BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

Litur gy
turn out to be. For if we already practice that eschatological reality in the way we
celebrate and enact the liturgy of Holy Communion we cannot escape the demand
towards the integrity of faith and life and seek to pursue that reality outside
the liturgy in a world that waits for signs of God on earth and seeks them to
be revealed in us, the children of God. 12
‘Prayer is to enter into the lion’s den. It brings us before the Holy One where it is uncertain
whether we will come back alive or sane, for it is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.’ 13
It is not only prayer that leads us into the lion’s den. All our worship does so, including
the liturgy of Holy Communion and it is indeed uncertain whether we
will come back alive or sane, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. This may be the reason why many refuse to engage in that fearful
task of worship in all its facets, including Holy Communion. Or it may be why
we do strive carefully to orchestrate worship in such a way that we have intimacy
without contact where we seek personal satisfaction and the fulfilment of our
expectation without the risk of being touched and transformed in the presence
of God and find ourselves called upon in ways we would ordinarily avoid for fear
of facing the truth about our very being. It may be why we seek an encounter
with God in measured ways and on our terms because the danger of loosing control
is too great a danger for us to contemplate – who knows what realities about
God, the world and ourselves may lie waiting to be discovered; realities that may
require metanoia, a complete and radical re-orienting of our lives.
The Communion liturgy which was prepared and conducted for that conference
in March 2009 was � in �many �ways prepared for �a context � that differed from a
parish setting. It laboured under the peculiarities and difficulties of its context as
do in other ways the celebrations within any parish setting.
The conditions under which this particular liturgy had been prepared had been
slightly more fraught. For those with a sensitivity to the English language and
the traditions of the Scottish and Irish churches a slight Celtic Christian overtone
might have been apparent, though certainly one song from Latin America
had been also included. Attention to detail in language, freshness of expression
and clarity of symbolic word and action were one of its hallmarks as were its
grounding in biblical tradition though not in Biblicism.
The invitation made clear that all were welcome, our general condition as human
beings before God was set out and God’s gracious and generous offer to us
was made transparent also. The prayers and songs were crafted and chosen with
12 Romans 8:19
13 Attributed to an American Preacher. If the correct source could be supplied by any
reader the author would be most grateful.
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– THE LITURGY OF HOLY COMMUNION – 107