UNDERSTANDING THE LITURGY by John J. O'Brien, C.P.

PERFORMING THE SUNDAY LITURGY

Liturgy is not a performance calling attention to the performers. Liturgy attends on God and the many ways God is present through patterned public prayer. Each liturgy performs, i.e., does or enacts a local church's praise and thanksgiving. Consistent and continued participation teaches a people what - to do, what happens next, what the response is. We ritualize our prayer without thinking about it.

Each Catholic ritual book (e.g., the Order of Christian Funerals, the Order of Marriage, the Order of Christian Initiation) contains rubrics, i.e., performance notes and stage directions written in red (rubrica) which call for sitting or standing, saying ' Amen' at the end of a prayer or ' thanks be to God' at the end of the reading.

We learn our performance cues through repetition from the time of childhood and up. We often do rubrics without thinking or reflecting. We do it by rote, fittingly so.

Occasionally patterned movement hits us between the eyes. For example, who can ever forget the way Princess Diana's body was carried out of Westminster Cathedral. The cadenced step of the marching pall bearers blended splendidly with the singing of John Tavener's Alleluia. Music and movement conveyed the sober, definite tragedy of her death, yet expressed a restrained, persistent hope in the resurrection of her body and life everlasting.

Let's look at what we do. Ask these questions: when I arrive at St. Malachy, am I greeted by anyone? Do I greet anyone? Behind this question is the virtue of hospitality. Secondly, how do I walk to where I want to sit? What do I do before entering the pew? Do I half or fully genuflect? Do I bow? What am I genuflecting or bowing at? Why do I do this? Thirdly, when I enter the pew, what do I do? If I kneel down and bless myself, why am I doing this? When I first learned to do this, did anyone give me a reason for doing it?

We ask these questions to make us more conscious of what we do and why we do it. Observe others. We at St. Malachy vary considerably in how we enter the assembly space of the church.

Finally, consider the four body postures we do.

Walking. We walk into the church, when we present the gifts, when we go to communion, and when we leave. Do these walks differ from how I walk in the mall?

Kneeling. How do I kneel; how are my knees? What do I feel when I kneel? Traditionally, kneeling drew persons into themselves. It was primarily a posture of penance and contrition. Only later did it convey reverence.

Sitting. We sit for Bible readings and when we return from communion. How long do I need to be seated in order to be settled enough to hear the Word?

Standing. Standing calls us to attention and focuses us outward as a group. We Christians stand for something. We stand for the Gospel so that we may attentively receive Jesus Christ. In some U.S. parishes people stand attentively round the table during the eucharistic prayer in order to give thanks and praise.