"Is Jesus God?"
Summer 2003 Bible Study

Chapter 8

"St. Joan of Arc Bible Study is an open and growing group that meets for fellowship and to discuss the Bible and other faith-centered literature. Our informal study group draws from biblical scholarship, historical perspectives, current events and personal reflections. We welcome honor and respect the personal ideas and spiritual journeys of all who join us."

Good afternoon.

We feel for those of you that missed Chapter 8. Another first-time facilitator took the plunge and skillfully lead the large group through chapter 8 with a wonderful overview. She also provided an extra page of questions and interesting items for discussion from another Morwood book, God is Near, Trusting Our Faith.

We opened with a reflection about that which we call "bad" and that which we call "evil" and the differences between the two and if God is or is not present in all. If not, is there another source?

We dealt with some old and new business that we should cover here.

The study of Exodus begins September 16. There will be one last meeting of the current leadership-servant-hood team on August 19 immediately following our chapter nine session. They plan on discussing which current members may or may not be involved with the next team and are inviting those of us that have an interest in taking a turn to attend that meeting. We hope you plan to participate.

Another note we want to share is the impact our humble gatherings have not only upon ourselves but also those who visit our website and send comments. Jeff Rholl recently passed on a message from a woman in Australia who loves what we're doing at the ol' country church. Here is her message.

Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Time: 10:58 PM EST
Submitted by: Jennifer
Subject: Comment/Question

Comment: Dear St Joan's folk I have just read several of your book/study reviews by David Rotert(et al). My congratulations to him - they are fantastic - and to you all for acting upon your hunger to discover Jesus for today. Your parish sounds (like) a real oasis in a withering Church.

Here in Australia, I am fortunate to belong to a parish with a parish priest who has similar vision and courage to your own.

I shall pass on the name of St Joan of Arc parish to our prayer groups. Let's pray for each other.

We are, Our Lady of the Assumption (OLA) in Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia.

Blessed be you all - and keep seeking.
Love in Christ
Jennifer

We would also share one more email we received from an interested party in CA.

Dear Rik,

Is it possible for a non-parishioner to be part of SJA Bible Study Group?

How would one do this?

Timothy Germann
15001 Mission Hills Road
Mission Hills
California 91345-1102

It is encouraging to see people outside the parish take an interest in what we're doing! Keep it up.

Here is the overview for chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: IMPLICATIONS FOR LITURGY
 August 12, 2003

Liturgy: a form of public worship, a set of formularies for this, public worship in accordance with a prescribed form.

In Chapter 8 Michael Morwood discusses the need to change the liturgy to reflect the New Story, the new worldview, and Jesus as man. In Chapter 8 Morwood continues to ask the question, "Why should we believe that Jesus came down from heaven to restore the 'gift'? Why should we believe it was ever lost? Why not look at God's kingdom on earth and see that the "Body" of the church is the good works of its people?" Morwood presents examples for changing the liturgy and positive ways to celebrate Christmas, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost.

RATIONALE FOR CHANGING THE LITURGY On page 109 Morwood states that many committed adult Christians no longer feel that the images and language of formalized religion are right for them. He elaborates on this on page 110 by listing the outdated worldview on which so much of the liturgy depends.

Many adult Catholics no longer accept the idea of an original "fall" and the resulting religious services that the hierarchy decrees to be timeless and unchanging. Many do not agree with the literal interpretation of the liturgy, creedal images and language. On pages 110 and 111, he gives us two examples of Eucharistic prayers and six Prefaces that illustrate the use of the "Ransom language." We could find parallel beliefs in most Christian liturgies. Vatican II caught the mood and liturgical change followed. Now authority is fearful things are getting out of hand and the mood has changed to rigid control.

On page 112 Morwood shows concern about adult dropouts from the Christian church. It is not the youth but the committed adults who are giving up on an outdated liturgy and clerics who do not nourish faith development. Feeling that the whole of Christian life would be undermined if this is addressed the leadership is willing to let the people go. These are important reasons for changing the liturgy.

Where will these people go? Many people just stop attending church altogether. Morwood suggests they will continue to be Christian, seek support from the church but probably not find it. They would then form small groups with individualized styles of Eucharistic ritual that reflect on scripture, share experiences, prayers and food while showing support for one another. Sounds like a SCC (Small Christian Community) at SJA.

Why does liturgy exist? Its purpose is to protect and preserve the "story" people want to tell about their relationship with God and Jesus? (Page 113) Morwood calls it the "action of people who make up the "Body" of Christ to express their Christian vision of life." If the theology of today's church has shifted, liturgy has to be adjusted. "By whom?" In addition, should it be a decree or an ongoing process?

The rest of the chapter talks about rescue of the liturgy from an outdated theological perspective. On page 114, he suggests several approaches:

Morwood would also redesign liturgy for HOLIDAYS. Pages 115-117
Christmas would consider "Who is this child for us?"
Would this change our Secular Christmas?
Holy Week would be a celebration of a man who felt God's Spirit even though he was rejected and abandoned.
Good Friday would be based on the idea of faith in God's fidelity not "Ransom."
Easter would be a celebration of joy and optimism about all of creation.
Pentecost would be the WOW of all human existence...we are ALL temples of God's existence.
For discussion...The two questions for Chapter 8.
  1. How comfortably do the images and language of formalized religion sit with you?
  2. What reflections would you add to how Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost could be celebrated?
In addition, Thank you Arlette.

Large group discussion ranged from questions about the Catholic Church shrinking, or is it growing?, to what liturgy means; how is it defined in the catechism and can we change it? Do we want to change it? We mulled over rules and promulgations we Catholics took for granted at one time and now grant little thought to. We pondered some fundamental changes that would take place in the Catechism if we could somehow free ourselves from the world view of a flat earth that is 6,000 years old. If we could accept that Adam and Eve may not have been real historical people, might that lead us away from the fall / redemption theology? Someone then posed a question that begs repeating, "For God's sake, how is one redeemed from an allegory?"(!)

So as we neared the end of the large group discussion we heard heavy activity in the kitchen area and figured we were in for a treat! That this truth was so patently obvious is what makes it so poignantly ironic.

What are you babbling about?

I am babbling about Shortcake with real strawberry sauce and wooden-barreled-hand-cranked ice cream, yes, just like the kind grandma and grandpa used to make. Are you kidding me! When is the last time you had strawberry short cake sundaes? Just what I thought. What a treat. We took a piece of shortcake (some of us took two) and then piled it high with two varieties of iced cream. This was then slathered in frozen strawberries with all the natural juicy flavor intact! Chase that down with the fine Parish java and hey, you're livin' a dream!

The dream only got better as we gathered in smaller groups for more vivid and intimate discussions. From the unruly banter reverberating from group one it is safe to say we shared some joy-filled moments.

We closed with several evocative excerpts from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene from the Nag Hammadi library. By the by, if anyone would be interested in studying any of the gospels that didn't make the "Canon cut" it may behoove you to join the leadership-servant-hood team that decides these matters.

Enough already. We hope to see you all next week when another first-time facilitator will guide us through chapter 9; Implications for Ministry.

Privileges

Peace is upon us
Rik Murray
(612) 872-8694
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