Oct 09 2008
Scripture is the School of Liturgy
An excerpt from Cardinal Francis George’s address at the Synod of Bishops, as reported by Zenit:
“Scripture is the soul of liturgy even more than it is the heart of theology,” the president of the US bishops’ conference said. “With decreased participation in the Sunday liturgy, the faithful cut themselves off from contact with Scripture in the context of communal worship.
“Through steady attention to the Scriptures that shape the liturgical cycles and calendar, the believer opens himself to conversion and development in the life of grace.”
Cardinal George called regular attendance at Mass a “schooling in the obedience of faith.”
“A love of Scripture,” he continued, “feeds the desire to worship in spirit and in truth, and, in turn, our worship gives God the opportunity to transform us more profoundly into the image of Christ.”
The cardinal commented on the practice of “lectio divina,” which he called a form of prayer “so apt to purify one’s desires and bring one’s will into harmony with God’s will,” yet so “far from common even among those who regularly come to Church.”
He said that if pastors are attentive, “people will not fear confusion when they read and listen to the Bible. It will not be for them a grand puzzle but a path to the freedom that comes from personal surrender to God’s world, God’s mind, God’s will.
“If the power of God’s word in Holy Scripture is to be felt in the life and mission of the Church, pastors must attend to personal context as well as to inspired text.”
