Sacramentum caritatis: a reflection.

Rome -- "The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist, is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman." These are the opening words of Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, "the sacrament of love." (See also News in Brief, C.I., May 2007, p. 22.)

It is a lengthy document, and includes 256 footnotes. The document has the depth of an encyclical and may be read alongside Pope Benedict's first encyclical Deus caritas est, "God is Love." It is a reflection on the 2005 Synod of Bishops who explored the theme "The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church." It may be read in its entirety on the Vatican website. A search on the web under Sacramentum caritatis will take you directly to the document. A printed copy is available from the CCCB, Publications Office, Ottawa at a cost of $9.95 plus tax and $2.50 for mailing, or at your local Catholic bookstore. (See ads on the back pages.)

Following are some observations by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, an American priest who presently works in Rome whose weekly column appears in the Wanderer newspaper, from March 22, 2007. The Exhortation will be quoted as SacCar.

"The Pope glosses the Synod's propositions through a hermeneutic, a theological lens, of his own. This is the value of the document ... The Pope explicitly links SacCar to his encyclical Deus caritas est. SacCar is in three main parts. The three parts reflect the Pope's presentation of a liturgical vision. The structure reflects the relationship between 'the Eucharistic mystery, the liturgical action, and the new spiritual worship which derives from the Eucharist as the sacrament of charity' (n. 5).

"There is an innovation in SacCar and it is the hinge of the Exhortation. For Benedict, new liturgical worship is the liturgical action itself. On the surface that might seem circular, but there is more going on here than meets first impressions. Benedict forcefully underscores the importance of the liturgical action itself. The action (actio), which is the rite, forms Christian life. It conforms a Christian through participation in a mystery which is to be lived. There is a direct connection between the way the rite, the actio, is celebrated and living like a Christian.

"This logically leads to the necessity of a reform of the way the Church is celebrating the actio. The idea is this: Celebrate the liturgy well and it will form us to live better. Liturgical celebration requires, therefore, great vigilance and fidelity so that it will have the proper impact. Thus there is both a qualitative dimension in the effectiveness of good liturgical celebration (actio) but also a quantitative dimension. The more the better, as it were. It is wonderful to see this in the Pope's document ... It is not enough to say, 'At least it was valid.' Yes, it is admittedly magnificent that it was valid, of course, but merely valid is not enough.

"The ars celebrandi or art of celebrating has a direct influence on our active participation in the actio. Benedict argues that actuosa participatio depends directly on the ars celebrandi. This means there must be close fidelity to the rite itself, the actio, which makes the actio happen in us. The ars celebrandi flows from obedience to liturgical norms (n. 38)! In other words: adhere to the norms, celebrate properly, and Mass will produce a deeper effect ...

The Vicar of Christ is writing to people who think the hierarchical relationship of priests, ministers, and lay people is not enough. They think they must blend or blur roles to get results. In doing this they create disunity between "the Eucharistic mystery, the liturgical action, and the new spiritual worship which derives from the Eucharist as the sacrament of charity" (n. 5).

"Infidelity to norms and improper innovations have damaged the unity of the Church. They damage the whole community because, first of all, they damage the ability of individuals to participate at Mass with the 'personal and conscious participation that leads to active outward participation both at Mass and in the whole life of the Church.' We must be 'personally conformed to the mystery being celebrated' and our 'interior dispositions (must) correspond to (our) gestures and words. Otherwise, however carefully planned and executed our liturgies may be, we would risk falling into a certain ritualism.'"

That is why we need a much deeper catechesis. This Exhortation is part of that catechesis.

Another point may be mentioned here. Hours after the release of the Exhortation, Pope Benedict called for more Latin prayers and Gregorian chant at Mass, especially at Masses with international participation. The words in French, German, Spanish, Polish and Latin all say "it would be good" or "it would be very good." However, the English translation uses a much weaker "such liturgies could be celebrated in Latin." Father Zuhlsdorf, an expert in Latin and several other languages, says that the words "could be" "change the entire impact of what the Pope said. All the other languages reflect one concept and the English alone says another thing entirely. The English implies that the value of Latin is, at best, a neutral thing. The Latin and all the other languages imply that Latin is positive." In short, it is very good for the Mass to include more Latin prayers and Gregorian chant, whatever the language spoken.

One further point. It is found in Part Three, "The Eucharist, a mystery to be lived." The Pope states in Sacramentum caritatis that:

"Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private matter, without consequences for our relationships with others. It demands a public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet it is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children, and the promotion of the common good in all its forms. These values are not negotiable. Consequently Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws grounded in human nature. There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). Bishops are bound to reaffirm constantly these values as part of their responsibility to the flock entrusted to them."