INTRODUCTION
The
key concern in the models for the celebration of the liturgy on week
days is the same as it was for the Sundays of Years A, B, and C:
to bring the liturgy, our worship of the Lord, close to the lives
of the people.
That
is only as it should be, for the way we live, our Christian living
is the basic worship we give to the Lord. However much we pray to
the Lord in our worship and honor him with our lips, if our lives
contradict our offerings, then our sacrifices, our rites, our acts
of worship are without value. The prophets and the Lord himself reiterated
this so often and insistently that it is a basic tenet of our Judeo-Christian
religion. See the Introduction of the models for Sundays of years
A, B, and C for a longer presentation of these basics, especially
Year A.
The
starting point of our models, whether for Sundays in the earlier books
or now for weekdays, is the day's message of the scriptures, especially
of the gospel. Sometimes a scripture text, most often so for the gospel,
gives more than one message. We have to make a choice in that case
and take the one that has the clearest application or at least a good
one to the life of the people. Others may judge differently and select
another point of the good news in the day's message.
The
development of the gospels from the words of Christ until their writing
down by the evangelist may help us to understand the growth of these
models. You know how there were three agents and stages that came
into action. First, Christ: What did he say? What did he mean by what
he said? This is the most important element. Then, the community:
what were its needs? How did they understand or not understand what
Christ said? How did its members apply his words to their lives? Third,
the evangelist. Keeping in mind what Jesus had said and how his community
needed to pay attention to the Lord's message or to understand it
or understand it better, what of the words and actions of Jesus did
he write down for his community and apply to them? One can notice
this particularly when we pay attention to how each of the synoptic
evangelists tells basically the same fundamental story and the various
stories and parables and actions of Jesus, but each with his own twist
and focus of attention or point of stress.
Now,
for the models of celebration, how did I proceed? First, what does
the gospel or other scripture text say? What is its key message? Second,
in view of this message, what are the needs of the people? How does
it, or should it, affect their lives? What is alive in them? How can
they live this message and give God worship and praise? And third,
then, how should the model state this in its introductions, prayers,
or other texts? This is what I tried to build up gradually in the
course of almost forty years, through study, meditation, prayer.
In
the book for weekdays of Liturgy Alive, how do I present our models
in this spirit? In a simpler way than for the Sundays. For each day
and each theme we limit our presentation to the Introduction by the
Celebrant, the three Presidential prayers (Opening Prayer, Prayer
over the Gifts, and Prayer after Communion) reflecting the message
of the reading and applying it to the needs of the community, and
then a parting word with the blessing in which we sum up the key message
of the day as an inspiration to take home and live at least for this
day.
Normally
there are also Intentions of the Prayer of the Faithful but in an
abridged form. First, in the role of presider, the one who leads the
liturgy of the day should spontaneously formulate an introduction/invitation
to the intentions, for example: "Let us bring before the Lord
the needs of our people," or "We pray for the great concerns
of the Church and the world," or the like. Then, at the end there
should be a short conclusion, like, "This is what we ask you
through Christ our Lord," or similar words. Only three intentions
are normally given. This leaves room for the presider or the people
to add an intention relevant to the day or occasion, like a feast
in the parish, a marriage jubilee, an intention asked by the faithful,
and the like. Finally, he should propose a simple answer to the intentions,
like, "Lord, hear our prayer" or "Lord, hear us."
I insist, because these things belong to the presider in his role
as the leader of the community. On the Sundays we presented more complicated
forms for the sake of teaching the people richer prayers, but for
weekdays we suppose the presider knows his role and things should
be kept simple.
Each
of the three presidential prayers looks at the key message of the
day in its own way, in the function of its role. The Opening Prayer
is meant to convey the key thought of the message or the occasion
of the celebration in a rather general way. It asks that the good
news of the reading may be fulfilled in the community. The Prayer
over the Gifts is the prayer that concludes the bringing forward of
the people's gifts of water and wine, their offering, and so tries
to express how their lives become an offering to God in connection
with the key thought of the day. The basic thought of the Prayer after
Communion is how the eucharist can bear fruit in their lives and to
ask that God help bring about, one aspect at a time, especially, how
this day they can live the good news just heard. The words of the
Blessing and the dismissal reinforce this by taking in a simple form
the key idea of the day and giving it along with the people as a thought
to take home, to inspire them for the rest of the day.
Note
that the prayer texts are given in thought lines, that break up the
prayer in easy to follow natural parts, with a certain free rhythm
that helps to keep up with the thoughts of the prayer and to understand
them more easily. It makes it also easier for the presider to enunciate
them.
There
is a different approach for the celebration of the weekdays and that
of the saints. Our main attention, as in the official missal and the
lectionary, goes to the weekdays. Note that the rule for the readings
is that those of the weekday prevail, except for a few saints, mostly
those mentioned in the bible or, pastorally, for saints that are particularly
important to the community. For the saints there are normally no intentions.
I suggest to take those of the corresponding weekday, except for feasts.
For the saints, I give only the feasts and the obligatory memorials.
For pastoral reasons a few optional memorials are included: they are
for popular celebrations, like Our Lady of Lourdes or Mount Carmel,
or Saint Nicholas.
The
strong liturgical seasons - Advent,
Christmas time, Lent
and the weeks of Easter have only two
readings in the lectionary: the first from the Old Testament or an
apostle, the second the gospel. There the approach can remain simpler,
with usually just one choice for the message to be stressed for that
day. But for the weeks throughout the year we have two years, I and
II, with the gospel always the same. There you have to make a choice
for the Introduction. Normally, the introductory part mentions in
any case the gospel, but for years I and II also the message of the
first reading is mentioned. You select the message of the first reading
plus that of the gospel, or you concentrate on the gospel alone, or
on the first reading for a theme you consider important for your people.
On some days the first reading itself and the importance of the theme
found in it already suggest additional options. That is why for the
most important themes I have several times indicated or suggested
a special option. Take what fits your people best. And be not afraid
of using your own words. My texts are only models, and you know best
what goes on in your community. Use of the book will give you a familiarity
to choose what fits best.
Keep
in mind that the celebrations of Liturgy Alive are only models.
As I said in the book for the Sundays of Year A, think of your own
actual community, their needs and aspirations, the stage of their
faith, their education, their religious and secular culture. They
are the community to which you have to adapt yourself, that you have
to bring closer to God, that you have to lead to a worship that reflects
their lives. Do so as much as you can. This may be the easiest to
do in Sunday celebrations without a priest in smaller communities.
May these models help you. God bless you and your people.