"The power of the liturgy"by Bishop William S. Skylstad (From the June 14, 2001 edition of the Inland Register)
The celebrations of the sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist take place primarily in the springtime after Easter. For me personally, they are wonderful occasions of faith communities coming together for these special signs of welcoming and initiation into the Church. These moments touch the lives of those confirmed and those receiving Eucharist. These moments create lasting memories, and we hope, inspirational ones as well. Regularly, I meet people whom I have confirmed many years ago or even fairly recently. The comments can come after celebration of Eucharist or during a brief stop late in the evening on the way home at a quick-stop to pick up a latte. Our recent practice of going back to the original sequence of the celebration of these sacraments of initiation has been a grace-filled experience for me. As we gain more experience, I’m sure we will continue to deepen our preparation and celebrations of these sacraments. For obvious reasons, there is pressure on my schedule to celebrate as many of these as possible during weekend liturgies. On the other hand, I would hope that more and more of our parish communities could appreciate the significance of these sacraments of initiation and how the presence of the larger community expresses a clear sign of welcoming. When the bishop comes to the parish for a weeknight celebration of these sacraments of initiation, this just isn’t a moment for family and close friends of those who are confirmed and receive First Eucharist. The old saying that “it takes a village to raise a child” can easily be said of a parish community as we take appropriate responsibility of celebrating these sacraments as a faith family. The liturgies for these sacraments have a special power about them, a unique power to touch people. We should also remember that liturgies in general need to be carefully planned. The quality of the worship space and vestments, the appearance of the church both internally and externally, and the prayerful, participative, and welcoming spirit of the parish community all give their respective messages. What kind of signal do we give to the larger community as others see our churches and our celebrations? Also of great importance is the matter of singing. I’m impressed oftentimes at how even some of our smaller parish communities invest so much effort into singing well. We have a rich tradition in our church with regard to sacred music and the liturgy, but sometimes we are not noted for singing with great gusto. For some years now I have been involved nationally with the Catholic-Methodist dialogue. Recently a Methodist member of our dialogue team gave me a copy of the new Methodist hymnal. In the front of this hymnal are directions by John Wesley, the founder of the United Methodists, about how they should sing. You may find these directives helpful as we look at the quality of our own singing: 1. Learn these tunes before any others; afterwards learn as many as you please. 2. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can. 3. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing. 4. Sing lustily and with great courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep, but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan. 5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound. 6. Sing in tune. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep up with it. Do not run before or stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all of our tunes just as quick as the first. 7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven. (From John Wesley’s Select Hymns, 1761) So there is the challenge! May we all continue to work at celebrating our liturgical life in the Church with greater prayerfulness, gratitude, and joy. Much peace and many blessings upon all of you.
Bishop Skylstad’s schedule
June 13-16: National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting, Atlanta
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