Analysis of Liturgical Reform: Principles, Implementations, and Future

This report delves into the liturgical reforms initiated by the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the principles outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. It identifies key principles such as the centrality of the Paschal Mystery, the importance of communal participation, and the role of liturgy in the life of the Church. The report examines the implementation of these principles, highlighting areas of success and areas needing improvement, particularly in liturgical music. It further analyzes the liturgical principles within each of the seven sacraments, exploring associated symbols and their significance in human meaning-making. The report concludes by acknowledging the blessings of the reform, such as increased spiritual nourishment, while also addressing challenges like communal separation and the need for simplification to encourage active participation, and future challenges.

The Liturgical Reform

INTRODUCTION
The Establishment of the Sacred Liturgy resulted in a number of liturgical
reforms. Sacrosanctum concilium sees specifically weighty reasons for undertaking the reform
and publicity of the liturgy. It is a sacred council having desire of imparting an ever increasing
strength to the Christian life of faithful 1. Besides this, other goals of it includes modernisation of
church in a meaningful way, promoting unity of all Christian category and reaching whole world.
However, the main objective of creating this document to reveal the perfect way of worshipping
and participation. In this report, the liturgical principles will be identified after reading the
constitution on the sacred liturgy,1963 and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 2002.
In addition to this, the well-implemented areas and implementations which needs improvement
are also identified. Further, the liturgical blessings and the challenges for the future will be
evaluate in this report.
MAIN BODY
The liturgical reform began for improving the worship within the Roman Catholic
churches. The second Vatican council stated the dealings between the Catholic Church and the
modern world2. "It may be considered that the Second Vatican Council's liturgical reform is the
most visible fruit" and I completely agreed upon this statement as this improvement brought the
spiritual nourishment in entire Christian category. Also, this community will get benefited by
having translations of Bible, the Missals and other liturgical books. This reform has open the
door of Church to the world. This improvement made Roman Catholic churches to believe in
human rights, democracy and freedom of religion. In addition to this, the liturgical words are
good for mankind which will have effects on entire world. Besides this, there are also some other
benefits associated with this campaign rather than religion and the fact of this reform states that
Christ records their presence in Church gatherings which will make people to gather more often
that will help in healing any social problems faced by them. Further, the music, prayers,
1 Flannery, A. (2014). Vatican council II: The conciliar and postconciliar documents.
Liturgical Press.
2
Phan, P. C. (2017). The Church: Towards a Common Vision. A View from the Asian
Churches. Journal of World Christianity. 7(1). 81-92.
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worships are the elements that brings positive vibes to one's life. The seven principles of the
sacrosanctum concilium are as follows:
1. The themes of the liturgy is the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. The variations in this mystery
are measured by each season of liturgical year.
2. The celebration of religious rites are irreplaceable as they are an action of Christ together with
his body.
3. According to this principle, it has been stated that Mass, sacraments and liturgy of hours, all
these elements records the presence of Christ. The beingness of the lord may found in the
person of the Minister, in the holy Liturgy in imperfect and mutual form, in the word of god
declared and in the accumulated people of god.
4. It emphasise on the participation of people in Mass. In this principle, it is stated that the Christ
records the presence when God's holy people takes part in the source and summit of the Christian
life3. It is also considered that when community gathers it is a sign of presence of Christ with one
another.
5. According to this principle, the reason behind the flow of all the activities in the life of Church
and a Christian is the liturgy.
6. This principle holds the most important aim of this reform and that is afloat, witting and
progressive engagement on the liturgy. It is the right and the duty of each and every individual
by reason of their Baptism.
7. In case if the community is completely engaged in the rite then Catechesis(the religious
education) of the priesthood and the faithful is captious and enriched by its effects4.
There are several ways according top these principles in which this reform may be
faithful for the spirit, they are as follows:
1. The true Christian is desired to participate actively in liturgical celebration and religious
singing of sacred music should be there.
3 Mitchell, N. (2016). Liturgy and Ecclesiology,”. Handbook for Liturgical Studies,
Volume II: Fundamental Liturgy. 2.
4
Scott, H., & Wepener, C. J. (2017). Healing as transformation and restoration: A ritual-
liturgical exploration. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies. 73(4). 1-9.
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2. It is desired that the faithful must not present at the mystery of faith as strangers or silent
spectators rather they are expected to have a good understanding of the rites and sacred action
that they are going to perform5.
3. Bishops should have special concerns for the artists to imbue them with the spirit of Sacred
art.
Out of the all seven principles there are many elements which are implemented well in
the revised structured of the liturgical constitution, however some of these implementations are
yet to be improve. The well implemented areas include the liturgical celebrations for the paschal
mystery, celebrating the ways of presence of Christ in the church, the power of the Christ that
can make people holy. However, some effective implementations are required for the liturgical
music6. The liturgical reform has bring so many blessings to the world such as nourishment in
the method of worshipping to the Lord. Further, the gatherings not only makes the Christ present
but also helps people to become social. However, there are many challenge of this reform of
second Vatican council thus, a revision is required for simplification of the liturgy to enable
active participation of the Christians. The resistance of this reform has increased to a large and
impactive matter which is essential to be to be considered. In addition to this,several reasons that
are impacting historians to take them for granted involves the ecclesiological issues and the long
history of liturgical movement before Vatican II. The challenges are major as they are leading
the communal separation7. Besides this, liturgy is operating within a sphere called sacred which
can be misinterpreted by the people with the secular even though both these terms are
incompatible.
The liturgical principles in each of the seven sacraments are as follows:
Sacrament Liturgical Principle
5 Wahl, M. (2016). The Sacred Liturgy: The Source and Summit of the Life and Mission
of the Church ed. by Alcuin Reid. Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal. 19(2).
226-228.
6 Adam, J. C. (2017). Worship, Mission and Glocal Context in Brazil and Latin
America. International Journal of Practical Theology. 21(1). 42-57.
7 Lang, U. M. (2017). Index Lectionum: A Comparative Table of Readings for the
Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite by Matthew P. Hazell. Antiphon:
A Journal for Liturgical Renewal. 21(1). 86-88.
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Baptism It progressively incorporates the Christians
into Christ and believing community.
Children are provided with a time period to
learn about the Christ and to learn Christian
lifestyle. However, the principles was later
modified by educating the parents and
godparents for upbringing of a child in a
Christian community8. The baptism is
necessary for the salvation and is highly
linked with the faith. It is considered as a
grace and gift of god.
Sacrament of penance The principles associated with it involves that
unrighteousness is a wrongful against the
Lord that affects the relationship with the
church and the world. It is a sacrament of
forgiveness for those who are fallen into sin
after baptism. It also reveals that the Christ
always calls for the conversion. Also, penance
and reconciliation are considered as an
integral part of the sacramental life of the
church.
Eucharist in the Catholic Church The Christ is present in the bread and the wine
that have been consecrated by the priest.
According to the words of Christ, the bread
and wine are his body and blood respectively
and thus, this principle is included in this
sacrament.
8 Tierney, R. T. E. (2017). The Right of the Faithful to the Sacraments. The Catholic
Lawyer. 23(1). 7.
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Confirmation It is associated with the gift of holy spirit.
This is to confirm that they are born Christian
and will follow the principles of Christ
throughout the life.
Anointing of the sick In this sacrament attention of the Lord is
drawn on the sick person by performing
prayers and worships.
Holy orders This sacrament began with the last supper of
Christ. The principle are to offer holy sacrifice
of the mass and to forgive sins. Also, the
preaching of god is received by the holy
orders9. The prayers of the ritual should obey
the linguistical music guideline.
Matrimony The sacrament of marriage provides the
couple with a grace to grow into a union and
heart and should which will render stability to
them and their children. Both the male and
female are essentially baptized before
marrying each other.
In addition to this, there are various symbols associated with these sacraments that have
certain roles in human meaning making. These rituals and symbols with their roles are as
follows:
Sacrament Symbol Role in human meaning making
Baptismal Water In this, the priest pour the baptised water on
child in the name of father, son and holy spirit.
It is used to baptise the children.
9 Kim, R. E. C., & Church, S. G. V. (2014). Liturgy: Christian Worship and Sacraments,
PT 315 Instructor.
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Anointing with oil The priest anoints the child and the sick person
on the head with the sacred oil of Chrism. This
oil
Bread and Wine in Eucharistic The wine signifies the blood of the Jesus
whereas bread is Christ's body.
Matrimony It denotes the union love of a man and a
woman as a sacramental sign of how God loves
us.
Holy Orders The letters of the holy order signifies the
spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching.
Reconciliation The symbols that are shown on a disciple at
this time are fear, shame and grief because of
their mistakes10.
In addition to this, there are some more symbols in Christian community such as Cross
that symbolise that they are child of a Christ. White garments that reflects the dignity. In
addition, the hands remind that the Christians must turn all their activity over to Christ.
There are three readings involved in the liturgy of words. These linguistic process
includes Old testament, non-Gospel reading from the New Testament and a reading from
Gospels. It is that point in the liturgy when God calls people to faith. It is considered that the
words of God are living words and not history lessons. Most of the liturgy of word is made up of
the reading from scripture. These words are written under the inspiration of Holy Spirit. Besides
this, Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and ways of the grace of God for the people who
perform them with appropriate disposition11. There are three different categories namely,
initiation, healing and service. The rituals present in these different sacraments includes the
Eucharists in which bread is eaten and wine is drink by considering them as blood and body of
10 Kim, R. E. C., & Church, S. G. V. (2014). Liturgy: Christian Worship and Sacraments,
PT 315 Instructor.
11 Boersma, H., & Levering, M. (Eds.). (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental
Theology. OUP Oxford.
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Jesus, as states by the Lord. According to Christ, the love of a man and woman should be
considered as Holy which signifies the relationship between the liturgy of word and the
matrimonial sacrament. Similarly, all other sacraments are results of the liturgy of word. Hence,
in this way they both ate highly connected with each other as the Liturgy of Word are the words
of Christ and the Sacraments are the actions that are performed to attain those Liturgy of Words.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the second Vatican council records the most
visible fruit in form of the liturgical reform. The revised constitution, General instruction of the
Roman Missal has reform the earlier Sacrosanctum Concilium, the constitution on the Sacred
liturgy. Further, in the report ways are mentioned that shows how it has been faithful to the spirit.
Moreover, the improvised areas such as way of worshipping, liturgy of words and many more
are also identified. Besides this, the field which needs further improvement are described.
Further, future challenge associated with the liturgical reform are acknowledged in this.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Capra, Elio. Called Gifted Sent: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation and the Triduum, East
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Bausch, William J. A New Look at the Sacraments. Rev. ed. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third
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Chauvet, Louis-Marie. The Sacraments. The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body.
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Cooke, Bernard and Gary Macy. Christian Symbol and Ritual: An Introduction. New York:
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Macquarrie, John. A Guide to the Sacraments. London: SCM Press, 1997.
Martos, Joseph. Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to the Sacraments in the Catholic
Church. Ligouri: Triumph, 1991, rev. ed. 2001
The Sacraments: An Interdisciplinary and Interactive Study. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press,
2009.
Mick, Lawrence E. Understanding the Sacraments Today. Rev. ed. Collegeville: The Liturgical
Press, 2006.
O’Leary, Daniel. Begin with the Heart: Recovering a Sacramental Vision. Dublin: The Columba
Press, 2008
Vorgrimler, Herbert. Sacramental Theology. trans. L. Maloney. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical
Press,1992.
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