Sunday 26 A (2011) (not on the readings)

In liturgy,

we join with others in turning towards God.

Maybe, like the son in the reading,

we have some areas of resistance,

but we are asked to join in.

We join with those of St William’s here with us;

with those of St William’s at other Masses,

with those at Mass this Sunday across the diocese,

with those at Mass in English in this country and across the world,

with those attending Mass in any language.

We use set words and set actions – so, in liturgy,

we make an act of will, we decide,

to fit in with what the community says and does.

Primarily,

the community we fit in with is the Catholic Church,

but some responsibility in liturgy is devolved,

so that there is also fitting in

with what our Bishop asks of us,

and with what we do as a local community.

We fit in, we join in,

and we allow God to speak to us through this.

At this precise moment,

we may not feel sinful enough for the new words of the ‘I confess’.

we may not feel as full of praise as the words of the ‘Glory to God’,

or the exultant shout ‘Alleluia’, seem to require,

we may not feel we could give a convincing explanation of parts of the ‘I believe’.

Nonetheless,

we identify ourselves with the community and let its wisdom,

its Spirit, work on us.

Two weeks ago Father Terry spoke about the penitential rite.

The Glory to God comes next.

This starts with the song of the angels before the Shepherds,

signifying the exultation of the whole of creation

at the wonder of God becoming Man.

The prayer goes on in extravagant praise of God:

an extravagance that is more apparent in the new translation.

The angels sang in joyful praise,

and so should we – whenever we can manage it.

This can be an effort,

but it is an effort the liturgy expects.

The high-point of the Liturgy of the Word,

its central action,

is the proclaiming of the Gospel,

preceded by

the first reading, the psalm, the second reading, and the alleluia verse

and followed by

the homily, the Profession of Faith and the prayers of the faithful.

In due course,

we will get a different translation of the readings,

but not for a few years.

We now finish our readings with:

The Word of the Lord;

The Gospel of the Lord.

And you can hear a strong parallel with other moments in the Mass –

with:

The Mystery of Faith;

The Body of Christ;

The Blood of Christ.

I hear each of these five

as an exclamation,

as an expression of wonder,

as an expression of delight at what we have been given,

made by the Church in faith,

and uttered on her behalf by a minister.

Heard like this,

key moments in our liturgy are bound tightly together:

the scriptures,

in which we encounter the Word of God in the words of the Bible;

the wonderful offering of Jesus himself recalled as he instructed us;

and Jesus present in Holy Communion.

Turning to the Profession of Faith, first, a word about:

‘consubstantial with the Father’.

This is ‘difficult’:

it is not everyday English: true,

but then

‘consubstantiálem Patri’ is not everyday Latin either.

‘Consubstantial’ is a token, a technical term,

to remind us that

the Son is God, whole and entire,

as is the Father,

and that there is only one God.

It relates to the mystery of the Trinity.

In fact, knowing the new translation was coming,

I wondered about building my homily around ‘consubstantial’ last Trinity Sunday,

but decided it could wait until a Trinity Sunday in the future!

We now say ‘I believe’. Why?

The simple answer is that, that is what the Latin says:

but why does the Latin say this?

As I understand it,

the Bishops in the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople,

said ‘we believe’,

for they were joining together, as Bishops,

to state formally the faith of the Church.

Then, sometime after,

for baptism,

individuals expressed their own acceptance of this Faith

by saying ‘I believe’.

It was that baptismal form that entered the liturgy.

It is this link with baptism that the ‘I’ emphasises.

Just as we answer ‘I do’

to the renewal of baptismal promises annually at Easter

we say ‘I believe’ each Sunday.

In a moment we will stand to recite the creed.

Let us do so, conscious of our baptism,

conscious of our personal sharing in the faith of the Church,

and remembering Bishop John's advice last week

to let our prayer breathe, by having in his words

“a deliberate pause, not long but noticeable, after each phrase.”