More about GIRM - the adventure continues . . .

by Jane Bernard Hanson

This is the sixth article in our series on the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal and the new Sacramentary, "The Big Red Book."

As part of our continuing formation on the revised GIRM, Bishop Blase Cupich of the Diocese of Rapid City came to our diocese on April 16, 2002. He discussed the document with priests, pastoral administrators and many liturgical leaders from the parishes of the diocese. His presentation was entitled, "Understanding and Implementing the General Instruction of the Roman Missal: What, How and Why." Part of his talk focused on what the document is, what it is not and the basic principles it sets out.

Bishop Cupich emphasized that the revised GIRM is to be read as a whole, in its entirety. He pointed out that when the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome promulgated the document, the intention was not to highlight the changes but to present the whole document as one in continuity with the unbroken tradition of the Church. This is a presentation of the Eucharistic celebration in which the doctrinal and pastoral considerations take first place and give meaning to the regulations and rubrics. In other words, the basic principles come first and the rubrics flow from them.

And these basic principles remain the same. The first is that the liturgy is part of the economy of salvation. Bishop Cupich explained that this "economy" is not about budgets or cash flow but about God's plan . . . everything that God ever wanted for the people he called to be his own, everything that Jesus did to bring that to fulfillment and everything that is to come. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are not simply reenacting what Jesus and his disciples did, neither are we caught up into heaven and separated from the world and its foibles and struggles. Rather, all of God's saving action . . . past, present and future is made real here and now at this moment in this celebration and in the people celebrating. At Christmas time we say Christ is born today and at Easter time we say that Christ is risen today right here in our midst.

The second principle is all about liturgical action. Bishop Cupich pointed out that you cannot understand the celebration of the Eucharist and be transformed by it unless you participate in it. It's the same with Thanksgiving at great Aunt Martha's house . . . you really don't know what its all about unless you've been a part of it. We used to speak in terms of "hearing" Mass. We now understand that the entire assembly, the entire Body of Christ gathered is drawn into the very life of God in the celebration. The primary actions of the assembly are to gather in response to God's invitation, to listen and respond to the proclamation of God's word, to do the Eucharistic action, eating and drinking Christ's Body and Blood and to go forth to the world as faithful disciples. Bishop gave us an example. When we go forward in procession to receive communion we are not walking up for, "a private audience with Jesus." The communion procession is rather a unified movement of the Body of Christ to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

The third principle speaks about the power of symbols. When words fail us, we turn to symbols to express our experience. In the liturgy we use the ordinary stuff of life, bread, wine, oil, light, etc. and put them together in such a way that gives expression to the mystery of God's presence in our midst. We use the simple things of life like Jesus did. He used bread made from wheat, crushed, ground and combined with water, kneaded and baked and consumed to sustain life. All the symbols we use open up a deeper reality about who God is for us, who Jesus is and who we are and draw us into the mystery of God.

The fourth principle deals with the assembly. Bishop Cupich emphasized that we come together not as members of a club or organization, but as holy people made more holy by conscious, active and faithful participation in the mystery of the Eucharist. We gather in unity not because we live in the same neighborhood or because our kids go to the same school. Our unity is grounded first of all in our common relationship with God through Christ and flowing from that, our relationship with one another and the world.

As we continue to prepare to implement the revised GIRM, there will be more articles about the specific changes in the Mass that we can expect.

More about GIRM is a brief look at the recent history of the Sacramentary (the big red book of prayers.) The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) mandated that the order of Mass and all the sacraments be revised and renewed. The first revision was published in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It introduced the changes in the Mass envisioned by the Council Fathers. Knowing that all living things, including the liturgy, evolve and develop, the Sacramentary was revised again in 1975. That revision took into consideration the experience of the changes in the Mass and the revisions of the other rites of the church. And now, based on the wisdom gleaned from more than 30 years of liturgical renewal and pastoral practice, the Sacramentary is again being fine-tuned. It is hoped that the revised GIRM will be ready for use in parishes on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2002.

Jane Bernard Hanson is director of the Office of Worship & Spiritual Life for the Diocese of New Ulm.