Inside ML

Risky business 

This is hard work when it seems every few months there’s a new restriction on the laity or a new instruction on ritual, posture, or sung prayer. Taking the risk and keeping the spirit of renewal alive are ML’s writers in this and every issue. Kathleen Brown shares her experience and wisdom in forming lay presiders, recognizing the obstacles to those who aren’t “the priest” but celebrating the value of those who bring the witness of their lives to this leadership. Robert VerEecke presents a study of posture and gesture in liturgy, giving us the tools to process (and perhaps question) instructions on liturgical posture. John Leonard delves into the concept of the real presence as manifested in the assembly. Sharing a guided approach to praying the Triduum, Michael Kwatera offers a way to challenge those in our communities who perhaps have not yet explored the richness of the Three Days to a more complete experience. In my own venture into the realm of risk, I offer some perspectives on discovering authentic liturgy. With so many odd practices and customs having worked their way into liturgy, there is certainly reason for documents to restore a better sense of unity to our celebrations. Some innovations become barriers to inclusivity and deny the possibility of full participation. Excessive legislation, though, is not the answer, for when the “rules” of liturgy become so restrictive that compliance denies the very nature of the celebration, God’s people are poorly served. “For the liturgy is made up of immutable elements, divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change. These not only may but ought to be changed with the passage of time if they have suffered from the intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy or have become pointless” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 21). This should apply not only to our history but to our present and future.ML

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