Vatican II at 50: The Harvest of Vatican II

     Glorious fall days, clear crisp autumn evenings, apple-picking and pumpkin pies announce the time of harvest.  Up until the 16^th century when most people worked the land the term “harvest” was used to refer to this time of year.  When we go to the grocery store or farmers’ market or eat the food set before us, few of us think of the farmers who planted the seeds, the hands which worked the land, or the workers who gathered the crops that we may be nourished to continue our living.   In the same way, few of us think of Thomas Edison when we turn on our lights or Charles Babbage when we turn on our computers or Karl Benz when we start our cars.  We simply enjoy the fruits of the seeds planted long ago by people we never knew.

     As we commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, it’s worth our while to reflect on those who planted the seeds of the liturgical reform:  Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) who called for reforms in the liturgy in his encyclical Mediator Dei;  Benedictine Monk Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875) who ignited a new interest in the liturgy by re-founding the monastery of Solesmes in France and inspired  liturgically-centered monastic communities around the world;  Belgian Lambert Beauduin (1873-1960) who called for the faithful to be fully active in their faith, especially in the liturgy, and developed a plan to have the Roman Missal translated into the vernacular, and who in 1924 held the first dialogue Mass at Maria Laach Abbey in Germany; Cardinal Augustin Bea (1881-1968) who argued to expand the one-year cycle of the Lectionary so that the faithful could hear more of the Bible proclaimed in the liturgy;  American Benedictine Dom Virgil Michel (1890-1938) who pointed out that liturgy should ultimately lead to social justice.  In fact, all of these liturgical pioneers had a broad and hopeful vision in mind--that the renewal of the liturgy would ultimately lead to rebirth of society at large.   Fifty years later, we have had liturgical renewal.  Our liturgical pioneers planted the seeds.  We are the workers in the fields.   When we decide to reap fully the liturgical banquet set before us, we will truly reap the harvest of their vision and plant the seeds of justice for future generations.