By Julie Godfrey Miller
Catholic Herald

Liturgical commission re-established

SUPERIOR -- After several years, the Diocese of Superior has decided to "rekindle" its liturgical commission. The group held its first meeting in Superior, Sept. 28.

At the meeting, the members elected their officers. They are Doris Murphy, chairperson; Fr. Michael Jennrich, OFM, vice chair, and Kathy Turba, secretary.

Murphy is director of faith formation and coordinator of liturgy at St. Bridget Parish, River Falls; Jennrich serves as associate pastor at Our Lady of the Lake, Ashland; and Turba is director of the diocesan chorale and music director for the Cumberland-Almema-Turtle Lake cluster.

Other members of the commission are Fr. John Anderson, pastor of the Ladysmith-Hawkins-Tony cluster; Fr. Gerald Harris, pastor of St. Bridget Parish, River Falls; Ric Johnson, business manager at Holy Family Parish in Woodruff; Lenore Krajewski, member of the diocesan RCIA committee and CRE for grades 8-12 in the Weyerhaeuser- Bruce-Flambeau-Strickland cluster; Deacon Ken Schaefer, business manager and development director at St. Joseph Parish in Rice Lake; and Sr. Kate Zimmerman, OSF, from the Solon Springs-Gordon-Minong cluster. Fr. Gabriel Baltes, OSB, director of the Office of Worship for the diocese, is an ex-officio member of the commission.

Baltes pointed out that the members represented a cross-section of people in church life.

Following some welcoming remarks by Bishop Raphael M. Fliss, the members of the new commission each introduced themselves. Baltes then gave a little of the history of the diocesan liturgical commission.

He said he has never been against such a commission, but in the past was never sure what to do with one. With the events surrounding the 2000 jubilee, the previous commission was put on the back burner and interest waned. He said the Presbyteral Council now wants to get the commission going again, because they feel this is a critical juncture in the life of the diocese, with several important changes being implemented now or coming soon: the new Lectionary, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Holy Communion norms and others.

Baltes said the diocese has decided to rekindle the commission with a new constitution. He added that he looked at the constitutions from liturgical commissions in several other dioceses before drafting the one for the Superior diocese.

The new constitution gives the bishop a key role. In the past, Baltes said, the commission was an advisor to the Office of Worship, and left the bishop out of the picture. The new commission will be advisory to the bishop and be an educational body to the diocese.

Baltes will be a nonvoting member of the commission. In response to a question from Fliss, Baltes explained that if the head of the Office of Worship has no vote, the bishop will have two distinct sources for information -- the commission and the Office of Worship.

The new constitution will be officially promulgated after input from the members of the new commission.

Baltes also discussed some of his ideas about the function of the commission. Some of his other suggestions were:

* Develop guidelines for various ministries -- job descriptions and expectations -- and consider developing wedding and funeral guidelines.

* Start thinking about catechesis for the Roman Missal, whenever it is promulgated. (Baltes added that it may be a few years before the new Roman Missal comes out, but when it does it will be a major event in the church.)

* Think about where the diocese is in relation to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and the new changes that are coming out.

The new commission members spent some time discussing their views on the role of the group. The members said:

* They don't see themselves as a liturgy planning team. Team planning doesn't work very well.

* They don't want to be the "liturgy police," but see it as their role to look at what is working and what is not. When something is not working it hinders, rather than helps worship.

* Some lay people are confused about the theology of some of the changes being made in the Mass (for example, using multiple chalices rather than a flagon for the wine).

* There are some instances where differences of opinion over liturgy have become a power struggle, which has little to do with faith.

After a break for lunch, Fliss discussed his background in liturgy. He said his early experience as an altar boy probably had a lot to do with his priestly vocation. He added that one thing missing today is the opportunity to bring young people up close to the altar where they can see what is happening at Mass, and understand it.

During theological college, Fliss said, he was the sacristan and as priest he was master of ceremonies for the archbishop of Milwaukee.

Fliss said he was also in Rome during the Second Vatican Council and was involved in the first presentations on the liturgy to help people understand the documents of Vatican II. He added that he feels the church did not do a very good job of explaining it the first time around.

After Fliss' presentation, the group discussed some other concerns, including the issue of general absolution versus requiring individual confessions, the timing of first reconciliation for children, and guidelines for lay leaders of prayer.

They also discussed changes in the Eucharist and Pope John Paul II's encyclical on the Eucharist.

The commission plans to meet four times a year. Their next meeting will be during the winter.

< Local Archives

© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004