We weren’t allowed to sit down after the opening prayer. Instead we were asked to break up into groups of four. There were only enough of us to make up three groups and our instructor actually needed four groups, so I ended up in a group of three.
During tonight’s class our instructor wanted us to consider the following: 1) What is liturgy; 2) What is justice; 3) What do liturgy and justice have to do with each other; and 4) Which should come first?
He passed out four questions taken from our reading and my little group was asked to explain “in plain English” what Megan McKenna meant by saying, "We are the leftovers of God's feasting". We were given a few minutes to come up with an answer to what that means and why it is important.
Our answer was, “When we go to Mass and participate in the Eucharist, we become more like Christ who feeds us. We then become the leftovers that are shared with others; because what we eat (Christ) leads us to service. We are sent into the world as Jesus was sent into the world by His Father, spirit fed, at peace, and in communion.”
Our instructor asked us how we might explain this to a catechumen, so I said, “We must not become isolated. We must share what we receive with others”. Another guy in my group added, “It is the plan for salvation: God gave us Christ, who in turn fed the Disciples, who in turn fed the people, who in turn have fed us”.
We are what we eat. We receive from Christ and we give to others, which is why the Liturgy of the Mass ends with the petition to “Go out into the world and proclaim the Good News”. We eat it, we become it, and we share it with others.
Next we were asked to discuss how we are like the fox and the tiger from our reading assignment. She stated that “We are all beggars in the presence of God” which to me meant we are all equal. Not everyone agreed with this idea, and I have to agree that we all have different talents to share.
The idea is that we should “remember that before God we are all equal, begging with empty bowls”. It’s about remembering what “God has done, is doing, and still wants to do for His people”. It’s about putting the world back together again the way it’s supposed to be, the way God created it to be.
So what is justice? We listed right and wrong, fairness, equity, judgment, values, empathy, laws, rules, conversion, reform, learning, rehabilitation, and punishment. For Liturgy we listed the work of God, the work of the people, public service, participation, worship, thanksgiving, prayer, celebration, story, ritual, sacrament, and penance.
Looking at the two lists leaves the strong impression that there is no (or very little) overlap, so how are these two things alike? In most US Parishes you get push back when you talk about liturgy and justice together. Nevertheless, they are not separate things, they are the same: Liturgy and Justice are one. Jesus began teaching justice right from the beginning and is quoted as saying, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice". ... Etc.
The answer to the question about what Liturgy and Justice have to do with each other is that Liturgy leads us to Justice because we recognize that we are all equal before Christ. Being brought to the edge of chaos, helps us to recognize that we are all one in Christ, and that we may be the tiger in one way and the fox in another. We are to sacrifice ourselves for others.
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