Liturgy

The outcome of Synod 2003 made liturgy its highest priority.  Full, conscious and active participation. Our councious participation  requires more than knowledge of the Mass. It requires that we live deeply immersed in the mystery and that we reflect on it. 

This reflection requires understanding and knowledge of where our roots lie. The source of the Christian liturgy lies in the Jewish liturgy. Just as Jesus was born of the seed of David, so too the liturgy that celebrates Jesus as the Messiah the Son of David, borrowed its prayers from the people of Abraham, the first hearers of the Word. It was in the school of the synagogue that the Church learned how to read the Word of God, compose its Gospel and discover the words for its own prayer.

The Jewsih liturgy is to the Christian liturgy what the flower is to the fruit, the promise of the fulfillment. Just as the ancient Scriptures were, as it were, "pregnant" with Christ - that is, carried the Messiah in their womb - so also the very richness of the New Testament prayers bear witness to how rich the Jewish soil was in which the infant Christian liturgy sank its roots. This is the framework for any genuine discussion on liturgy.

In the past, great attention was paid to the externals, preoccupied with rubrical correctness. The Second Vatican Council called us to focus our attention on the essentials. How do we lead our assemblies to concious, active participation? Proclaiming the Word with power. How do our sacramental signs draw us deeper into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection in the breaking of bread, drinking wine, anointing with oil, or being immersed in water. These are the central elements that our liturgy group at St. Gerard's tries to perform with care and solemnity. As a group of seven committed parishioners we meet regularly to plan the rites. For further information on liturgy you can contact the Liturgical Commission below.

The Liturgical Commission

Website  www.litcom.net.au