Pope Francis: Liturgical reform is irreversible
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis gave an important address on
the liturgical reform on Thursday, speaking to participants of the 68th Italian
National Liturgical Week.
The liturgical reform, he said, did not “flourish suddenly,”
but was the result of a long preparation. It was brought to maturity by the
Second Vatican Council with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum
Concilium, “whose lines of general reform respond to real needs and to the
concrete hope of a renewal; it desired a living liturgy for a Church completely
vivified by the mysteries celebrated.”
The direction marked out by the Council, the Pope continued,
found expression in the revised liturgical books promulgated by Blessed Paul
VI. But “it is not enough to reform the liturgical books; the mentality of the
people must be reformed as well.” The reformation of the liturgical books was
the first step in a process, he said, “that requires time, faithful reception,
practical obedience, wise implementation” on the part first of the ordained
ministers, but also of the other ministers, and indeed, of all who take part in
the liturgy.
Today, Pope Francis said, “there is still work to do in this
direction, in particular rediscovering the reasons for the decisions made with
the liturgical reform, overcoming unfounded and superficial readings, partial
receptions, and practices that disfigure it.” He said that this is not a
question “of rethinking the reform by reviewing its choices, but of knowing
better the underlying reasons [for it]… [and] of internalizing its
inspirational principles and of observing the discipline that governs it.”
The Supreme Pontiff insisted, “After this magisterial, and
after this long journey, we can assert with certainty and magisterial authority
that the liturgical reform is irreversible.”
Reflecting on the theme of this year’s Liturgy Week – “A
living Liturgy for a living Church” – Pope Francis dwelt on three points:
1)The liturgy is “living” in virtue of the living presence
of Christ; Christ is at the heart of the liturgical action.
2)The liturgy is life through the whole people of God. By
its nature, the liturgy is “popular” rather than clerical; it is an
action for the people, but also by the
people.
3) The liturgy is life, and not an idea to be understood. It
brings us to live an initiatory experience, a transformative experience that
changes how we think and act; it is not simply a means of enriching our own set
of ideas about God.
The Church, Pope Francis said, “is truly living if, forming
one single living being with Christ, it is a bearer of life, it is maternal, it
is missionary, going out to encounter the neighbour, careful to serve without
pursuing worldly powers that render it sterile.”
The Holy Father concluded his reflection by noting that the
Church in prayer, insofar as it is catholic, “goes beyond the Roman Rite”
which, although it is the largest, is by no means the only Rite within the
Church. “The harmony of the ritual traditions, of the East and of the West,” by
means of the same Spirit, gives voice to the one only Church praying
through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, to the glory of the Father, and for
the salvation of the world.”
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