Fully conscious, active participation
Today I would like to reflect a little more on the development of liturgy following the Second Vatican Council. In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium“), the Council called for the laity to have “fully conscious, and active participation” in the liturgical celebration.
As someone who grew in the post-concilliar Church, I have often felt that there was an attempt to respond to this call of the Council by simply giving the laity as many jobs as possible. Tasks previously performed by priests and deacons in the Liturgy were now given to those who sat in the pews.
While I appreciate what was being attempted, I have recently been thinking that the implementation of the Council’s teaching contained rather flawed logic. After all, if “fully conscious, and active participation” necessitates that I have some kind of liturgical role at Mass, what about those who don’t get assigned a job that week? There are only so many things that need doing! We can’t have everybody read the Readings or bring up the gifts! If participation requires a job, does that mean that those without a job are not participating in the Liturgy? Obviously not.