“[T]he liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows.”

….This is the reason why I invited prominent Catholic prelates, priests, theologians, scholars and lay Catholic leaders to join me July 1-4 at the Fons et Culmen Liturgy Summit held at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, will participate and share his deep wisdom on the crises facing the Church formally from the podium and informally in conversations with participants between presentations and liturgies….

Also in attendance will be Cardinal Seán O’Malley, archbishop emeritus of Boston, who will pick up where Dorothy Day famously left off in pointing to the importance of beauty and order in the liturgy to the souls and psyches of the poor, who find it hardest to satisfy this basic human hunger….

I am looking forward to hearing firsthand what Dom Benedict Nivakoff, Benedictine abbot of Norcia, has to say about “Recovering the Ascetical Heritage Behind the Mass: The Traditional Eucharistic Fast.”

I also look forward to hearing from Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, an exemplary “JP II Generation” bishop (and the first Indian-American prelate) and a strong leader with good vision and a will to take decisive action.

Along with hearing from these and other great leaders, we will worship together, celebrating Masses according to the vision articulated and advanced by the Second Vatican Council, with pride of place given to Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony. There will be three Solemn Pontifical Masses and also three Solemn Pontifical Vespers over the four days together. These liturgies that lift souls to God show us what is possible in Church life today.

Here’s the good news: implementing practices that foster greater reverence in the Mass does not have to stir up the controversy and dissension that those of us who are well-seasoned as Catholics experienced in the years following the Council — that is, when done with proper catechesis and pastoral sensitivity. It was precisely that lack of such pastoral common sense that made the years of “the changes” so traumatic for so many.

This has been my own personal experience and that of other priests I know. Taking such steps with this approach in the two very different parishes where I served as pastor — including simple practices such as a strict dress code for lay ministers at the liturgy and stationing ushers at the Communion stations to ensure no one walked off with a consecrated host — eventually created a much greater awareness among the parishioners of the special respect that is due to the worship of the one, true God.

But this is also possible with even more significant practices — something I have experienced at our cathedral in San Francisco, St. Mary of the Assumption.

We noticed that more and more people were kneeling for Communion, which created logistical difficulties. The Cathedral rector, Father Kevin Kennedy, spoke with me about this, and pursuant to our conversation he decided to place long kneelers in front of the sanctuary (each one of which can accommodate about eight people) so that the faithful (including the old and the infirm and not just the reverent young with healthy knees) may kneel to receive Holy Communion if they so choose.

The result? When the option to kneel to receive is offered, many people naturally do so. It is a helpful example of organic development: provide the opportunity for people to experience a liturgical practice deep within our tradition, without mandating that all comply with it but leaving a legitimate room for diversity where the Church allows it. From there, we can discern the movements of the Spirit through the most devout.

The second, and even more significant, move toward reverence was turning ad orientem, that is, the priest at the altar facing in the same direction (toward the east, at least symbolically) as the people in the pews during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Father Kennedy took time and care to catechize the faithful. He first explained the practice to the daily Massgoers. Next, he brought it to the Sunday Spanish Mass, where our faith-filled Hispanics were more likely to be more understanding of such a move. Finally, he implemented the change at the two other principal Sunday Masses, while keeping the two remaining Sunday Masses (at least for the time being) versus populum — facing the congregation….

From Archbishop Cordileone letter in the National Catholic Register