Workshop on liturgy

Friday and Saturday the parish had a workshop on liturgy for one of the zones of the parish, a zone which includes the town of Dulce Nombre.

The turnout was disappointing. Padre German asked each village to send five persons or more. If all had sent that many, we would have had 50 participants. We had 13. But we did have a number of young people from Dulce Nombre.

The workshop was mostly an attempt to help those people in liturgical ministry in their villages to understand the Mass.

I worked with three parishioners to plan the workshop and we shared responsibilities in explaining the parts of the Mass.

But I designed the workshop in a way that there would be a lot of participation and learning by playing.

One activity I have used several times and that we used is a sort of jigsaw puzzle. I put the parts of the Mass on pieces of paper and had the participants in groups arrange them in order. It was interesting to watch them work on this.

Reflecting on this afterwards, it was noted that it was easier to put the parts of the Liturgy of the Word in order – since they are accustomed to Celebrations of the Word in their villages. Now most villages have Mass every two months but in the past Mass was sometimes celebrated only once or twice a year.

I also taught the participants the Taizé chant “Nada Te Turbe.” I thought of this Friday morning when I saw a sign outside Padre German’s office with the last words of the hymn “Solo Dios Basta” – Only God is enough. They learned it fairly easily.

One part of the workshop was preparing the Saturday morning Mass. We read the readings together and then I had them gather in groups to choose music, write prayers of the faithful, prepare commentaries, and select readers. 

We had just started when word arrived that a woman had died in Dulce Nombre and the family wanted a funeral Mass before the burial. Fortunately the time was about the time we had chosen – 7:00 AM.

So the groups started over again to choose the Funeral Mass readings and hymns.

With a little gentle persuasion from me, they decided to sing “Nada Te Tube” for Communion and we practiced it.

The next morning the Mass started an hour late and so everyone was a little hungry.

We sang “Nada Te Turbe” a capella during Communion. It was a moving experience to hear all of us singing the words of the Spanish mystic, Saint Teresa of Avila.

Nada te turbe,
nada te espante,
quien a Dios tiene
nada le falta.
 Nada te turbe
nada te espante
Solo Dios basta.
  

Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing.
 Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
God alone is enough.

It was a good workshop – even if we were few.