Liturgical Participation: An Effective Hermeneutic for Individuals with Profound Memory Loss

In non-pandemic times adults with profound memory loss (PML) are isolated by virtue of the effects of their decline. The marginalization of this cohort has been greatly exacerbated by the present pandemic. Individuals and their caretakers are not seen as active members, but as objects of pastoral care. Leaving individuals outside of the present moment, PML makes it difficult to communicate or function. They may behave in ways that would be antithetical to their thinking. Individuals were isolated from their homes and worshiping communities. In this paper I will present a liturgical hermeneutic of Liturgical Participation. I will illustrate its effectiveness as a catechetical methodology for individuals experiencing PML. The methodology of Liturgical Participation will aid ministers in the work of raising the consciousness of individuals as active participants in the work of God.

Oriental Orthodox Young Adults and Liturgical Participation: A Matter of Identity

This qualitative research on young adults of the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox Churches in Lebanon considers why participation in liturgy aids the identity formation of youth in both communities. By participating in liturgical rituals, these young adults express identities which transcend the limited spaces they inhabit. These spaces are influenced by the minority context in Lebanon, as well as by traumatic historic experiences of both Armenians and Syriacs. Such spaces stimulate the youths’ appreciation for their ancient traditions and their strong connection to other members of their church communities, both past and present. Their sense of belonging is rooted in ancient languages and narratives, and in the embodied rituals that open Armenian and Syriac young people up to the divine dimension of liturgy in church and in daily life. We argue that, for the research population, engagement in the liturgy is a matter of identity.

Stewardship and renewal of catholic places of worship in Australia

The National Liturgical Architecture and Art Council (NLAAC) is an advisory body to the Bishops’ Commission for Liturgy of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, mandated to provide advice in the areas of liturgical architecture, art and heritage. The Council has prepared guidelines for use throughout the Catholic Church in Australia. The most recent of these documents, Fit for Sacred Use: Stewardship and Renewal of Places of Worship (2018) focusses on existing church buildings with particular reference to cultural heritage, and is the subject of this paper. Vatican II sought the full and active liturgical participation of all the people and so existing churches were reordered to foster inclusion. It is timely to consider questions around what constitutes our heritage and how it is valued. Fit for Sacred Use sets out the liturgical and heritage principles which are fundamental to conserving, renovating and reordering a church building. Its holistic approach considers how we renew our churches while honouring our heritage.

Nicholas Cabasilas and Embodied Authority

Cabasilas reflects the Dionysian conception of hierarchy in negotiating the theological and practical challenges of hierarchy in his own context. Cabasilas, however, is original in emphasizing the naming, expression, and application of hierarchy in terms of realizing and reflecting the Body of Christ. Cabasilas’s insight to issues of hierarchy, authority, and power provides room for speaking to both historical and contemporary ecclesiological concerns about sacramental validity, lay and priestly authority, and sacramental participation. Cabasilas’s emphasis on liturgical participation as unequivocally divinely communicative renders it hierarchical and allows him to make a distinction between authority in the context of the liturgy and the spiritual authority offered by individuals outside of the sacramental context. Much like Stethatos, when a hierarch or priest is not divinely imitative then the authority of the cleric is jeopardized. Consequently, the obedience of those who would be subordinate to such a spiritually impotent leader is no longer required.

The Interdependence between Social and Liturgical Change. An Empirical Investigation on the Case of the Jewish Community in Hongkong

The present study addresses new insights into the interdependent relationship between social and liturgical change by examining the Jewish community in Hong Kong. It shows how social change affects liturgical practice, and how liturgical change, on its turn, leads to social change. The changes of the social are to be considered primarily on the meso level and the micro level. Concerning the liturgical, primarily liturgical practice, i.e. the performance of liturgical services, as well as liturgical attitudes of individuals, liturgical participation and liturgical reception are the focus of the analysis. New forms of liturgical participation in the age of new communication technologies are also presented and their social and liturgical relevance is examined.

Liturgical Love

In this article, I focus on the ways in which liturgical participation can be a manifestation of love rather than on the formative effects of liturgy. I introduce the discussion by distinguishing two quite different love commands that Jesus issued: we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, and the followers of Jesus are to love each other as he loved them. The former sort of love I call ‘neighbor love’, the latter, ‘Christ-like friendship love’. I distinguish two ways in which both kinds of love can be manifested: by exercising the love, or by giving symbolic expression to the love. I point to various dimensions of Christ-like friendship love that the New Testament singles out for attention, and show how these dimensions can be exercised in the liturgy. I then point to ways in which neighbor love can be manifested. I conclude with some brief reflections on liturgical participation as formative of love.