From an excellent interview of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna:
KATH.NET: Nowadays, liturgy is often presented as an "event". Many people experience the liturgy as a group experience, a cultural event, an aesthetic add-on. Actually, what is the significance of the liturgy for the Church?
Cardinal Schönborn: The liturgy is "an event", of course. It is at all the most significant event one ever can imagine. For in liturgy happens ("event" signifies "something that happens") the secret of the faith. Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are made present for us. Can there be anything more magnificent than this event? And therefore the Eucharist is of an incomparable topicality, it is more thrilling than any show and more beautiful than all plays. Certainly this does provoke us to get involved as much as possible in this event and to celebrate it with body and soul, with all our being and with our full commitment. It is no coincidence that the event "Holy Mass" is particularly impressive when the celebrant is deeply moved by the secret that he is celebrating. Under these circumstances the fold realises that this is the celebration of the biggest event in history. I had an unforgettable experience of this with Padre Pio, whose way to celebrate the Holy Mass was the same every day, but all the same of an incomparable novelty every time, lively and of fascinating intensity. The organisation of a service is a success, when it is completely serving this "event", which is the core and the subject of the Eucharist. In such a case there is never the danger of it to be boring nor of wear and tear, unless we are bored and weared off ourselves. This, however, is not the fault of the liturgy, but the result of our lacking disposition and of our missing faith.
Read the whole thing here.
1 comment
Question number 1: What are the eight sacraments?
You can then follow them up by an array of questions such as is _______ a mortal sin, a venial sin, or up to your own private interpretation.
Perhaps some “identify the source” questions would be appropriate, such as is the selected quote from “National Catholic Reporter” or an encyclical of Pope John Paul II, or the Da Vinci Code vs the Gospel.
I can think of several true false questions too, involving the real presence, the trinity, the divinity of Christ and so on, but they’d proably circle both and claim its up to interpretation.