Adelson A.

Jaugan

SUMMARY

Liturgy is celebrated according to a particular season. There is coordination

between the natural world and the liturgy. As the world changes, there’s celebration in liturgy
depending on the season that occurs in a particular time (different in tropical areas where there
are only two seasons, the wet and dry season so it would be not more on seasonal but more on
the effects during the particular season). Spring time, the time of sprouting, could be a suited
time in celebrating the Easter for example. As the author wondered and reflected about the
relationship between the liturgy and the natural world, he realized that Christ is in everything;
Christ is in every season; Christ is everywhere, and everything is an occasion for worship.

To speak of liturgy, the author stressed that” The liturgy engages the entire person: mind,
heart, soul, and body”. In worshipping, there is a need of an active participation of the whole
self. There is a spirit that soars and is sustained, mind that comprehends, the heart that
contemplates and the body that actively performs the act. We make use of tangible things as we
worship. We make use of water in the sacrament of baptism, and we make use of oil in anointing
of the sick and any tangible materials as we perform worship. Worship is in all seasons, in all
places, in all situations and therefore, all encompassing.

The author differentiated liturgy as the experience of the person of Christ and His saving
work between Systematic theology feeds learnings about the doctrinal statements of Christ.
These two are relational since understanding the doctrine of the faith necessitates the
development of personal relationship. It is not only experiencing the person of Christ nor only
the learning of his teachings, but it is both.
 The author mentioned Christ as “yesterday, today and forever”, the “Alpha and the
Omega”, and the” the Beginning and the end”. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever
because His life and teachings are not subject to periodic alteration. Christ is the beginning since
He is the Word, the word which was spoken by the Father who created everything. Through
Christ and with Christ, everything was made because Christ is the Word of God. He owns
everything and He is in everything. The author mentioned that the current year written on a
paschal candle signifies that Christ owns the whole year; in fact all years are Christ’s.
Everything, including time, was made for Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end. The word “Alpha” and “Omega” signifies Christ as above all things as in the Greek
alphabet that contains everything in the alphabet from “Alpha” to “Omega” and as it is used in
every word especially on scientific names and in every word in the world. Indeed, everything
created belongs to Christ. Christ is the beginning and the end. The word “end” In the Greek
word, means fulfillment, does not necessarily mean consummation of the world, rather a
completion and fulfillment through Christ. The person of Jesus Christ bestows meaning and
purpose to all the created things and His name is written in every part of it.

The author also stressed the problem as regards to the “autonomy affairs” in the modern
world. It was the problem about faith as taken aside as if the world did not depend on God. In
fact, it is God who created and conserves the world as it lives. Nowadays, it seems that the
technology is separated from liturgy. The liturgy should not be taken extensively in the context
of natural phenomena without a great attention to technological advances because as what the
author said, “Christ is not Lord only for cosmos but also of the formidable conquest of genius”.
Past, present or future, Christ is there. Whether it is a technological period or not, Christ is there.
Christ binds together all times and seasons. He is not separated from the world. All times and all
ages belong to Him.
Adelson A. Jaugan

REFLECTION

Liturgy is grounded on the very life of a Christian as he/she lives in the world and
carries the love and obedience to God, and so it becomes a pleasing offering to God. The Liturgy
cannot be separated from the world. Liturgy is not something separated from the real and
ordinary events like in casual events. It is not the gesture itself that must be done observed
keenly during the worship (rubrics) or something that is confined only inside the Church (the
structure or building itself). Everywhere and anytime, as long as one carries the love and
obedience to God, is an occasion to have a liturgy. It is when a Christian is one with Christ.

I remember the time when I was on my college days. My first year of college was also
the first time when the word “Liturgy” and its activities were introduced to me. Really, to be
honest, even until the end of my college days, I still didn’t know what “Liturgy” really means
with all its etymological meanings and its coverage, most probably because I hadn’t exert any
effort to find such meanings of it. Of course, I knew liturgical activities such as our daily Mass,
Baptism, Holy order, Matrimony, and the like. What I understood about the liturgy was:
“anything that involves community prayer inside the Chapel or the Church (places like cemetery
is also included)”. Anything outside the said understanding about the liturgy is no longer a
liturgy. Well, apart from blaming myself because of not exerting any effort to discover the real
meaning of it, I could also point my finger to the environment I had during those times.
Probably, they did not also know what was the real meaning of it.

I remember those times when how many times when I hear from some of the elder
seminarians about the “not liturgical”. “That is not liturgical….and this….this is the proper thing
to do during the liturgy…and so on.

It does not also mean that gestures would mainly limit on how we worship God.
In fact, it is one way of expressing our love of God. But focusing much of our attention to it and
disregarding the main theme would lead to disturbance in prayer.

There were times in my life when I become conscious to God only in the chapel and only
in the Liturgical activities especially during mass. I also remember when during those times, I
projected God as a strict God. It was the time when I felt distant from Him. But that was very
long time ago.

At times, I feel like there’s no God’s intervention during prayer; the time when I feel like
I am all alone, so alone that I could even suspect whether there is God who engages during
prayer. The lack of conviction that I am always been accompanied by God, the lack of awareness
of the beauty of each moment and the lack of appreciation about the blessings as I live. It is the
time when I feel like nothing is new and nothing is meaningful at all.

I was struck about the thought that Christ is everywhere. It’s a message to me that God is
there even in my feeling of desolation, that each moment is a blessing because each moment
belongs to Christ, whether that moment a consolation or desolation, Christ is there. God is there.
Everything is meaningful because things are beautiful as they are, and most ultimately because
everything is created through Christ, with Christ and in Christ. So to speak, everywhere I go
whether in dry or rainy season, there is always an opportunity to worship Him. He’s not strict
and distant at all. It is like I was in the dark room while calling His name, thinking He was
outside but in reality He was there with me the whole time. The belief when I thought that the
altar was a table for sacrifice but in reality, Jesus is the altar itself. The belief that the “Liturgy”
only takes place inside the chapel but in reality, whatever that carries the love and obedience to
the father, the Liturgy takes place (of course communal liturgy like that in the Church is very
important) but I realize that He was there the whole time. God was there the whole time.
 As I have learned about liturgy, I realized that I do not have to limit myself on gestures
during prayer. God has given me the freedom to offer a pleasing sacrifice to Him. It is not more
on how I execute the gestures that, many times, would limit me to worship Him. In fact, I am
free to express my prayer through praising God as I marvel all His creations and as the prayer
engages my whole being. Even the tiniest part of this world reflects about Jesus Christ. This
natural world, as it changes continuously, speaks about Christ. It speaks about God.

The lectures, the readings and the realizations have become a strong reminder to me that
God is a personal God who loves me personally. Those move me to be more grateful and
appreciative for each blessing I receive each moment. Those opened my eyes as I am given an
opportunity to be with Christ in this world.

We worship God through Christ as Christ is in everywhere. Everything belongs to Christ.

The trees, the grasses, the sky, the air we breathe in and out, the morning that welcomes us every
time we wake up and even the very life that we have belong to Christ. Yes, it is Christ who
binds us together, and so to be united with Him. To be united with God.