Pray Tell is starting a new series of interviews with liturgical leaders. It is loosely inspired by a series in Time Magazine. Each interviewee was asked to be witty, engaging and humorous in their responses. The views expressed in their responses are not necessarily those of Pray Tell.
Here is what we received…
Why are you in liturgy? What part of your job do you like the best?
The first time I attended a mass, at the astoundingly powerful, completely ordinary post-conciliar Pentecost liturgy at St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Gainesville, FL, I thought to myself, “This is mysticism, meeting with God, right here in the ordinary for people who haven’t committed themselves to years of fasting and asceticism.” I had been reading Christian mystics, but was under the mistaken impression that they encountered God because of their holiness, rather than that they were holy because they encountered God. I always have found Pelagianism tempting. The liturgy taught me grace.
The part of my job I like the best is writing. No, teaching. No, teaching about God and writing about God and teaching people to write about God. And reading. About God. The three parts of my job I like best — well, anyway, I like almost everything about my job.
Three things to fix the liturgy – what would they be?
“Fix the liturgy” sounds disturbingly unilateral, but three things I think we should reconsider and continue to reform, that’s easy: 1. Full infant initiation, and getting beyond our sense that “participation” means primarily “understanding” the liturgy (these two go together, in my view). 2. Liturgy of the hours should extend to the ordinary days of very ordinary faithful people. This probably means moving from an understanding of liturgical reform that’s centered on “fixing the book” to an understanding that’s centered on forms of prayer that are distinctive for each kind of liturgical rite. The Roman Liturgy of the Hours may not be one book (or set of books) but a sense of the forms that the Hours have taken in the Roman Rite. 3. We should renew the liturgy out of hope rather than fear. Not exactly a reform, as such, but I think it’s the most important thing.
Pope Francis: good for liturgical renewal or not?
Of course. Preaching the joy of the gospel has got to be good for liturgy. Pope Francis isn’t good for liturgical renewal primarily as “chief liturgist,” but as an evangelist with a prophetic sense of perspective.
Is liturgical ecumenism still alive?
I hope so, but I think it may be time to move forward differently. The manuscript I’m working on right now is a Roman Catholic theology of the Eucharist in the light of ecumenism. I think the work of consensus agreements has been more fruitful than anyone would have expected, but intra-confessional dialogue (for example, Catholics talking to other Catholics about what the consensus agreements mean for them) is just beginning, which probably accounts for at least part of the hesitation. In addition, I think it’s time to look at one another’s distinctive emphases as a gift rather than as a threat.
Do you advise young people go into liturgical study?
Yes, but with cautions that the job market is always uncertain. I know there are a lot of people who feel very pessimistic about the academic future of liturgical studies, but interest in fields fluctuates over time in all areas of academia – I’ve seen it with my friends who are in engineering and the hard sciences as well as the humanities. At the same time, I think liturgical studies has a lot to offer the church and the world. Honestly, I’m more worried about the culture of academia with its abuse of adjuncts and unfair distribution of work than I am about liturgical studies as such.
Organized religion isn’t exactly flourishing just now – are you hopeful about the future?
Yes, but only because I can remind myself that I don’t work on behalf of organized religion, but on behalf of the unconquerable Word and unpredictable Spirit. Plus, if things really go south, I always said I wanted to write a novel.
How come so many young people don’t go to church? What should we be doing differently?
We should probably ask them! More seriously, I have heard two constant critiques from college students in my classroom: that the Church is angry about the wrong things (especially homosexuality), and that they hate the bickering about petty questions (I’m afraid many of the things we talk about on this blog strike them as petty). They are moved by beauty and in search of deep connection. I’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit is there and we should be too, finding out what it is we’re missing out on.
What’s your next book project?
It’s a theology of the Eucharist centered on the concept of change and on how it links consecration of the elements with personal transformation, popular practice with elite theology, and gives hope for further ecumenical dialogue. It’s also, of course, about the Trinity and eschatology, because I don’t seem to be able to write without writing about those.
What’s the liturgical advice you’ve never been asked for and would really like to share?
I always want to tell the liturgical professionals in my classes: Do your best and let God make up the difference.
Kimberly Belcher recently received her Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies at Notre Dame and, after teaching at St John’s University, she has recently returned to Notre Dame as a faculty member. Her research interests include sacramental theology (historical and contemporary), trinitarian theology, and ritual studies. Her interest in the church tradition is challenged, deepened, and inspired by her three young children.
Please leave a reply.