Connect liturgy to people's lives, experts advise at Miami meeting

Published: 2004-02-19

MIAMI (CNS) -- Here's a recipe for better Masses: Let the symbols speak, get the people to participate and make sure what happens in church connects with their lives. That was the advice offered by two liturgical experts from Rome during a symposium Feb. 7 at St. Thomas University in Miami on "Shaping the Liturgy of the 21st Century." The symposium, co-sponsored by the Miami archdiocesan Office of Worship, marked the 40th anniversary of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the first of the documents issued by the Second Vatican Council, and the one that changed the way Catholics celebrated Mass. "It is the best document ever written about the liturgy," said Benedictine Father Juan Javier Flores, president of the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, which is recognized as the world's leading institution for the study of liturgy. Father Flores stressed that, for all intents and purposes, the era of liturgical reform is over. "No spectacular changes are expected" in the way Catholics celebrate Mass, he said. The challenge for the 21st century, he said, is to rediscover the Vatican II document, plumb its depths and apply it fully.

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