How often have we said or heard it said, “If only I could have met Jesus when he walked the hills of Gallilee and the streets of Jerusalem, I ________________.”  You fill in the blank.  This wished-for encounter reveals a deep desire to actually meet Jesus in person and to be trandformed by that meeting.
            Well, we can and do everytime we are gathered as Church to do Liturgy!  This is our faith.  Do we not believe that Jesus is alive, ready and eager to meet us?
            Pope Francis on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29, 2022) issued an Apostolic Letter (Desiderio Desideravi).  In it he both lamented our lack of amazement, awe, and wonder at what takes place in the Liturgy and called for a renewed liturgical formation for all the faithful: clergy and laity alike.
            Last year through a series of Bulletin inserts, we took a closer look at the Eucharistic Liturgy: its parts, underlying dynamic movment, and theology.  This year the inserts will continue to help us grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ and his continuing presence and action in our lives today.
            You may remember that we desrcibed liturgy as the public worship of the faith community; thus, stressing the communal nature of our activity.  Often we tend to limit our understanding of liturgy to the Eucharistic Liturgy (Mass), but this is not the Church’s unnderstandiing. The Liturgy includes all seven sacraments and the Liturgy of Hours—what we called the Divine Office.  Imagine how our understanding, appreciation, and celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick would be changed if we understood them as a communal events and, first and foremost, the worship of God.
            These two are singled out because we still tend to see (and celebrate) them as private events with the focus on the individual who is presenting him or herself for forgiveness and healing.  But, any and all sacraments are the work of the faith community, whether it’s visibly present or not.  This is why the Church in her directives for the celebration of sacraments insists that the communal form of celebration is to be preferred.  This disparity between our experience and what the Church desires is another example of the fact that “we are a work in progress.”
            As we spend this next year pondering the great gift that we have in the liturgy, let us pray for each other and our brothers and sisters in the Church throughout the world that we have a growing realization of the tremendous gift.

*Desiderio Desideravi---I have greatly desired to eat this meal (Luke 22:15)