The Royal Road to Joy
The Eucharist and the Beatitudes.
Pope Paul VI once said that the spirit of Vatican II could not be implemented without a contemplative laity. Certainly, the liturgical reforms after the Council will only bear fruit if there is a corresponding renewal in spirituality. Liturgy will only become a vital part of peoples' lives if they allow themselves to be transformed by the Gospel.
Jesus began his
preaching with the message. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has
come near". The Beatitudes show us the kind of change demanded by
Christ. Only a mental and moral revolution enables us to recognize the
kingdom and take advantage of the Good News.
In the Eucharist
we participate in the whole Mystery of our Redemption. Christ's initial
challenge could be addressed to us in this way, "Live the Beatitudes
because you have been called to be the Church by taking part in the Eucharist".
If we ignore this challenge, we will not recognize Christ's presence in
the Mass. We will be like those in the Gospel who looked at Christ and
failed to recognize the presence of God.
Here are two commentaries, one on the Beatitudes and the other on the Mass, which make clear the intimate connection between spirituality and celebration. Dom David draws from a lifetime's reading of Scripture and the Fathers to bring out the meaning of each Beatitude and each part of the Mass. The lives of St Seraphim (an Orthodox hermit) and St John Vianney (the Cure d'Ars) show the Beatitudes at work, while Dom David's pastoral experience working among the poor in Peru gives graphic illustration.
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read the reviews below
"These days, in England and Wales, the Catholic Church can seem very establishment, very much constrained by old customs. What is written here powerfully evokes the kingdom living, which has inspired the Church, and enabled her again and again to draw new life, new fressness, from the authentic tradition entrusted to her.
The reader will find that one of the book's great strengths is its passion; he or she will hear something of the prophet in the way that Fr David beckons us from going through the motions into a new and committed engagement of life as a disciple, united with Christ, learning from Christ. The vision here is not of religion institutional or stale, but of a conviction which is fresh, enriched, ennobled, charged with faith, to help us as we journey on the royal road to joy."
Bishop Mark Jabale from the foreword
From the Catholic Herald Review by Imogen Wolseley
Several years ago, while visiting America, I attended Mass in Miami. A Deacon,
whose secular job was as an accountant, delivered the homily. Having just returned from a weeklong seminar on new tax laws, he observed that no one would wish to use the services of a doctor, lawyer or accountant who did not continually update professional knowledge. His theme was that it is equally important for adult Catholics to continue to update their understanding of their faith and the Church. For too many Catholics, spiritual education stops at Confirmation, he said, and thus they face adult problems and issues with the development of a twelve-year-old.
Those seeking to update their understanding of Catholic spirituality, will find Fr. David Bird's book, The Royal Road to Joy: The Eucharist and the Beatitudes, a rich source of information and inspiration. Dom David is a Benedictine monk, of Belmont Abbey, who has worked for the last twenty-two years in Peru. He has spent a lifetime studying the scriptures, the writings of the early Desert Fathers, the lives of saints and the evolution of the liturgy. The breadth and depth of his learning is reflected throughout this book, which is written in a style easily accessible to the layman.
Fr. Bird believes that the changes in the Church, which came out of the Second Vatican Council, have not led to the degree of spiritual renewal that was intended. In his view, going "back to basics" in the liturgy is meaningless unless we also go back to basics in our spirituality. The Beatitudes summarise Jesus' New Law of the New Covenant and are thus essential to our faith. "It is impossible," he writes, "to participate authentically in the Mass without living according to the Beatitudes." This echoes Pope John Paul's call for us to become "new people of the Beatitudes."
The first half of the book contains a thorough and thoughtful introduction to and commentary upon each of the Beatitudes. Fr. Bird sees these as a "series of steps along the road to sanctity." He traces their Old Testament roots, examines the meanings of such phrases as "poor in spirit" and sets them in the context of Jesus' day and ministry. Often drawing upon his own experiences in Peru, he suggests ways in which modern Christians can transform their spiritual lives by living the Beatitudes.
Whilst he acknowledges that St. Luke's version of the Beatitudes is probably closer to the actual words of Jesus, for this study he uses St. Matthew's amplified version because it condenses Christ's whole theology. Fr. Bird states that just as there are seven petitions in the Our Father, there is good reason to believe that originally there were only seven Beatitudes. Studying them in the normal way provides much insight and enrichment, but a chiastic reading adds another dimension. Chiastic reading teams the first Beatitude with the last, the second with the second from last, and so on, until there is only one left, which cannot be paired. In the chiastic reading, this remaining one has special significance. "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy" is the unpaired Beatitude.
To illustrate what it means to live the Beatitudes, Fr. Bird concludes part one with biographical sketches of two very different saints, the Orthodox hermit St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. John Mary Vianney. He believes that their examples have much to teach both Christians, and the Church as a whole, in its efforts to evangelise. "If we take the Gospel to its logical conclusion and strive to live by the Beatitudes, not caring about the impression we make, then the modern world may begin to listen to us because we will be different and have something original to say. The only way people will come to share our values and our faith is if we live up to them ourselves."
The second half of the book is devoted to the Mass. Fr. Bird provides a very detailed commentary, virtually line by line, on the liturgy. He explains the meaning behind what is said and done, and why the Mass is structured as it is. His understanding of the history of Jewish worship and traditions, and early Christianity give fascinating insights into the evolution of the Mass. He concludes this part of the book with a thought provoking analysis of good liturgy and bad liturgy.
Fr. Bird believes that there is a tendency to confuse what is "necessary" in the life of the Church and what is "essential". "There are many things that are extremely desirable for us to do if the Church is going to make an adequate response to the challenges of twenty-first century secular society, but there is only one thing absolutely essential: that we take the road to joy, the way of the Eucharist and the way of the Beatitudes." This book is an excellent guide to that road.
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