I have spent a few days now going over Sacramentum Caritatis, for it seems now, no purpose, but that’s another story….anyway…some more thoughts.

1) It’s a collegial document, rooted in the Synodal propositions. Some have expressed distress, for example, that there’s no mention of ad orientem in the document. Well, it apparently didn’t come up at the Synod, so there’s no reason it should be pulled in here, despite Benedict’s interest in the subject. The nature of the document actually provides a good moment for  catechesis, even aside from the content – the "pope’s" document is, clearly, the fruit of working with the bishops of the world, who in turn, reflect the concerns of their own dioceses. It’s the fruit, as well, of 2000 years of Catholic tradition, frequently pulled into the document. This is not news to many of you, but it might provide a useful point when people are blathering on about what "The Pope" is saying he wants the Church to be like, etc.

2) It is a theological document,and for that, no apologies are needed. At all.

You can legislate all you want – and the legislation is there, in books and rites and documents littering the Catholic landscape. But when we consider the "problem" of liturgy, the fundamental "problem" is -and always has been, and always will be – theology.

What do we believe about God?

What do we believe is going on in this sacrament?

Let’s put it this way: when the mass of Catholic opinion, including that of the leadership, is weighted toward the belief that the Mass is essentially a gathering of like-minded people who like each other to hear stories about Jesus, the Good Teacher,  who receive Communion because it’s what everyone does at that part of the Mass, and that the fruit of that experience is essentially judged by how "vibrant" the local community is…Mass is probably going to look a certain way. Why? Because it reflects the theology of the people – mostly the people in charge of liturgy and catechesis, who have been responsible for forming the community in that way.

We like to say lex orandi, lex credendi. But the relationship is a dynamic, and it works the other way, as well.

Benedict knows, and has written many times before, about the essential problem in the Church being a problem of faith.

So, in this document, we have a powerful, focused catechesis on Eucharist. Not an invention of Benedict or the Synod bishops, but a gathering of Catholic tradition, clarified by the contemporary situation, but firmly rooted in Scripture, Patristics and the general flow of Catholic tradition.

The point is, when this is your understanding of Eucharist:

The sacrament of charity (1), 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. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!

The food of truth

2. In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God’s image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" (2) Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. "Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself." (3) In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love.(4) Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God’s gift.

It will impact the way you are moved to approach Eucharist. It will impact the way you, as the celebrant, are moved to celebrate.

3) What’s the point? Isn’t it just going to be ignored? One more document…

In a sense, it is one more document, and the Church geeks among us must, painfully, divest ourselves of the notion that every single Catholic is obligated to digest every Church document that comes down the pike. Not quite.

But. This is not just another document – it is the fruit of a synod of bishps representing every part of the Catholic world, one more step in the ongoing, difficult process of liturgical renewal, and as such, it should be taken to heart by those involved in liturgy and catechesis. It’s not just a gathering of the Pope’s opinions. It reflects far more than that, including the Catechism, the Second Vatican Council, and more.

Whenever I think about questions of "why should" anyone do anything (including myself) I find it useful to flip the question around and think, "why not?"

So the case with this document – and every other major docuement that’s come from Rome regarding liturgy over the past five decades, every one of which reflects the same theological concepts contained in this one, if not expressed in quite such a focused and lucid way.

"Why not" incorporate the insights and recommendations of this document into catechesis on liturgy?

"Why not" bring into RCIA sessions?

"Why not" use it as a study opportunity for liturgy and worship committees?

"Why not" send it out to all your priests as a reminder of what they’re to be about?

"Why not" hand it to the director of worship at your Cathedral and say, "Well…"

"Why not" make sure that workshops on liturgy at NCEA, NCCL, NPM and other places reflect the totality of what this document and its predecessors teach about the Eucharist?

Because…why?

Anyway, if you want a lovely introduction to/appreciation of this document…go read Gahswin:

Well I’ve finished my initial read, as well as a second glance at the document. The image that came to mind was that of a soaring eagle, something that lifts our minds, our thoughts and our hearts to a higher level, upwards, heavenwards. I was struck by just how Christ-centered everything is and just how much Scripture is quoted along with magisterial statements and the Synod propositions. There’s a wealth of quotations from the Fathers as well (St. Augustine kept cropping up a lot). The sense I got was: everything leads (ought to lead) to Christ, everything flows from him – this is what this sacrament of love is about, it’s at the center if you will of God’s cosmic plan of salvation, of the re-creation of the whole world, the whole cosmos in Christ — it’s the new worship in Christ, the logikein latria, the "rational worship" that St. Paul mentions.

And like the rays moving outwards from a monstrance, the document covers pretty much every aspect of the Christian life and links it to the Eucharist — the Trinity, the Church’s life, the paschal mystery, the liturgical celebration itself (including Eucharistic adoration, the concept of active participation, music, chant, Latin, incluturation, architecture, the placement of the tabernacle), the other sacraments (including a discussion of priestly celibacy), catechesis, evangelization and mission, prayer, the role of Catholic legislators and politicians, the social teaching of the church, concerns about secularization and globalization, environment and the ecology, and how the Blessed Mother embodies the eucharistic life of the one who is transformed in Christ.

This is not really a "how-to" manual for the liturgy (that’s the GIRM), nor is it just simply saying, "hey, do liturgy this way!" It’s scope is much wider, and loftier. There’s a sense in which we are being asked to think about these things at a different level, to focus on the central doctrines, and most especially on the Person at the center of it all. A broad cosmic and biblical vision dovetails easily with an attention to detail; theory and its practical applications are closely tied, and one doesn’t really get the sense that all this is somehow divorced from reality, even as one wonders and realizes that no one place will conform in every aspect to the ideals laid down here.