leaders of this community, do together in order to restore or increase our zeal for renewing the liturgy as we celebrate it here and now? Brainstorm ideas and list them on newsprint or a chalkboard or whiteboard. Here are some examples, but don’t limit the discussion to these: 

• Attend a liturgy study week together (think of the annual January Southwest Liturgical Conference or the annual June University of Notre Dame Conference). 
• Invite a liturgist to come and conduct an afternoon or evening of reflection. 
• Invite someone to come and lead a staff retreat. 
• Go together for a day (or a couple of days) to a monastery or retreat house and schedule nothing except for liturgies (the Hours, Mass, Liturgies of the Word, whatever would be most nourishing) and mystagogical sessions after each, in which you name and discuss your experiences. 
• Read and discuss together a book on some aspect of the liturgy. 

Take a few moments to contemplate each suggestion. Be silent together. Then have each one put a 1 (for the idea most liked), 2, or 3 by the three ideas most appealing to him or her. See if there is a consensus. If so, form a task force to prepare an initial plan for further consideration. 

If time, read aloud paragraphs 44–46

Underline any words or phrases that jump out at you. After reading: Share quickly underlined words or phrases. Discuss: Do we ever avail ourselves of the diocesan committees on liturgy, music, and/or architecture? Might we? If the diocese is lacking these groups, what might we do to spark some zeal in the wider church of this diocese? 

Follow-up

If the group reached consensus about doing something together to find its zeal, schedule a “next step” to discuss a concrete proposal. ML

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