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Music & Liturgy Reflections

Liturgy Reflection | November 16, 2022

By December 6, 2022No Comments
The Spirit of the Liturgy: Joseph Ratzinger: 9781586179977: Amazon.com:  Books

1. Christian worship, or rather the liturgy of the Christian faith, cannot be viewed simply as a Christianized form of the synagogue service, however much its actual development owes to the synagogue service. The synagogue was always ordered toward the Temple and remained so, even after the Temple’s destruction. The synagogue’s liturgy of the Word, which is celebrated with magnificent profundity, regards itself as incomplete, and for that reason it is very different from the liturgy of the Word in Islam, which, together with pilgrimage and fasting, constitutes the whole of divine worship as decreed by the Koran. By contrast, the synagogue service is the divine worship that takes place in the absence of the Temple and in expectation of its restoration. Christian worship, for its part, regards the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem as final and as theologically necessary. Its place has been taken by the universal Temple of the risen Christ, whose outstretched arms on the Cross span the world, in order to draw all men into the embrace of eternal love. The new Temple already exists, and so too does the new, the definitive sacrifice: the humanity of Christ opened up in his Cross and Resurrection. The prayer of the man Jesus is now united with the dialogue of eternal love within the Trinity. Jesus draws men into this prayer through the Eucharist, which is thus the ever-open door of adoration and the true Sacrifice, the Sacrifice of the New Covenant, the “reasonable service of God”. In modern theological discussion, the exclusive model for the liturgy of the New Covenant has been thought to be the synagogue—in strict opposition to the Temple, which is regarded as an expression of the law and therefore as an utterly obsolete “stage” in religion. The effects of this theory have been disastrous. Priesthood and sacrifice are no longer intelligible. The comprehensive “fulfillment” of pre-Christian salvation history and the inner unity of the two Testaments disappear from view. Deeper understanding of the matter is bound to recognize that the Temple, as well as the synagogue, entered into Christian liturgy.

(Ratzinger, J. (2000). The Spirit of the Liturgy (J. Saward, Trans.; pp. 48–49). Ignatius Press.)
  • ​It occurred to me that Jesus Himself invites the Jews to consider what is lacking in the synagogue.  There are moments when He delivers a discourse at the synagogue and other moments where He delivers a discourse at the Temple itself.  The “church” building of the New Testament is neither, but incorporates elements of both.  
  • We recall the development of Ratzinger’s thoughts on the history of worship in the Old Testament: to maintain the covenant with God, Israel was required to offer sacrifices before the presence of God in the Holy of Holies.  There was only one Holy of Holies, and therefore only one place where the sacrifice could be made – that place became the Temple.  In the time of exile, and when Israel was unable to enter the Temple and offer sacrifice of animals, they grew in their devotion to the Word of God in the sacred scriptures.  This was providential in the sense that it provided a deepened spiritual approach and resulted in the creation of the synagogues.  But, as Ratzinger points out, the synagogue is incomplete in its worship because sacrifice cannot be offered.
  • Jesus’ remark “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” takes place within the synagogue and is therefore shocking not only because of the claim that Jesus makes about the significance of His ministry, but also because the synagogue is not the place where things are fulfilled – that would be the Temple properly speaking.
  • Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life in John 6 also takes place in a synagogue – the one in Capernaum.  So, the context again is expectation, something lacking, unfulfilled – the Temple sacrifices are necessary, but they do not satisfy the deeper spiritual yearning brought on by the devotion to the Word practiced in the village synagogue.  Within this context, the Jews ask Jesus, “What must we do to accomplish what God desires?” (John 6:28) To which Jesus replies, “The work God requires is that you believe in the one He sent.”  A nod to the primacy of the spiritual sacrifice.  When the Jews insist, Jesus gives them the full extent of this act, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”  So the sacrifice is Christ, the sacrifice is food, and this sacrifice is greater than the Temple.