Holy Conversation: Spirituality for Worship

Chapter 9: Sending

154 Chapter 9 Sending The concluding movement of lectio divina takes up the theme of incarnation for mission, particularly how encounter with the Word will be embodied in our lives and ministries. This follows on the heels of the contemplative dwelling, which itself emerged in relation to prayers and meditation in response to the Word. The focus of this movement involves the question, “Now what?” Having shared in the movements of holy encounter and holy conversation, what now will we birth in our lives and practice of ministry? What words and meanings and experiences will continue to reverberate beyond this time, now that we are buzzing with the Spirit’s activity, contributing to our ongoing formation and transformation in Christ? How will this experience contribute to what in fact we are called to do in our lives? Those are the questions addressed at the conclusion of lectio divina. This final movement of lectio divina gives it an outward focus, connected to mission and to ethics. Who will we be, having had holy conversation , and what will we do in the Spirit as we are sent forth to lead and to serve? The Sending Rite Worshiping God is an end in itself to be sure, and it is more than that. Liturgical worship sets the stage for the “liturgy after the liturgy,” as the Greek 155 Sending Orthodox are fond of saying, that is, the work of the people in our ministries in daily life, the work of the church in mission to the world. Mission relates intimately to sending, since mission derives from the Latin words missio and mittere, meaning “to send,” but also quite proactively and instructively, “to fly, throw, hurl, launch”—appropriate action verbs for what can happen in the power of the Spirit. The sending helps to set the agenda for the church’s specific mission that emerges from the movements of lectio divina applied to liturgical participation. Specific directives concerning mission may emerge from the holy conversation consisting of the reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation that occur during the liturgy. Generally the sending rite is very brief. Before the fourth century, when the people had communed, the liturgy simply ended. There was no specified concluding rite. In the fourth century and beyond, the conclusion of the liturgy began to take on more activity. Additional prayers were affixed to the conclusion . The deacon officially dismissed the congregation. A priest or bishop gave a blessing. This all became more elaborate over the centuries until recent liturgical practice has suggested a return to the comparative simplicity of the earliest centuries’ customs. The sending rite in current practice may consist of the following activities: the sending of eucharistic ministers; • the commissioning of others who will serve the church’s mission; • conversation and announcements related to the church’s mission; • a blessing; • a sending hymn; and • a dismissal. • The point is to get people out the door and into the world for ministry and mission. Still, in keeping with the contemporary church’s rediscovery of the centrality of mission to its understanding of what it is to be church, more can be made of the sending rite and its role in bringing to conclusion the discernment and articulation of the church’s particular ministries that emerge specifically from the day’s liturgical worship. Sending of Eucharistic Ministers Formally sending persons bearing the consecrated gifts of bread and wine to those unable to be part of the assembly is a fairly recent practice in contemporary liturgy, but it recovers a particularly ancient custom. The intent is for 156 holy conversation the ones absent to know presence—the presence of Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine, and the presence of those bearing the gifts, that those not in assembly may share indirectly by extension in the gathered community. This practice has the effect of building the relationships in the body of Christ beyond the particular confines of the walls of the church. The assembly gathered around Word and sacraments is the hub of the wheel of the church from which extend various missional spokes, such as the pastoral care of members unable to attend the assembly through sending people to visit them in homes and hospitals and other settings. A simple prayer sends forth these communion ministers for their visits: Gracious God, loving all your family with a mother’s tender care: As you sent the angel to...