Rev. W. Shawn McKnight, S.T.D.
NADD Convention
April 22, 2015
Liturgical events are not private actions but
celebrations of the church, which is “the
sacrament of unity,” the holy people draw into an
ordered whole under the bishops.
Therefore these celebrations are for the whole
body which is the church, making this whole
body visible and having effects on it; in a different
kind of way they touch the individual members
of the church, a way related to the differences in
ranks, of roles and of levels of participation.
[A]ll should hold in great esteem the liturgical life
of the diocese centered around the bishop,
especially in his cathedral church; they must be
convinced that the preeminent manifestation of
the Church is present in the full, active
participation of all God’s holy people in these
liturgical celebrations, especially the same
eucharist, in a single prayer, at one altar at which
the bishop presides, surrounded by his college of
presbyters and by his ministers.
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“Say”
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“Do”
Non-Verbal Actions
With the help of the modern sciences
that deal with man, we intend to
examine what might be described as
the anthropological antecedents to
Christianity. From this study, the
human character of Christianity
should emerge with a clarity that
would otherwise be hardly suspected.
Structure
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Order in Society to
meet material needs
Defines who a person
is and is not
Apportions power,
wealth, knowledge
Differentiates,
separates, divides,
holds people apart
Anti-Structure
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Generic human bond
Blunts rough edges of
structure
Builds social cohesion
Makes society a
community
Communitas
 A social modality of
relationships
 Not a geographic
territory
 Font & source of
social structures
 Critiques existing
structures
 Experience of man to
man w/o structure
Liminality
 Sphere of action or
thought
 Ritual
 Builds social cohesion
 Makes society a
community
 Provides for the
experience of
Communitas
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Conveys communitas over into structure
Alters the patterned way of doing things
Operates on the symbolic level
Evokes communitas by stripping away the
trappings of social structures
The meaning of human life
Related to feeling
More powerful than the spoken word
Critiques excessive individualism
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Mates structure with anti-Structure
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A dialectic
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Symbols of communitas restructure
society according to communitas values
“It is also true that if
communitas can be developed
within a ritual pattern it can be
carried over into secular life for
a while and help to mitigate or
assuage some of the
abrasiveness of social conflicts.”
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A marginal figure
Represents peace
Unaligned with factions
Mediates between high and low, rich and
poor, powerful and week
Reminder of the basic human bond and
our common humanity
The poverty of Christ clearly had “immense
emotional significance for Francis, who
regarded nakedness as the master symbol of
emancipation from structural and economic
bondage—as from the constraints set upon
him by his earthly father, the wealthy
merchant of Assisi. Religion for him was
communitas, between man and God and man
and man, vertically and horizontally, so to
speak, and poverty and nakedness were both
expressive symbols of communitas and
instruments for attaining it.—V. Turner
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Poverty
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Humility
“The vain task of trying to find
out in what precise way certain
symbols found in the ritual,
poetry, or iconography of a given
society ‘reflect’ or ‘express’ its
social or political structure can
then be abandoned. Symbols
may well reflect not structure but
anti-structure, and not only
‘reflect’ it but contribute to
creating it.”
Deacons have a “special role to
promote communion and to
counter the strong emphasis on
individualism prevalent in the
United States.”
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and fellowship [koinonia], to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Acts 2:42
“We know that we have passed from
death to life because we love one another.
Whoever does not love abides in death.”
1 John 3: 14
“compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience. Bear with one
another and, if anyone has a complaint
against another, forgive each other.”
Colossians 3:12-13
“In the celebration of Mass the faithful are a
holy people, a people God has made his
own, a royal priesthood: they give thanks to
the Father and offer the victim not only
through the hands of the priest but also
together with him and learn to offer
themselves…”
“…They should endeavor to make this clear
by their deep sense of reverence for God and
their charity toward all who share with
them in the celebration.
They therefore should shun any
appearance of individualism or division,
keeping before their mind that they have the
one Father in heaven and therefore are all
brothers and sisters to each other.”
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Proclamation of
Gospel
General Intercessions
Preparation of Gifts
Elevation of the
Chalice
Sign of Peace
Distribution of Holy
Communion
Dismissal
“In his preaching and teaching,
the deacon articulates the needs
and hopes of the people he has
experienced, thereby
animating, motivating and
facilitating a commitment
among the lay faithful to an
evangelical service ion the
world.”