We know the liturgy by
heart which can allow us to be mechanical and automatic
We need “Participation of the
Heart”
Intentionally and
wholeheartedly
We are participating in the Pascal
Mystery!
Participation (cont.)
How easy it is to
participate in all the outward ways (singing, giving the appropriate
responses, even receiving communion) but not allowing ourselves to be really
touched at the core of our being.
We know the
liturgy by heart, and sometimes that can make our participation mechanical
and automatic, scarcely aware of what we are doing, able to daydream about
all kinds of other things.
So we need
“Participation of the heart” – we have intentionality about
what we are doing:
No matter what is going on in my
life, I will participate to the best of my ability today.
I will listen to what God is
saying in my heart (in the core of my being) and I will take that message
with me into the experiences of the week.
I will live out what I have
proclaimed in the liturgy and work for the Reign of God in our midst today.
Ultimately,
liturgical participation means participating in the Paschal Mystery, the
death and resurrection of Jesus: dying and rising with him; laying down our
lives with his for one another.