At the very beginning of its institutional existence, Lord Reith famously claimed that the mission of the newly-founded BBC was ‘to inform, educate and entertain’. Perhaps those three aims would not be unfitting as the goals for the editor of any anthology of essays, and if that is the case, then Fr Uwe Michael Lang has done a splendid job in producing this slim volume. The seven essays contained in the collection are drawn from the pages of Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal, an organ first published in 1996, and the essays themselves cover the period from 2003-2016. As the editor notes in his introduction ‘they are united by their grounding in the rich history of Christian Liturgy, by their theological awareness and reflection, and by the authors’ shared concern for the state of divine worship in the Catholic Church today … and are as relevant to liturgical scholarship and practice as they were at their first publication (pp. viii-ix). These comments are more than borne out in the essays themselves.
As the title of the volume, ‘The Fullness of Divine Worship’, itself drawn from the liturgical tradition would suggest, the scope of the volume is wide-ranging. At the ‘grand level’ there are reflections on René Girard's theology with respect to the Mass, a discussion on ‘sacred language’ and on Augustine's conception of sacrifice in his City of God Book X. At the seemingly more ‘micro’ level, there are essays on fasting, rubrics and the Kiss of Peace. An initial trawl of the contents page might, therefore, leave any potential reader with the sense that there is little to interest him or her. But that is very far from the case. All the essays repay careful and thoughtful reading, even by the ‘non-specialist’. And that is largely because they are discussing ‘live issues’ in modern Catholic liturgical praxis. Anyone who has been a regular Mass-goer over the last forty years, or who has been involved in Catholic education will soon recognise some of the problems which the essays tackle – whether it be the sloppiness and rubrical blindness of some celebrants, the ‘chummy chaos’ which so often surrounds the Sign of Peace at Mass or the almost complete disappearance of the Church's long tradition of fasting.
Overall, the essays approach such issues in a similar way, by means of examining the historical and theological traditions which underlie liturgical praxis, both before and after the Second Vatican Council. The approach is scholarly, but accessible, and all the essays benefit from being very well referenced and footnoted. While that might not seem to fulfil the goal of ‘entertaining’ (and there are very few jokes!), the writing is measured, fluent and often fascinating. Even the more challenging contributions, such as Ryan Marr's analysis of Girard's ‘atonement’ ideas or Clinton Brand's discussion of the linguistic and ecumenical potential within Anglophone Catholicism of the Ordinariate Missal (Divine Worship), are very finely crafted and often make for compelling reading. The essays are certainly critical of some aspects of the implementation of the Conciliar reform, and the criticisms offered can be quite pungent on occasion. However, such criticisms are mostly made on the basis of careful scholarship, well argued and well supported from the tradition – both theological and liturgical – and each essay offers simple and practical suggestions as to how current practice might be improved, to the benefit of all. Thankfully, there is very little of the ‘polemical’ tone which can sometimes mar liturgical discussion. Aside from a few clearly deeply-felt but almost hysterical sentences in one essay (written, at least to this author's mind, with some justification) the tone remains one of measured and informative discourse throughout the volume.
Overall, this volume is a real triumph – informative, containing real treasures to learn from, and highly stimulating and thought-provoking. It highlights, as a number of the contributors explicitly state, the real challenge we face as a Church with respect to the liturgy, and that is how we can provide a better liturgical formation for Catholics of today and of tomorrow in our parishes, schools and universities. And that is not principally about changes to language or gesture or music. Rather it is about allowing others to explore and re-discover the tremendous richness already held within our liturgical tradition and, imbued more deeply with ‘the spirit of the Liturgy’, by so doing, to come to that full, active and conscious participation which was the Council's goal. These little essays are excellent examples of the sort of material which might allow such transformative exploration and re-discovery. Highly recommended.
