Benedict XVI: “Why don’t we just open up the Constitution and read it?” « The Recovering Choir Director

Benedict XVI: “Why don’t we just open up the Constitution and read it?”

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, that is.

While catching up on the news that matters to me, I found this interesting Zenit article via Carl Olson on the Ignatius Insight Scoop blog. The first half of the article appears below with emphases.

Pope Calls for Study of Eucharistic Mystery

QUEBEC CITY, JUNE 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging the faithful to revisit the Second Vatican Council constitution on the liturgy, so as to go deeper in the mystery of faith that is the Eucharist.

The Pope made this appeal today when he delivered via satellite the homily for the closing Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, which ended today in Quebec. The papal legate, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, presided over the Mass.

In his address, given in French and English, the Holy Father said, “‘The Mystery of Faith’: this we proclaim at every Mass. I would like everyone to make a commitment to study this great mystery, especially by revisiting and exploring, individually and in groups, the Council’s text on the liturgy, ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium,’ so as to bear witness courageously to the mystery.”

The Pontiff affirmed that such study would help each person “arrive at a better grasp of the meaning of every aspect of the Eucharist, understanding its depth and living it with greater intensity.”

“Every sentence, every gesture has its own meaning and conceals a mystery,” Benedict XVI continued. “I sincerely hope that this Congress will serve as an appeal to all the faithful to make a similar commitment to a renewal of Eucharistic catechesis, so that they themselves will gain a genuine Eucharistic awareness and will in turn teach children and young people to recognize the central mystery of faith and build their lives around it.

“I urge priests especially to give due honor to the Eucharistic rite, and I ask all the faithful to respect the role of each individual, both priest and lay, in the Eucharistic action. The liturgy does not belong to us: It is the Church’s treasure.”