Bulletin Blurbs

I often see various blurbs on the front of church bulletins, short paragraphs attempting to expound on the readings for the day in a relatively short amount of space. On more than one occasion I find myself wondering as to their origin - it seems unlikely that most parishes will prepare them week in and week out just for a bulletin cover. This morning’s blurb on “Hospitality” raised my eyebrows a bit.

“Hospitality means receiving guests generously: my house is your house! Abraham and Sarah, the parents of us all, receive the Lord and get a wonderful response: “You will have now a son.” Sarah laughs but then produces Isaac. Mary and Martha receive Jesus. Like Mary and Martha, we bask quietly in God’s presence, and despite concern, should avoid over-fussiness in our worship. When we open ourselves to God, we share hospitality and the gift of God’s Son. How do you receive the Lord?”

To make sure that this was not particular to the bulletin I was reading, I took it upon myself to plug the first sentence into Google. Sure enough, countless bulletins from across the country showed up in the search results, bulletins using exactly the same quote for this week. It turns out that the text is a part of a series by Oregon Catholic Press, that lovely (please note the sarcasm) publisher of high quality (sarcasm increasing ... with added retching) Catholic music.* The example above was penned by Philip Sandstrom, though it seems that the author varies from week to week.

The phrase that caught my attention was the suggestion that we “avoid over-fussiness in our worship.” Now, I am the first to admit that the use of this phrase is vague at best, and I will not presume to know precisely what Mr. Sandstrom meant when he wrote it. However, it seems to suggest that we not worry too much about the details and rubrics of the liturgy and that we simply “open ourselves to God.” Let’s break this open a bit. First, it is true that the reality of the Mass always transcends the externals. It is also true that a member of the Faithful must be able to enter into the Sacred Mysteries despite the presence of liturgical abuses. This is something with which I have long struggled. Nonetheless, the transcendent reality of the Mass is brought about by the externals; such is the very principle of sacramentality. The rubrics and details of the liturgy are anything but accidental. They are given to us by God through His Church, and as such they are to be adhered to and respected. God deserves to be worshiped in the manner that He wants to be worshiped. A priest friend of mine put it this way. The external rubrics and the internal transcendent reality of the Mass are like the body and soul in the human person: both are essential.

Thinking of this in a different manner, one of the reasons that rubrics are so important is that they give the worshiper the correct impression that he is engaged in something bigger than himself, much like an actor in a play. The liturgy is not smaller than the worshiper, one of many actions that form the life of the individual. Rather, the liturgy is bigger than the individual, and the worshiper must be able to fit himself into this larger reality. Having prescribed words and actions aides the worshiper in this understanding. When the details of the liturgy are seen as unimportant, the worshiper is given the false impression that the liturgy is malleable, something that can be created and recreated with the fickle winds of subjective intentions.

In contrast to the caution against “over-fussiness in worship” I thought that the Gospel about Mary and Martha had a very profound message for the Sacred Liturgy. The Lord, in telling Mary that she has chosen the better part, is emphasizing that participation on the part of the worshiper is primarily an internal reality. Martha represents an “active participation” of sorts, whereas Mary is engaged in “actual participation.” (While the English rendering of Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy calls for an “active participation,” the original Latin calls for “actuosam participationem.” The verb actuosa is better rendered as “actual” to properly differentiate it from another Latin verb, activa, a verb which is translated “active” and a verb which is found nowhere in Vatican II’s constitutions. This mistranslation of actuosa is unfortunately often used to justify a liturgy that would have as many people as possible doing as many things as possible: singing every part of Mass, serving as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, etc.) If there is a lesson about worship to be learned from this Gospel passage, it is not that liturgical details and rubrics are unimportant, but rather that the participation of the faithful in these rites is a participation that finds its essence in an internal disposition that results from sitting at the feet of Christ, the high priest, who by nature as priest is the one who acts.

* Now is not the time to go into the serious problems with OCP’s copyright issues, but every time I see their name, I am reminded of an article by Jeffrey Tucker that exposes these borderline unethical, yet legal, policies. See here for an extended critique of OCP by Mr. Tucker and here for his specific critique of their copyright policy.