School Liturgy in Lent Lizzie Harrison

Aims of the WorkshopSimple steps to develop any liturgy

Elements of ritualSetting up sacred spacesResources for Lent

Why LiturgyEncounter GodJoy of the GospelCreative, meaningful and life-givingOnly experience of Church?

A Personal Symbol

What gives our life meaning?

SymbolsA symbol is an object that represents, stands for, or suggests an idea, visual image, belief, action, or material entity. Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, or visual images and are used to convey ideas and beliefs.

Symbols are at the heart of creative Liturgy........

SymbolsIn sacraments, symbols can bring about a

Change in a person and reveal a deeper realitySymbols used in sacraments

Water in Baptism: Symbolises new life in Christ: Symbolic actions and words transform the person

making them a Christian.Anointing with oil in Confirmation:

Symbol of strength hope to strengthen participant in wisdom, courage and understanding.

Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

Useful symbolsSome symbols are useful in many liturgies

Examples of symbols in useNovember: Daffodil bulbs planted in

November will grow in the spring and remind students that death is not the end. It is reflected in our seasons.

Wailing Wall. A giant poster of a wall can be made along the idea of the wall in Jerusalem with painted bricks and the prayers of a school community can be placed on it with sticky notes over the week coming up to a special mass and used as Prayers of the Faithful.

Ritual

“There is no more important pastoral issue facing the Catholic

Church in Ireland and internationally than the renewal

of its ritual life” From Passage to Pasch by Michael Drumm (Columba Press,

1998)

Do you agree?

Why Ritual?“Ritual is vital to the well being of the individual and society. Without Ritual I go nowhere, I see nothing new and I do it alone. The church community which is bold enough to visit the edge may have to experience the darkness of disorientation or confusion of losing established patterns of understanding and doing but it will open itself up to the possibility of true community and closer relationships…”

From A Sacramental People by Michael Drumm & Tom Gunning

Why Ritual?Encounter with ChristPre-Evangelisation/ EvangelisationDevelop a relationship with GodCommunity (communitas)Give life meaningLanguage to express the inexpressible/the

liminalMake sense of key transitions in life -

pregnancy, birth, adolescence, betrothal, marriage, death. – through the Sacraments

Pope Francis (Evangelii Nuntandi)“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a

renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day…”

“A Church that evangelizes must always start from prayer, from asking, like the Apostles in the Upper Room, for the fire of the Holy Spirit. Only a faithful and intense relationship with God allows us to leave our enclosures and announce the Gospel with parrhesia (the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk). Without prayer our actions become empty and our proclamation soulless, it is not animated by the Spirit”

“To evangelize, then, we must be open to the action of the Spirit of God, without fear of what He asks us or where He leads us. Let us entrust ourselves to Him! He enables us to live and bear witness to our faith, and enlighten the hearts of those we meet”

Stages of Ritual?Books referenced to explain Ritual

A Sacramental People, Michael Drumm & Tom Gunning

Passage to Pasch, Michael Drumm

Arnold Van Gennep/Victor Turner – Anthropologists

Three stages of ritualVan Gennep

Turner Simplified

Separation Separation Welcome

Transition Liminality Meaning

Incorporation Reaggregation Blessing

Separation – Essential Phase!

“One cannot experience what happens at the threshold unless one first separates from the familiar” A Sacramental People

Transition & Meaning PhaseThis is where change occurs;where awe and mystery are encountered

Incorporation: strengthened by the transitional phase and returning to the

familiar

Blessing

“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord”

Tips for Liturgy with young peopleGet the threshold experience/separation from the familiar right!Preparation and participationSuitable music – highlights the celebration dimension, must be

relevantInvolvement – do students have a role? Are they welcomed and

valued in our liturgies?Pray in their own wordsTheme – meaningful to and is chosen by the students Drama/Dance/Mime etc. – step into another’s shoes and

challenges prejudicesSend them away with something e.g. Feather, piece of scripture

Remember!“We do not bring God to the young people we work with. This would be a very condescending attitude. God is already there. What we do is create atmospheres and opportunities where young people can encounter and listen to the God that is already within them. What a privilege that is. We cannot take responsibility for what happens once we create this atmosphere. God works his magic. ‘We just turn up and let God show off.’ God works not just because of us but sometimes in spite of us.”

L. Harrison

Thank You