The Liturgical Year

When selecting my new book to review for Thomas Nelson, this one caught my eye. The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister goes through the liturgical calendar, explaining the historical significance behind each event. I am becoming more and more interested in liturgy and how to incorporate it more into our concept of family worship, and I thought this book would provide some guidance.

Unfortunately, the book did not provide much practical advice. I wasn't looking for a how-to book, but discussing how to incorporate the liturgical calendar into our daily lives was barely mentioned. In fact, the book was rather scattered; there didn't seem to be a consistent thread presented. Instead of approaching the liturgical calendar systematically, Chittister begins with Advent, but then introduces other chapters not concerning the next feast, but joy and human time versus liturgical time.  Then she bounces back to discussing the events of the calendar again. The discussion of the historical significance of each event was not always clearly articulated either. In addition, the first few chapters can easily been condensed into one or two; Chittister seemed to be repeating the same ideas for several pages.

One thing not advertised in the summary of the book is that the author is a Benedictine nun, and therefore the book has a decidedly Catholic slant. She briefly explained the Marian feasts- more or less by listing them out in one of the final chapters. Interestingly enough, there are sixteen events (some of them optional) on the liturgical calendar dedicated to Mary; that is definitely more events than Jesus has.

One of the things about the book that really bothered me was the focus on what we do in order to remain faithful. Yes, there was discussion of Jesus and the salvation through Him, but the focus seemed to be more on completing the spiritual checklist that is the liturgical year in hopes that doing so will make us faithful and happy. But is happiness really the point of faith in Christ? Decidedly not. And reducing our lives to a spiritual checklist is well on the path to legalism and an unfulfilled life in Christ. We must use the liturgical year not to give us a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that we've done "the right thing", but to draw closer the Almighty One, the Living God, the Light of the World.

Despite the numerous drawbacks to this book, there were wonderful nuggets scattered throughout the pages. When remembering a time in her childhood when a teacher explained that Lent is the time to sacrifice something in order to give to others, Chittister writes, "It was a child's catechetical exercise, yes, but it carried with it spiritual messages enough to last a lifetime. Clearly, we were being put on notice. There were things in life, other people in life, for which each of us was responsible, however young we were and whether we had any association with them or not. There were things in life so important, it seemed, that we would need to give up some things for ourselves in order to take care of the needs of others. And it all had something to do with God" (emphasis mine). What an absolutely beautiful explanation of our call to care for others!

When introducing Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Chittister dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of suffering. She has this to say: "Suffering, we learn as we go, is the price we pay to bring life to fullness, both for others and for ourselves. It is not to be desired in a neurotic kind of way, but it is definitely not to be denied. For when we refuse to suffer, we refuse to grow...The problem is that we resist suffering with might and main. There is a natural inertia built into the human condition that seeks the comfortable, the familiar, and the secure. We want to shape life to our specifications and fix it there. We want stability...To live for the lesser things of like is to risk not really living at all."

Finally, Chittister says this about the concept of celebration and religion: "One of the interesting things about religion, about Christianity, is that in a society full to the brim with excess- a glorifier of excess, in fact- religion has come to be seen as one of life's greatest restrictive factors. Religions, this society assumes, exists to say no to the good things in life. It damps the human need for pleasure and destroys the joy. But nothing could be farther from the truth." At this point, Chittister goes on to say that life is inherently good. I both agree and disagree on this statement, depending on how it is interpreted. If the statement implies that life, as a creation of the Mighty Creator, is inherently good, I agree. The Lord Himself saw "that is was good" according to Genesis. And anyone who has experienced the true joy of life- with both the highs and lows- can readily admit that "Life is good." However, if the author is implying that life is inherently good because people are good, I'm going to have to disagree with her. Yes, life is good, but we are not good. Each and every believer of the Lord Jesus Christ will attest to that fact; we are made right through His blood, but we are not inherently good. In fact, we are just the opposite; we are inherently evil.

Because of some obvious doctrinal issues, I couldn't fully accept the book in its entirety. Even though Chittister tried to remain neutral, the Catholic overtones were both distracting and confusing to me, as I do not have a strong Catholic background and therefore lack a good deal of knowledge in that area. However, perhaps someone who identifies more with Catholicism would understand and enjoy the book more than I did. I was most disappointed in that there was not more practical application of the book, but am thankful for the few statements which I have mentioned above.