By Renée St. Martin Wizeman

When the people of the diocese gather for diocesan events, they are likely unaware of the many behind-the-scenes efforts made to ensure good liturgy. The Diocesan Liturgical Commission is the body charged with assisting Bishop George Thomas with the task.

“The presence of the Liturgical Commission in the life of the parish will become more and more evident as catechetical materials are provided and we do more workshops. People aren’t necessarily aware of the ways the commission is currently working, like the Chrism Mass,” Father Ed Hislop, commission chair, said.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, promulgated by Pope Paul VI in December 1963, calls for each bishop to have a commission on the sacred liturgy(#44-45). The constitution also calls for commissions on sacred music and art (#46).

The diocesan commission started in 1973, and was suspended at the time of the Renew program, noted Father Hislop; then-Bishop Curtiss created the Office of Liturgy and Worship. And in January 2007, Bishop Thomas co-missioned the current Liturgical Commission, which meets four times per year.

The commission’s current members are: Father Ed Hislop, chair - Blessed Trinity Parish, Missoula; Joseph Beausoleil - St. Mary Parish, Helena; Vicki Burgmeier - Flint Creek Catholic Community; Deacon James Butts - Pope John Paul II Parish, Bigfork; Dale Fleck - Cathedral of St. Helena; Father Jeffrey Fleming - Christ the King Parish, Missoula; Sister Mary Agnes Hogan - pastoral care at St. James Healthcare, Butte; Sister Mary Jo Quinn, SCL - Blessed Trinity Parish, Missoula; Charles Tellier, St. Ignatius Mission; Lorraine Tucker - St. Mary Parish, Helena; Kathy Walter - St. John the Evangelist Parish, Butte; Father Val Zdilla - Resurrection Parish, Bozeman; and Father Michael Driscoll - consultant - University of Notre Dame.

The diocese is also a member of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, and has been almost since the inception of the FDLC. All dioceses are invited to be members, and most are a part of the federation, Father Hislop said. “The Federation is directly associated with the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship as a pastoral and consultative group to that organization,” he said. “We are one of the few conferences in the world that has such a relationship with local dioceses and their bishops,” he noted.

Father Hislop served on the federation board as a representative of Region XII for multiple terms, approximately 18 years, and was also chair of the federation for two terms, over five years. And Father Hislop was joined by diocesan representatives Vicki Burgmeier, Joe and Helena Beausoleil and Sister Mary Jo at the regional FDLC meeting, held April 27-30 in Seattle.

Recently, the commission has worked on Year of St. Paul resources and events, as well as the Chrism Mass. In addition, the commission has begun to establish diocesan guidelines for liturgy whenever the bishop is present, said Sister Mary Jo, commission member and pastoral assistant at Blessed Trinity. She said the guidelines grew out of the Chrism Mass efforts.

A Liturgical Commission committee is working with implementing the new rite for Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest. Another task for the commission is to enhance, enable and support the full, conscious, active participation in the Mass for all parishioners. Father Hislop said this happens through good leadership, good music, good catechesis on an on-going basis and commitment to the continued renewal of the liturgy as envisioned by the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

Once the commission’s guidelines and materials are approved, they are promulgated by the bishop and then distributed to parishes and missions.

Father Hislop said there is an inter-related function between the Liturgical Commission and the Diocesan Building Committee, which he also serves on. In his dual role, he reviews proposed changes in light of liturgical needs and norms.

“Any kind of liturgical space change done in a given parish, whether major or minor, must be submitted to the Building Committee, or to me, to review and I then make a recommendation of approval or not to the bishop,” he explained.

Pauline Year celebrations, Chrism Mass highlight commission’s efforts

Last fall, the commission queried what others dioceses were doing for the celebration of the Pauline Year. The commission chose to issue a series of locally-produced bulletin inserts to the parishes and missions on the Feast of St. Paul this January. They also provided liturgical guidelines for celebration of the feast, including music suggestions and general intercession samples.

For the closing of the Pauline Year, at the end of June, Bob Hurd, a nationally-known composer and scripture scholar, will present a concert and workshops.

“One of the gifts of St. Paul is the evangelization of the Church. And Bob’s work in music is especially concerned with using the text of the Mass in the music. His latest work has been taking Gospels and writing songs around those for particular seasons, like Lent and Easter,” said Sister Mary Jo.

“And there is the whole evangelizaton aspect of music – music evangelizes the community, but it also evangelizes the whole world,” she said, explaining the relationship between music, evangelization and the closing celebration for the Year of St. Paul.

The celebration will begin with evening prayer – using much of Hurd’s music – on Sunday, June 28, followed by a concert with Hurd and diocesan musicians and singers. The next day, Hurd will present a workshop on St. Paul’s texts and the Church’s mission of evangelization. That evening at 5 p.m., there will be Liturgy of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul at St. Mary parish in Helena.

“The Chrism Mass is the same shape always; what we did this year was to recruit people from throughout the diocese to participate in the Chrism Mass, both musically and in all the different processions,” said Sister Mary Jo. An effort was made to include the Native cultures of the diocese, as well as the growing Spanish-speaking population, she said. The description of the sweet perfume in the basalm oil was to be read in Blackfeet, but inclement weather prevented the Blackfeet deacon from participating in the Chrism Mass; and one of the readings was delivered in Spanish.

“There was a hearty attempt, and a successful attempt, to be inclusive, and that showed in the liturgy,” she said.

“The attempts to engage everyone in the diocese in the Chrism Mass are made because the Chrism Mass is really a celebration of the sacramental ministry of the Church as in relationship to the Bishop and the other lives of the diocese; the Chrism Mass is a central liturgical feast in the life of any diocese,” Father Hislop said. He said it was one of the largest responses to the Chrism Mass in recent history, due in part to the increased outreach efforts, broad representation from across the diocese and re-development of the diocesan choir.

“The Chrism Mass reflected the life and spirit of the entire diocese, not just one particular community or parish, which had implications in terms of the music chosen, musical styles and the music ministers engaged in that. It reflected the strength and diversity of our diocesan Church,” he said. The Chrism Mass logo was another new development; the logo was developed by Linda McCray, a diocesan parishioner and Clancy-area artist.

Sister Mary Jo noted that commission members contributed to the success of the Chrism Mass by taking on recruitment tasks; additionally, there were regional rehearsals of the diocesan choir prior to the Chrism Mass.

“The effort to gather musicians in areas of the diocese…is a really important part of music ministry…that we get this whole understanding that it isn’t just me and my parish, but it’s me and my parish in relationship to the churches of my deanery and the churches of the diocese,” she explained.

Diocesan choir members have been invited to participate in the June 28-29 Year of St. Paul celebration, she said.

In 1997, Father Michael Joncas wrote the song “Exultate, Justi” for the Diocese of Helena for the Crossing the Threshold of the Third Millennium celebration. The song was sung at this year’s Chrism Mass and will be sung again for the close of the Year of St. Paul. Sister Mary Jo noted that some of the text of the hymn is from 1st Timothy, the Pauline letters.

Bishop Thomas has requested that the liturgical commission work on recommending and obtaining speakers for the Chrism Day presentation. Next year’s speaker will be Father Joncas, a priest of the Diocese of St. Paul who teaches at the University of St. Thomas and the University of Notre Dame.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, May 20, 2009.