Reflection for October 13

When the fundamental symbols expressed in an authentic liturgical act take root in our daily lives, those symbols have the power to touch the deepest levels of our humanity, leading us into a path of transformation. But if the symbols are engaged only on the surface, this potential for transformation is lost…. The consequence of this is a kind of Christianized veneer that is only skin deep.

The imperatives of the Gospel are proclaimed not only in the liturgical rites and their ritual symbols. Those imperatives, when they are truly heard and accepted, become embodied in the ways in which Christians live their lives. It is in our daily lives that the authenticity of our Christian faith meets its essential test. The significance of the liturgical act is not found merely in the performance of a religious routine, no matter how beautiful that routine may be. It is found when that act yields in us the spiritual fruit that it signifies (Louis Weil, Liturgical Sense).