About a hundred and twenty-five years ago the scholars looked seriously at how the early church actually lived their life as a faith community. The one thing that stood out clearly was the importance of the Word of God. When they would gather for worship a passage was chosen, proclaimed and meditated upon. These were people who were for the most part illiterate; only a small group of men could read and write.
This was also a time when the spoken word, the story told, was committed to memory. Many people knew and recited parts of the Scriptures in their daily prayer life. The Word of God was integral to their prayer and their spirituality.
After the Vatican Council (ended in 1965) the readings for Sunday Mass were updated into the three year cycle of readings. This means that all the New Testament and the important parts of the Old Testament are proclaimed in every church, every three years.
This innovation was adopted by the Anglican, United, Luthern, Presbyterian churches in Canada. This means that on almost every Sunday in Canada the exact gospel passage is being proclaimed in all five churches.
A strong value of the three year lectionary is that the Word of God is given to the local church. This means that there is no room to pick and choose just the parts of the Scriptures that we like. Very simply put: local church here is the Word of God – deal with it! Keep in mind that there are many parts of the Bible that people do not want to deal with in their liturgies.
Always picture the Word of God (printed in a book we call the Bible) as so much sheet music. A musician may have stacks of sheet music on their shelves, but that is just so much paper that could be recycled in the recycle bin. It is only when the music is played that it becomes real. And what a delight it is to have a musician make the notes on the page come alive! What pleasure it gives us to just enjoy this music.
Consider in your memory the wonderful feeling of parents when whey silently enjoy and take great pride in the musical skills of their children. They may not put it into words but there is great satisfaction that all these trips, all these hours of practice were worth it!
When their child plays a certain piece on whatever instrument they have learnt on, the heart of the parent flowering into pride and gratitude.
Now, the Word of God must be seen in the same light. It is no good to have a Bible in the house if it is never read and prayed over. When the Word of God is proclaimed during the Sunday liturgy this is a lived experience of God.
But it is only when it is lived out, made real in our daily lives, does the Word of God come alive. It is in our flesh that the Word of God is real – and alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment