Synopsis of January 1999 Issue
Gail Ramshaw
The Gift of Three Readings, pp. 2 - 12.
Summary. The three-year lectionary is one of the hermeneutical techniques developed by the church to assist the faithful in probing the mystery of the Scriptures. Gail Ramshaw points out, however, that despite the availability of comprehensive analyses of the lectionaries, it remains common for worship planners, preachers and hearers to be baffled by the juxtaposition of the three readings encountered in the Sunday liturgy. She further notes that this has led some denominations to permit the proclamation of only one or two of the three readings.
Ramshaw expresses concern that when a parish reduces the number of readings from three to one, the resulting scriptural minimalism opens the door to fundamentalist-type preaching and simplistic thematic liturgies. Even when all three readings are proclaimed but only one is considered in the homily, the temptation remains for planners and preachers to find in the Bible warrant for whatever they wanted to say anyway. The result is a considerable disservice to the faithful.
Ramshaw encourages planners and preachers to approach the lectionary not as an incomprehensible burden, but rather, as a gift. Through the disciplined use of all three readings, planners and preachers will discover that sometimes the three readings provide insight, which assists with the interpretation of any single text and makes the preaching task easier. Other times, the three readings present images which require us to alter our initial response to the images found in another pericope, resulting in a tension and complicating the preaching task. Ramshaw sees both insight and tension as gift. She illustrates her conviction in this regard with a discussion of the readings denoted in the lectionary for certain Sundays. She concludes that the task of the lectionary and the church's explication of its texts is to find in the three readings vibrant images of God's mercy and of the Spirit's community life.
R. Kevin Seasoltz
Artistic Images of Jesus:
A Challenge to Liturgists, Religious Educators
and Theologians, pp. 12 - 42.
Summary. Archbishop Rembert Weakland recently asserted that a formed and informed Catholic identity is not to be found in the United States at the present time. He suggested that a way to remedy this lack would be to retrieve, restore, and support the role of the arts in the transmission of a Catholic culture. With Weakland's suggestion in mind, R. Kevin Seasoltz observes that in the United States, the aesthetic aspects of culture have not found a distinctive Roman Catholic expression; yet, it is through the work of artists that our imaginations are stimulated, leading us to gain new insights and see new possibilities about the whole of life.
Against this background, Seasoltz offers a reflection on a non-verbal Christology, selected pictorial images of Jesus drawn from three historical periods. He focuses first on the period between the third and sixth centuries, drawing upon the work of Thomas F. Mathews. In The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art, Mathews surveys the various artistic images and religious interpretations of Christ produced in the early Christian period and asserts that the Christian images were above all dependent on the rival images of the ancient gods, an assertion which challenges the traditional notion that images of Christ during this period were primarily from images of the Roman emperor. Seasoltz summarizes the evidence Mathews points to in support of his contention. As for artistic images of Christ of the medieval period, Seasoltz presents Jeffrey F. Hamburger's study of the art of female monasticism. Hamburger's discovery of drawings at the medieval Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburg is detailed in Nuns as Artists: the Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent. Seasoltz gives an analysis of several of the drawings included in Hamburger's book. Finally, Seasoltz describes various images of Christ found in contemporary works of art
Through this survey of selected artistic images of Jesus, Seasoltz comments that such images appeal to our creative imaginations and inspire authentic worship. He further suggests that the rich history of the way Jesus has been portrayed in art challenges our contemporary church to commission artists with the best talents to execute images of Jesus, his Mother, and his saints for our worship spaces. That history also challenges theological faculties and religious educators to complement theological and catechetical texts with pictorial images of Jesus.
Chad Martin
Carnival: A Theology of Laughter
And a Ritual for Social Change, pp. 43 - 55.
Summary. Chad Martin proposes that there is an ideology, a theology perhaps, underlying the ritual celebration of carnival. Carnival, he says, presents an opportunity for social change because it is about turning everything upside down, exposing humanity's dark side and laughing at its folly. Given this, Martin contends that this ritual celebration be practiced with renewed understanding and vigor.
Martin's analysis begins with an explanation of the historical roots of the church holiday of carnival, including how it fits into the church calendar. He then proceeds to explore contemporary celebrations of carnival, including the secular Brazilian Carnival and the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans and the religious celebration of carnival at Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. In the discussion, Martin notes two functions of carnival. One, it gives people the opportunity to laugh at themselves and to confront the human dichotomy of good and evil. Two, through the social inversion it creates, carnival invites a time of ritual transformation.
Based on his analysis of carnival celebrations, Martin contends that carnival is necessary to Christian worship, and he cites three Biblical texts which he believes give scriptural and theological validity to the celebration of carnival. He concludes with suggestions for some ritual acts for a Christian carnival celebration that derive from the spirit of the secular celebrations as well as the Biblical understanding of the carnival theme.
James F. White
Forum: The Scope of Liturgical Studies, pp. 56 - 60.
Summary. James White argues that sound liturgical studies today must include an appreciation of Protestant liturgical developments, as well as North American contributions, both Protestant and Roman Catholic. Given his contention, he expresses disappointment that two recently published books, Anscar J. Chupungco's Handbook for Liturgical Studies, volume one, and Marcel Metzger's History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages, do not address the full scope of Protestant liturgical history. Other recent works, however, do take into account distinctive North American contributions to liturgical history. These books include J.D. Crichton's Lights in the Darkness: Fore-Runners of the Liturgical Movement, Keith Pecklers' The Unread Vision: The [Roman Catholic] Liturgical Movement in the United States of America: 1926 - 1955, Bernhard Lang's Sacred Games: A History of Christian Worship, and Frank Senn's Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical.
White emphasizes that Roman Catholics need to study Protestant developments to appreciate that liturgical change did not stop between 1563 (Trent) and 1963 (CSL). Protestants, he says, dealt with the realities of daily life just as Roman Catholics have, and although frequently their approaches were opposite, they occasionally coincided. White further suggests that Roman Catholics need to be aware of Protestant contributions to liturgy because issues in sacramental theology never go away; they simply reappear in different guises.
Also important is the need for Europeans to acknowledge North American contributions, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, to liturgical developments. As for why Europeans should study American liturgical history, White refers readers to Pecklers' book and in particular, the chapter on the liturgical movement and social justice. He adds that history is much broader than just the Roman Catholic experience, noting the highly relevant story of the Frontier Tradition and its success in Christianizing a continent. White concludes that liturgical development is a never-ending process, which requires that we remain open to the fact that liturgical scholarship has to reflect the best of Christian worship at all times and places, Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox.
Nathan Mitchell
The Amen Corner, pp. 60 - 69.
Summary. Nathan Mitchell examines what he refers to as a powerful myth, an uncritical assumption that the Roman liturgy has had an unbroken history of invariable rites and rubrics, texts and gestures, that everyone recognizes as Roman in origin, content, and structure. In his discussion, he points out that Western liturgical history exposes this myth as little more than wishful thinking or euphoric recall. Mitchell states that in one sense, there is no "Roman Rite" and never has been.
Mitchell points to the studies of S.J.P. van Dijk and Joan Hazelden Walker, which demonstrate that the modern Roman liturgy (which strongly reflects the interests and practices of the medieval papal court) evolved over many centuries. For instance, van Dijk's research revealed that in the late thirteenth century, Rome knew four different customs – the liturgy of the papal court, the basilica liturgy of St. Peter's in the Vatican, a new urban liturgy that combined elements from earlier urban and papal rites, and the liturgy of the Lateran basilica. Although the liturgy of the papal court became the one that most decisively shaped what we now call "the" Roman liturgy, the roots of this rite are not particularly "Roman" at all because of the influence of Eastern liturgical practices.
According to Mitchell, the first surviving description of a solemn papal Mass (Ordo Romanus I) reveals a kind of liturgy rooted in a "cult of personality." Based on the comments of Cyrille Vogel about the Ordo and the observations of van Dijk, Mitchell concludes that "the" Roman Rite that came to dominate all others was a liturgy designed, historically, to represent and reenforce the prestige, powers, and personality of the presider (the pope or, in his absence, a bishop or presbyter). He further comments that this was "the" Roman Rite that continued in use until Vatican II.
Finally, Mitchell notes that the reforms of Vatican II proposed to substitute popular, pastoral liturgy for papal liturgy; a rite celebrated by the pilgrim people of God. The vision of the Council is a liturgy at which the assembly is active agent rather than passive bystander. Yet, as Mitchell points out, a tension has resulted, one that has characterized postconciliar liturgical reform. Specifically, the Council's vision of a pastoral liturgy coexists with a conflicting ecclesiology and eucharistic theology that suggests the presider acts, while the assembly remains passive recipients of the eucharistic action. Mitchell believes this tension has resulted, in large part, from the evolution of "the" Roman Rite itself, and he expresses concern that the consequences for present pastoral practice remain onerous.
Book Reviews
Ronald Jasper: His Life, His Work, and the ASB. By Donald Gray. London: SPCK 1997. Pages, x + 154. Np. Review by Ruth A. Meyers, pgs. 71 - 72.
Adventures of the Spirit: A Guide to Worship from the Perspective of Process Theology. By Clark M. Williamson and Ronald J. Allen. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America 1997. Pages, 308. Paper, $34.50. Review by Shawn Madigan C.S.J., pp. 72 - 73.
The Bible for Theology: Ten Principles for the Theological Use of Scripture. By Gerald O'Collins S.J. and Daniel Kendall S.J. New York: Paulist Press 1997. Pages, 208. Paper, $14.95. Review by Luke Timothy Johnson, pp. 73 - 75.
What Binds Marriage? Roman Catholic Theology in Practice. By Timothy J. Buckley C.SS.R. London: Geoffrey Chapman 1997. Pages, xii + 195. Paper, n.p. Review by John S. Grabowski, pp. 75 - 77.
Worship with One Accord: Where Liturgy and Ecumenism Embrace. By Geoffrey Wainwright. New York: Oxford University Press 1997. Pages, 276. Cloth $35.00. Review by Robert J. Daly S.J., pp. 77 - 78.
By Water and the Word: The Scriptures of Baptism. By Daniel B. Stevick. New York: Church Publishing, Inc. 1997. Pages, 313. Paper, $20.95. Review by John H. McKenna C.M., pp. 78 - 80.
Interpreting Death: Christian Theology and Pastoral Practice. Edited by Peter C. Jupp and Tony Rogers. London and Washington, D.C.: Cassell 1997. Pages, 218. Paper, n.p. Review by Richard Rutherford C.S.C., pp. 80 - 83.
The Earth Is God's: A Theology of American Culture. By William A. Dryness. New York: Orbis Books 1997. Paper, $16.00. Review by William Dinges, pp. 83 - 85.
Welcoming the Baptized: Anglican Hospitality within the Ecumenical Enterprise. By Timothy J. Turner. Cambridge: Grove Books Limited 1996. Pages, 47. Paper, � 3.95. Review by John H. McKenna C.M., pp. 85 - 86.
The Living Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ, vol. 3: Colonial and National Beginnings. Edited by Charles Hambrick-Stowe. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press 1998. Pages, 518. Cloth, $60.00. Review by Jeffrey Gros F.S.C., pp. 87 - 88.
Neglected Wells: Spirituality and the Arts. Edited by Anne M. Murphy and Eoin G. Cassidy. Dublin: Four Courts Press 1997. Pages, 140. Paper, $21.95. Review by R. Kevin Seasoltz O.S.B., pp. 88 - 91.
Baptism and the Unity of the Church. Edited by Michael Root and Risto Saarinen. Grand Rapids: Wm E. Eerdmans 1998. Pages, 207. Cloth, $20.00. Review by Kurt Stasiak O.S.B., pp. 91 - 93.
An Outline of Christian Worship. By Gordon S. Wakefield. Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1998. Pages x + 246. Cloth, $47.95. Review by Leonel L. Mitchell, pp. 93 - 95.
Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. By Catherine Bell. New York: Oxford University Press 1997. Pages, xv + 351. Paper, $16.95. Review by Nathan D. Mitchell, pp. 95 - 96.
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