sense of the sacred: RIP: Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

RIP: Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB

The Feast of the Translacion of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno this year was marked by the passing away of Rev. Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB. Known as a very prominent Liturgist, Fr. Anscar has influenced the Church in the Philippines with regards the liturgical reform and inculturation. He served as Rector of the Liturgical Institute of San Anselmo in Rome for many years. He also founded the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in the Philippines and also the Graduate School of Liturgy in San Beda College, Manila. He was part of the ICEL group that made the English Translation of the Roman Missal which is now replaced by a new English Translation. His passing marks the closing of an era for liturgical reform in the Philippines. I hope and pray that his passing will bring about a new era of liturgical reform in the Philippines which is closer to the spirit of the reform envisioned by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.

That in all things God may be glorified. Rest in peace, Fr. Anscar.

3 comments:

Josemaria Paulo Jeromino Martin Carvalho-Von VersterJanuary 8, 2013 at 8:40 PM
But some of His proteges are still in Power.
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mikeJanuary 9, 2013 at 3:05 AM
the root is gone the tree will fall
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:-)January 9, 2013 at 6:23 AM
Rest in peace, Fr. Anscar.
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We ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties. The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-Holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the Alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the Living God but the priest or the liturgical director. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Chile, 1988)

Do we still need sacred space, sacred time, mediating symbols? Yes, we do need them, precisely so that, through the "image," through the sign, we learn to see the openness of heaven. We need them to give us the capacity to know the mystery of God in the pierced heart of the Crucified. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Spirit of the Liturgy )