All the bishops of the world, who are ordinaries of diocese, are required to make an ad limina visit to the Holy Father in Rome every five years, as a sign of their communion with the Holy See. The phrase “ad limina” comes from the ancient practice of making pilgrimages ad limina apostolorum – to the thresholds (or the tombs) of the Apostles in Rome. When the bishops visit the Vatican, often in regional groups, they make a visit to the tombs of Saint Peter and Paul and have an audience with the Pope.
In their visit with the Pope, the bishops pledge their loyalty to the Holy See, present a report on what is happening in their diocese, and hear an address from the Pope on the specific concerns of their local church community. In this way, the bishops learn from the Pope, and the Pope and his advisors in the Vatican remain in touch with the Church throughout the world. These visits are a reminder to all of us of the universal dimension of the Church.
The Pope often addresses particular topics about which he believes the bishops of a certain country need to reflect. On October 9, 1998, Pope John Paul II received in an audience the bishops of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, in the United States of America. He spoke to them about the principle of “Active Participation in the Liturgy.”
The idea of “full, conscious, and active participation” in the Liturgy first appeared officially in the thoughts and writings Pope Pius X, including Tra le Sollecitudini, his 1903 instruction on sacred music. It was taken up by the leaders of the 19th / 20th Century Liturgical Movement and became a significant principle of operation for the Second Vatican Council. Active participation in the Liturgy is important and valuable for the life of the Church. Like all things of value, it must be understood completely and authentically. Pope John Paul II, himself a brilliant scholar and one who lived through the Council, offers an insightful reflection on this important issue.
Pope John Paul II, Ad limina Address – October 9, 1998
1.…To look back over what has been done in the field of liturgical renewal in the years since the Council is, first, to see many reasons for giving heartfelt thanks and praise to the Most Holy Trinity for the marvelous awareness which has developed among the faithful of their role and responsibility in this priestly work of Christ and his Church. It is also to realize that not all changes have always and everywhere been accompanied by the necessary explanation and catechesis; as a result, in some cases there has been a misunderstanding of the very nature of the liturgy, leading to abuses, polarization, and sometimes even grave scandal. After the experience of more than thirty years of liturgical renewal, we are well placed to assess both the strengths and weaknesses of what has been done, in order more confidently to plot our course into the future, which God has in mind for his cherished People.
2. The challenge now is to move beyond whatever misunderstandings there have been and to reach the proper point of balance, especially by entering more deeply into the contemplative dimension of worship, which includes the sense of awe, reverence and adoration which are fundamental attitudes in our relationship with God.
This will happen only if we recognize that the liturgy has dimensions both local and universal, time-bound and eternal, horizontal and vertical, subjective and objective. It is precisely these tensions which give to Catholic worship its distinctive character. The universal Church is united in the one great act of praise; but it is always the worship of a particular community in a particular culture. It is the eternal worship of Heaven, but it is also steeped in time…
...This is why it is so important that liturgical law be respected. The priest, who is the servant of the liturgy, not its inventor or producer, has a particular responsibility in this regard, lest he empty liturgy of its true meaning or obscure its sacred character. The core of the mystery of Christian worship is the sacrifice of Christ offered to the Father and the work of the Risen Christ who sanctifies his People through the liturgical signs. It is therefore essential that in seeking to enter more deeply into the contemplative depths of worship the inexhaustible mystery of the priesthood of Jesus Christ be fully acknowledged and respected. While all the baptized share in that one priesthood of Christ, not all share in it in the same manner. The ministerial priesthood, rooted in Apostolic Succession, confers on the ordained priest faculties and responsibilities which are different from those of the laity but which are at the service of the common priesthood and are directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1547). The priest therefore is not just one who presides, but one who acts in the person of Christ.
3. Only by being radically faithful to this doctrinal foundation can we avoid one-dimensional and unilateral interpretations of the Council's teaching. The sharing of all the baptized in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the Council's call for full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14). Full participation certainly means that every member of the community has a part to play in the liturgy; and in this respect a great deal has been achieved in parishes and communities across your land. But full participation does not mean that everyone does everything, since this would lead to a clericalizing of the laity and a laicizing of the priesthood; and this was not what the Council had in mind. The liturgy, like the Church, is intended to be hierarchical and polyphonic, respecting the different roles assigned by Christ and allowing all the different voices to blend in one great hymn of praise.
Active participation certainly means that, in gesture, word, song and service, all the members of the community take part in an act of worship, which is anything but inert or passive. Yet active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshippers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active. In a culture, which neither favors nor fosters meditative quiet, the art of interior listening is learned only with difficulty. Here we see how the liturgy, though it must always be properly inculturated, must also be counter-cultural.
Conscious participation calls for the entire community to be properly instructed in the mysteries of the liturgy, lest the experience of worship degenerate into a form of ritualism. But it does not mean a constant attempt within the liturgy itself to make the implicit explicit, since this often leads to a verbosity and informality which are alien to the Roman Rite and end by trivializing the act of worship. Nor does it mean the suppression of all subconscious experience, which is vital in a liturgy, which thrives on symbols that speak to the subconscious just as they speak to the conscious…
…The excellent synthesis of the Church's doctrinal wealth contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church has yet to be more widely felt as an influence on Catholic preaching.
This ad limina address is one of the most significant papal writings of our time, for it is the key to unlocking the treasure of what the Second Vatican Council has to offer. Discovering and being nourished by the abundant source of grace and strength that God has prepared for us depends upon accepting the challenge to move beyond misunderstandings, abuses, and dichotomies, and to live and celebrate the authentic realities of the Church, expressed in her teachings and directives, as the Holy Father explains.
The Sacred Liturgy is integral to our Catholic life, and to be truly and authentically involved in it is vital to our journey of faith. Pope John Paul II’s reflection helps us to grasp what this participation truly means. Essentially, he defined it in terms of interior disposition rather than purely external action. Full participation means that “every member of the community has a part to play” and “does not mean that everyone does everything,” for the “liturgy is intended to be hierarchical and polyphonic.” Active participation includes “silence, stillness, and listening,” which is anything but passive. Occasionally listening to a choral anthem sung by the choir is surely active participation, since it leads us to deeper contemplation of the mysteries of God being praised. Conscious participation means that the entire community is “properly instructed in the mysteries of the liturgy.”
Celebration of the Liturgy requires a profound humility, which enables us, within the Church’s rubrical framework, to enter into the contemplative dimension of the Liturgy. Humility also expects of us that we enter into the role of our own vocation and office in the Church. The beauty of the Liturgy, as with the Church, is that everyone has an authentic role to enact. In the harmony of those various roles is found the splendor of the Church’s life, just as the individual squares of a quilt are sewn together to form a beautiful image. All the squares cannot be the same color or the quilt looses its textured beauty. So it is that we cannot all be the same in the Church.
The actuosa participatio (“actual participation”) called for by the Council, as the late Holy Father explains, is one of carrying out only the actions proper to one’s unique vocation, being nourished in mind and soul, and developing a deep spiritual understanding of what is taking place and of the mysteries being celebrated. The focus of our liturgical celebration is not merely on external action or making sure everyone feels included. External action is important as an outward, bodily, sign of God’s grace at work in us. Liturgy is also much deeper than that. Liturgy, and indeed the whole Christian life, is about an inner conversion of minds, hearts, and souls to Christ, so that in Him we might live a peaceful, holy life, and attain to eternal happiness in Heaven with God forever.
May God bless you and keep you always in His loving care!
--Father Matthew
