Worship as a Revelation The Past Present and Future of Catholic Liturgy [Paperback]

The publication by Benedict XVI of themotu propriohas put the question of the historyand meaning of the liturgy back into centre stage, not just for catholics but for many other christians as well. Dr. Hemming seeks to provide an intelligent background to the Pope's decision, addressing himself to a number of questions about the nature and character of catholic worship that opens a much wider historical discussion which will inform and persuade a wide audience.

The chapter on liturgy and revelation is the turning point in the book and shows how an understanding of time that is presumed in all modern philosophical thought, is challenged by the understanding of divine self-revelation. This then forces us to ask what our relation to liturgical events are and how we experience them. Hemming advocates a `high` theology of the liturgy with the profoundest understanding of the spiritual and the enigma of faith. How will Christian worship change now, asks the author in his concluding chapter? He offers a sketch of what may happen in the coming decades, long after the Papacy of Benedict XVI.

Introduction1. The History of Liturgical Reform
2.The Liturgical Movement
3.Liturgy and Revelation
4.Litrugy as Performance
5. Liturgy as an Understanding of Time
Conclusion