Sacred Actions...dont be scared :)

Well, I know this may seem kind of "academic" but this text seems to articulate well some of the ideas that we have been implementing a little bit lately. Please leave some thoughts....


Rituals are part of every human culture. Judaism was no exception. Jesus chose the setting of a Jewish ritual meal to express explicitly the meaning of his impending death as a sacrifice for the "life of the world" (John 6:51). After his resurrection, his followers took over the ritual structure of that meal together with the new meaning with which Christ had filled it: Christ’s sacrifice once and for all put an end to the need for bloody animal sacrifice (e.g., Heb. 9). As Christianity ceased to be a persecuted Jewish sect and moved into the center of the late Roman culture, Christian liturgy and ritual incorporated elements of Roman public ceremony. The meaning Christians attached to these ritual actions was, however, purely Christian: In his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s hidden yet revealed (mysterious) plan for the salvation of the world. In Christian ritual worship, members of Christ’s body participate in the life of Christ


An Introduction to Ritual in Worship

All Christian communions, from Orthodox churches to charismatic congregations, participate in ritual when they worship. Whether one makes the sign of the cross or raises hands in worship, a ritual action takes place. Why some rituals are important and how we can deepen our worship through them is a matter of concern among those engaged in worship renewal. In the following paragraphs, a Roman Catholic writer addresses some of these issues.
In the late twentieth century, in many different religious circles, we hear the cry, “Our religious rituals are not working.” From both the right and the left the cry is the same. Yet from outside the Roman Catholic circle our Christian brothers and sisters have begun to recognize our deep ritual heritage. Why is this cry all too true? What shall we do?
Some of our present rituals (notably the Eucharist) have been robbed of their power and depth. In an attempt to clarify and purify our rituals to return them to their simplicity and integrity (a noble project), we threw away too much. We made them understandable rather that performable. We cut out the duplication of ritual which allowed for depth response and substituted an excess of words (so that we might more clearly understand the rites). We are left with superficial cerebral rites that can’t bear the weight of true worship, rites which can’t communicate at the level of faith, rites which educate more than appeal for devotional response.
On the other side, our present rituals, even those which have structural depth, often lack faith commitments. We as a community don’t seem to understand our role in worship, and as a result, we don’t know what to do with the ritual we have. At worship, people must pray and share their faith. Ritual will not pray for people. Without human spirit, ritual is meaningless or a lie. In the past, ritual has been used to bolster weak faith or supply it (as in the later stages of the early catechumenal development). Ultimately this has not worked! It will work no better today! The renewal of ritual must be accompanied by the renewal of faith and the renewal of faith must become a strong criterion for ritual adaptation. As part of this renewal, special ministers of worship, from presider to greeter, must learn their roles well. They must learn how to communicate through the ritual and not around it.
As a result of the lack of structural depth and the lack of faith content, some people have turned to substituting their own ritual creations, but the results have generally proven no better. Historical connection is often sacrificed while faith content still remains minimal. The congregation’s attention is focused on the novelty, and the congregation might seem satisfied for a time, but the new quickly grows old, the entertainment subsides, and the central point is missed: The congregation does not adequately respond with faith.
A move from the left might suggest that since our present rituals don’t work, there might not be a real need for any ritual. This side sees the importance of faith content, but fails to see the value of ritual structure. What will hopefully be learned soon is that without religious ritual, worship becomes ethical behavior, interiorized but also intellectualized, which quickly ceases to be worship.
Concluding Guidelines
The insights to be kept in mind as we approach ritual are:
(1) There is a tremendous need for good religious ritual, and this ritual must be related to an awakening of faith among the worshipers.
(2) We need to take another look at what was “thrown out” in the revision of our present rituals. Perhaps some of this might be reintroduced (e.g., ritual repetition, movement, and gesture).
(3) We need to move toward ritual adaptation that preserves the simplicity of the ritual, rather than creating a screen of secondary rituals that diffuse the central mystery. The fullness of sign, the fullness of gesture, and the fullness of faith response must be given attention.
(4) We need to study the church’s ritual history to find out what has worked and what has not, to discover central Christian dimensions behind the ritual activity we do.
(5) We need to study our cultures to find the naturally symbolic structures for faith response in them and to discover the important Christian needs in today’s world. At the same time, we must remember that religious ritual does not merely mean Christianized culture, but it always stands in critique of our culture.
(6) We need to understand ourselves as symbolic people, as ritual people, as people with a history and a destiny, and as people who march in the middle of a long procession of saints and sinners on our way home.
Good religious ritual is born, not made. Its content is renewed in Christian commitment; its structure is discovered on the level of faith. It critiques itself from the inside, reflecting on its own historical development. It adapts itself to the culture and society in which it lives. Treat it carefully: the future of the church depends on it.
[1]

[1]Webber, Robert: The Sacred Actions of Christian Worship. Nashville : Star Song Pub. Group, 1994, S. 65