{"id":23,"date":"2011-02-28T08:50:41","date_gmt":"2011-02-28T08:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/02\/catholics-and-worship-as-we-worship-so-we-believe-and-so-we-live.html"},"modified":"2011-02-28T08:50:41","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T08:50:41","slug":"catholics-and-worship-as-we-worship-so-we-believe-and-so-we-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/02\/catholics-and-worship-as-we-worship-so-we-believe-and-so-we-live.html","title":{"rendered":"Catholics and Worship: As we Worship, so we Believe and so we Live"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BeliefnetThere is a Latin maxim that addresses the centrality of worship in the life, identity and mission of the Catholic Church; “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi<\/em>“. The phrase in Latin literally means the law of prayer (“the way we worship”) is the law of belief (“what we believe”). It is sometimes expanded to “lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi<\/em>“, further deepening the implications of this truth – how we worship reflects what we believe and determines how we will live our lives. <\/p>\n

The Catholic Church has long understood the importance of formal worship when Christians gather together. The early Church took their times of formal worship quite seriously. When I was on my journey back to the Catholic Church, I was surprised to find early instructions on formal worship in the writings of the first few centuries such as the Didache (the teaching of the twelve). Liturgy was not a later addition, but was at the very heart of the early church and her worship. <\/p>\n

How we worship reveals and guards what we believe and guides us living our Christian life. We were made to worship and as we worship we are transformed. Worship helps us comprehend and fulfill our Christian mission in the world by manifesting the continuing presence of the Risen Jesus Christ in the heart of the Church, which is His Body. Liturgical worship is not an “add on” for a Catholic Christian. It is the foundation of Catholic identity; expressing our highest purpose. <\/p>\n

The word “liturgy” actually means the “work” of the faithful. Worship reveals what we truly believe and how we view ourselves in relationship to God, one another and the world into which we are sent to carry forward the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. When we read the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, we are presented with a vision of worship in heaven, it is profoundly liturgical. <\/p>\n

None of this is meant to say that informal worship is not important.There are many ways to worship the Lord privately and in groups. However, how the Church worships when she gathers for formal Liturgy is a prophetic witness to the truth of what she professes. Good worship becomes a dynamic means of drawing the entire human community into the fullness of life in Jesus Christ. It attracts – through beauty to Beauty. Liturgical worship informs and transforms the person and the worshipping community which participates in it. There is reciprocity between worship and life. <\/p>\n

I have spent decades in ecumenical work. In some Christian circles the word “ecumenical” has a negative connotation. However, properly understood, it refers to work between Christians of deifferent communities. Perhaps because of my experience, I find it odd that right when some of our Christian friends in other confessions and communities are searching for a deeper encounter with the beauty of the Lord in formal worship; for sign, symbol and mystery, for a connection with the ancient Church in her divine worship, some parts of the Catholic Church are discarding the treasures that make her formal liturgical worship so beautiful, full of mystery and so compelling and attractive to those seeking a deeper experience of worship and Christian life. <\/p>\n

Over the last two decades, some who purported to be liturgical experts stripped away the richness and the depth that draws so many to the treasure that is Catholic worship, liturgy and life. Their numbers and influence are dwindling. The Catholic seminaries that are now full (and their number is increasing) are filled with candidates who want the vibrant, symbolic, faithful, richly liturgical, devout fullness of Catholic worship, faith and life. The movement toward dynamic, symbolic and beautiful Liturgy is not about going “backward” but forward and toward eternal worship.  <\/p>\n

In the Catholic Church today what are called the lay ecclesial movements – such as Cursillo, the Charismatic renewal, Opus Dei, Communion in Liberation, Focalare – are flourishing. Even though spontaneous worship forms a part of their expression, these movements are also in the forefront of calling for a return to faithful Liturgical worship. This is because spontaneity and liturgy are not opposed to a Catholic. The new Catholics, those coming into full communion with the Catholic Church from other Christian communities, are flocking to the dynamically orthodox and faithful Catholic parishes. The symbols are coming back into our sanctuaries and new ones are emerging. <\/p>\n

There was a movement called Iconoclasm (“Image-breaking”) in the eighth and ninth centuries in the Church. It became a full scale heresy. The term has come to be associated with those who rejected icons, but it speaks to a contemporary problem, liturgical minimalism and the loss of the sense of the Sacred in our Churches. Icons are meant to put us in touch with the transcendent mysteries of our faith. I pray with icons and have for many years. I cherish their liturgical role in the Eastern Church. In fact, one would never find an Eastern Church, Catholic or Orthodox, without icons. The contemporary “iconoclasts” are those who seek to de-mystify Christian faith, life, worship and practice. They are not the future of the Catholic Church but the past. <\/p>\n

There are some who seem to think that the symbols of our worship, our faith and our life are a problem. While they strip our sanctuaries and make our liturgical experiences barren, they think they have helped us by somehow making the faith more ‘relevant”, “meaningful” or “contemporary”. They are sadly mistaken and have done the Church and her mission a disservice. <\/p>\n

They fail to grasp that, by nature and grace, human persons are symbolic. Man (and woman) is created in the image of God, and is a divine icon. Icon means “image”. Jesus Christ is the Icon of the Father. The Church is an icon of Jesus. Symbols touch us at a much deeper level than words or emotive or affective participation can. They touch us at the level where authentic religion and worship truly begins. It is there where we hunger the most for experiencing and encountering the living God. True Liturgy opens the door.<\/p>\n

Pope Benedict XVI once wrote, “Worship cannot come from our imagination: that would be a cry in the darkness or mere self-affirmation. True liturgy supposes that God responds and shows us how we can adore Him. The Church lives in His presence – and its reason for being and existing is to expand His presence in the world.”<\/p>\n

“Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. Lex Vivendi<\/em>“. As we worship, so we will believe – and so we will live our lives in the Lord for the sake of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He is a widely recognized voice in the Catholic and broader Christian community. He is a member of the Clergy of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. In his fifteenth year of service as an ordained Catholic Deacon, he is currently assigned to St Stephen Martyr Parish in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is also authorized to serve the Liturgy of the Greek Byzantine Melkite Catholic Church. Deacon Fournier and his wife Laurine have been married for 34 years and have five grown children and six grandchildren. Deacon Fournier holds his Bachelors degree in theology and philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA), his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Theology from the John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University (MTS), his Juris Doctor Law Degree Law (JD) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a PhD candidate in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America where he is currently writing his Doctoral Dissertation. Deacon Fournier also holds two honorary Doctorates, a Doctor of Laws (L.L.D. 1994,Honoris Causa) from St. Thomas University - Given for pro-life legal contributions, and a Doctor of Divinity Degree (D.D. 2005, Honoris Causa ) from the National Clergy Council and the Methodist Episcopal Church for his contributions to authentic ecumenical efforts toward Christian unity. Attorney Fournier is a constitutional lawyer who appeared as co-counsel in cases before the United States Supreme Court on Pro-Life, Religious Freedom and Pro-family issues. He served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice for seven years. He then served as a public policy activist for the causes of life, marriage and family issues for a number of years. He has extensive experience in nonprofit and for profit leadership. He has taught at the College level and served in Academic administration. He was a Dean of Students and the Dean of Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. Deacon Fournier is, above all, a communicator. His faith informs his passion to share the fullness of life which he has found in the heart of the Catholic Church. He has written eight books on matters of faith, family and the Christian life and is widely published in the broader Christian community on matters of life, faith, family, and cultural and social issues. He hosted two daily national radio programs, Purpose for Living, and Millennial Moment. He hosted several television series on Christian family and contemporary faith issues on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). He is actively involved in preaching and teaching in the Catholic Church and the broader Christian community. In addition to serving as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, Deacon Fournier is the John Paul II Fellow and special counsel for the National Pro-Life Center in Washington, D.C. and is the president of Third Millennium, LLC, a communications and consulting company. He views his role on Beliefnet as an opportunity to share his Catholic Christian faith in what he calls a new areopagus. The areopagus is referred to in the 17th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the Christian New Testament. Also called Mars Hill it was there where the Apostle Paul shared the Christian faith with the early Greeks in their temple.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/author\/deaconfournier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}