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1. Gains and Future Prospects
The work of renewal of the Church in Australia has made progress largely by means of the renewal of the liturgy and the people’s fuller participation in liturgical celebration.

In Australia, as elsewhere, experience bears out the Holy Father’s observation that the vast majority of “the pastors and the Christian people have accepted the liturgical reform in a spirit of obedience and indeed joyful fervour. For this we should give thanks to God for that passage of the Holy Spirit through the Church which the liturgical renewal has been” (Apostolic Letter, Vigesimus Quintus Annus, 12).

It is a pressing need that these positive results be built upon. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has already planned to set aside significant
resources to produce educational materials on the Mass which can be used at a diocesan or parish level. Other concrete initiatives will also be devised to ensure the quality and authentic fidelity of liturgical celebration and sacramental practice as the third Christian millennium dawns.

COMMENTS

This is a positive section emphasising that liturgical renewal has been a significant vehicle of Church renewal since the Second Vatican Council. In Australia the liturgical reform has generally been accepted and implemented in a spirit of obedience and with appreciation for the benefits of the reform. This sets the context for discussing any difficulties and weaknesses.

Significant resources have recently been set aside at the national level to produce educational materials on the Mass for use at local level. This raises
the question of how these resources can best be used in promoting that full participation in the liturgy that the Council desired.

QUESTIONS

What has been your experience of the liturgical reform following
Vatican II?

What kind of materials would be useful in helping people
understand the Mass better and taking part more fruitfully?