by Benigna Menezes*

Over 100 men and women religious participated in the catechesis organized by the Indian Conference of Religious. The Indian Bishops' Conference call for renewed liturgical devotion. Salesian priest: "honoring God through common prayer." The importance of music and song in the liturgy, so that "the union of hearts can be more deeply experienced with the union of voices"

Vijayawada (AsiaNews) - "When we gather as a community during public prayer, we meet the Lord Jesus Christ in communion with the Holy Spirit, which transcends all human, racial, cultural and social affinities to form one family united in the Lord, that gives glory to God and we experience the sanctification of our lives". This were the words of greeting with which Fr. Joji Reddy, Franciscan, opened the meeting organized last week at the Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. 

The occasion was a day of catechesis on liturgical renewal to rediscover the beauty of the celebrations of the Catholic Church. The Conference of Religious of India (CRI) of the diocese of Vijayawada organized the meeting, as part of the initiatives for the Year of Consecrated life. It was attended by more than 100 men and women of faith.

The day was organized in response to the Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) call for the renewal of liturgical devotion. Fr. Reddy, a Salesian, urged those present to experience the redeeming presence of Christ in the recollections of prayer. "The purpose of the liturgy is to give glory and honour to God through public communal prayer, to build up faith of the people, to teach the faithful the meaning Christ’s words through the sacred mysteries", he said.

Benedictine Fr. Showraiah celebrated Mass at the beginning of the meeting. He invited all those present to have compassion for the people they meet in their ministry, as Jesus did during his life on earth. Quoting the Gospel of the day, he recalled that mercy and compassion are the true characteristics of the Good Shepherd. So he invited the religious to follow Christ's example and take care of others, to care "about the welfare of the people around us."

Sister Benigna, Nirmala Sister, Benigna, the LCRI President spoke of music and singing in the liturgy. The sister explained that "the musical tradition of the universal Church is a necessary part of full solemn prayer." Through sung prayer - she said - "the liturgy is expressed in a more attractive way, the mystery of the liturgy with its hierarchical and community nature is more openly shown, the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the sacred rites and the whole celebration more clearly prefigures that heavenly liturgy which is enacted in the holy city of Jerusalem".

Sister Benigna has also insisted on the urgency to become expert musicians and singers to serve prayer so it involve us in the paschal mystery, deepening our understanding of the pattern of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection to new life.

Finally, the Assembly paid tribute to Benedict XVI, pope emeritus, who received two honorary degrees to for his great respect for the musical traditions of the Church and for his sensitivity to liturgical music.

* Missionary of Charity, Congregation of women associated with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME)

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