F aith Today Supplement, The Message, Catholic Diocese of Evansville, December 18,1987
e.
l
the spirit of Sunday
rgy of
ring its
es of
lay
dng to
official
le form
,or
le
groups
gather
tyer, us-
'gy of
deacon
once
ers or
even-
were
tis
the
Lhat
at
tp-
rayer.
rig of
=ning
)f
e like
ed the
n. This
S
folldeed by one or two psalms
recited by the assembly in alter-
nating verses.
Each psalm was followed by a
pause for silent pra,er and a col-
lect, a short prayer.
A reading from the Bible, or oc-
cagionally from another spiritual
writer, was followed either by
sile[it reflection or a brief homily.
Then we sang the Magnificat,
Mary's hymn of praise. A series of
petits for the needs of the
community and of the world was
followed by the Lord's Prayer. A
blessing and final hymn concluded
the service.
This Vespers service proved
very popular veith a significant
i number of parishioners. It seemed
to meet a need for common
prayer, the same need some other
devotions met in earlier times.
Like those devotions, it was
relatively unchanging in structure,
it contained music that became
very familiar, it included ritual ac-
tion(lighting of the candle, use
of incense, blessing) and it
fostered a sense of community
among those who gathered to
pray together.
This Vespers service was closely
connected to the official liturgy of
the church, especially the Sunday
Eucharist. Its tone and mood
changed with the liturgical
seasons, and the readings and
psalms we chose were often link-
ed to the previous Sunday's Mass.
In that way, the celebration of
Vespers extended the Sunday
celebration into the week and led
us back to the Eucharist the
following Sunday. That is exactly
what the council said good
popular devotions should do.
The Second Vatican Council
asked that popular devotions "be
so drawn up that they harmonize
with the liturgical seasons, accord
with the sacred liturgy, are in
some fashion derived from it and
lead the people to it, since the
liturgy by its very nature far sur-
passes any of them" (Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy, 13).
We may see more and more
parishes celebrating morning or
evening prayer in the years ahead.
Some parishes have scheduled it
in place of daily Mass on some
days, especially when a priest is
not available.
These communal prayers may
provide an ideal way to celebrate
the spirit of the liturgy throughout
the week and meet the needs of
many people for prayer in
common.
(Father Mick is pastor of St.
Patrick's Parish in Glynnwood,
Ohio.)
Jialogue Scripture opens
Eand
,s so in-
lary
pap,r.
tcheda
I under-
:quain-
more
nt page.
xent is
;, "Scrip-
:quently
ormer
is non-
lr Father
all Mary
,spels.
ffers'V"
I people
tening to
elous
.arts of
ring
death in
a grow-
mdous
SOUrCe
e Word
in the Mass, with its introduction
of three readings every Sunday in
a three-year cycle, also draws at-
tention to the magnificent variety
and inexhaustible riches of the
sacred books.
"ith curiosity and interest
aroused by Sunday readings, more
and moe people have formed Bi-
ble study groups. They meet infor-
mally to read and reflect together
on Scripture, to share insights and
to respond in a practical way to
what God is saying to them.
Imperceptibly study leads to
prayer. Soon the discussion group
has become a prayer group,
characterized by sincere dialogue
with God and with each other.
hfg happy byproduct of this is a
htened sense of belonging, of
sharing. This can be hard for peo-
ple to come by in a huge parish of
a thousand or more families.
Realistically aware of their own
lack of background in biblical
studies, these study groups often
avail themselves of one of the
many excellent aids now available.
Experience has taught me that
"Share the Word," published by
Paulist National Catholic
Evangelization Association, s a
popular and reliable aid to Bible
study.
Of course, this is only one of
many such aids which have ap-
peared in recent times.
Occasionally, after a lecture on
the Bible in a parish, someone will
approach me to confide that a
passage I was discussing is one of
his or her favorites. One thing
leads to another and I soon learn
that people like this regularly use
Scripture as a source of personal
devotion.
Such people personalize what
they read, realizing that the text is
speaking to them. They answer
from their hearts, entering into a
dialogue with Jesus or Paul or
Isaiah and ultimately with God.
This is what prayer is about.
In the process, people are get-
ting to know Jesus. More and
more he becomes a real person to
them, a dialogue partner. It shows
in their lives.
'They find for themselves, with
the help of God's grace, the
answer to Paul's impassioned cry:
"I want to know Christ!" (Philip-
plans 3:10).
(bather Castelot is a professor of
Scripture at St. John's Seminary,
Plymouth, Mich.)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
II
Our writers suggest that devotions can be linked to the church's
liturgy and its spirit. Through such devotions the Sunday liturgy is ex-
tended into the week.
*What are some of the great themes of the liturgy? Of the seasons of
the church's year?
eHow is God heard during the Mass? What image of God is
communicated?
*What view of oneself and of others does the Mass foster?
oWhat, in your own words, is "the spirit of the liturgy"?
eHow can the spirit of the liturgy be extended into all the prayer
that occurs during the week?
Second H@]pJng$. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger's 16-step plan for
prayer in a new book titled First Steps in Prayer includes suggestions for
using the Bible and for "punctuating" the day with different kinds of prayer.
Taking advantage of the church's liturgical year in praying "helps us to sur-
mount the wear and tear of our daily life by referring us to the major event
in human history" -- the redemption, says Cardinal Lustiger, archbishop
of Paris. Addressing people whose lives are hectic, he urges them at day's
end to review the day in prayer, "not to evoke nostalgia or a vague melan-
choly or a sterile regret -- but for the purpose of maintaining our capabili-
ty to ac t responsibly, to have a future and to stay the course of fidelity"
asking forgiveness and giving thanks. In ,this collection of talks first given
on Notre Dame Radio in 1984, he says, ' When I examine my day under
(God's) eyes, 1 discover it through his eyes and receive the grace of having
my eye become the 'lamp' of my body by letting itself be suffused with God's
light." (Doubleday and Co. Inc., 245 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10167.
1987. Hardback, $16.95.)
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