Creighton theology students and faculty, as well as several decorated guest speakers, commemorated the 50th anniversary of Vatican II with the second of its multi-year celebrations: Celebrating the Legacy of Vatican II Year 2: Sacrosanctam Concilium.
This two-day reopening of the celebrations focused specifically on the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, called Sacrosanctam Concilium, through a conference titled “Liturgy: Sourcing the Faith that Does Justice” on Nov. 7-8.
Fr. Thomas Massaro, S.J., dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara presented the Initial Address, a talk titled “The Eucharist and Social Justice: The Legacy of the Second Vatican Council,” followed by renowned theological scholars including Rev. John Baldovin, S.J., Creighton University’s Eileen Burke-Sullivan, S.T.D., Heaney Chairholder, and Dr. Massimo Faggioli.
Creighton theology students, junior Joshua Rutter, junior Kaitlin Mullen, and senior Adam Lomas, who are the first to receive the Reardon-Heaney Student Scholarship, also presented talks at the conference.
Creighton’s own Eileen Burke-Sullivan of the theology department, presented a talk titled “Fire in the Hearth: Celebrating Liturgical Time,” which examined the sacred role of time, Liturgical seasons, and lay ministries as means to “increase the vigor for Christian life.”
“Liturgy is the fire in the hearth, or the source and summit of all Christian life. Liturgical prayer is the source of faith, personal prayer, apostolate, ministry, mission, community, justice…and liturgy gathers all this together and brings it to fruition,” Burke-Sullivan said.
In particular, Burke-Sullivan discussed the role of the Liturgy of the Hours and how the prayers both sanctify time throughout the day and impact one’s faith.
“The Liturgy of the Hours, when rightly done and regularly over time, is transformative. You get a deeper insight into the Paschal Mystery,” Burke-Sullivan said.
Senior theology major Adam Lomas gave a talk focused on “The Decentralization of Power and Solidarity through Adaptation,” which made a case for greater lay incorporation into the Liturgy, specifically as he witnessed in the Dominican Republic.
“You have to feel attached to the people you’re sitting with every week,” Lomas said while highlighting the problem of many Christian churches moving from small, bonded communities to something much more “commercialized” and “corporate.”
Lomas’ talk advocated for a shift back to those once tight-knit congregations, along with a greater lay ministry emphasis.
Massimo Faggioli, assistant professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., summed up the importance of Vatican II’s Sacrosanctam Concilium with his presentation on Liturgical Reform and the Common Good, which stressed the importance of the Catholic liturgical reform as linked to social justice.
“The liturgical reform is one of the most important reforms of Catholicism. We are now, 50 years later, discovering the impacts of the reforms on the Church,” Faggioli said.
Faggioli emphasized the importance of Vatican II as the source for social justice within liturgical reform, a point greatly overlooked.
“We must restore the link between liturgical reform and social justice,” Faggioli said, “but this is only possible in accordance with Vatican II.”
Looking ahead, Creighton continues its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II with a two-day conference titled “Toward a Global Catholic Church: Vatican II and its Reception in the Non-Western World” on April 3 and April 4, 2014.
Dr. Eileen Burke-Sullivan of Creighton’s theology department gave an address during the celebration of Vatican II’s anniversary about the sacred role of time, Liturgical seasons and lay ministries.