There are three elements of the council’s teaching that stand out for me:
1) The universal call to holiness: this element of the fruit of the Council is vastly important today. It is now 50 years since the Council, and her sense of the need for a holiness among the laity as well as with those who are consecrated to God in a more specific way has proved prophetic. The decline of morals and collapse of traditional structures such as the family, a guaranteed career, banking systems and school curricula, has left many questioning the very meaning of life. Universities nowadays are being tasked to provide an education that makes the young fit only for the workplace, to stimulate economic growth. This utilitarian approach is ultimately futile, since happiness does not come through money or economic well-being. That is why the universal call to holiness is so important: the Church is calling people to look more than ever at the real meaning of life. Despite our differences, we can all work towards creating a better humanity based not merely on a misplaced work-ethic but on a genuine openness to one another and to the question of God.
2) Liturgical renewal: the Council’s document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium, set in motion a whole sequence of events that are still being played out today in the new translation of the Roman Missal. Coupled with the call to holiness, the appeal for a “noble simplicity” in the Church’s liturgical life has helped people realise that they are able to give what the Council calls a “full and active participation” in the public prayer of the Church. The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is an example of such a fruit of the Council. It has sought to show that Christian Initiation, and, by extension, the Christian life itself, flows from and back to the liturgy. The old saying, lex orandi, lex credendi (“what the Church prays the Church believes”) is ever-important. Religious practice must not be confined to a set of arcane rituals. Liturgy must affect the daily life of Catholics. The danger however, is that liturgy can be trivialised, and lose its sacred meaning. Poor translations and unfaithful practice of the rites has left many people somewhat perplexed and betrayed. However, when liturgy is conducted with the “noble simplicity” that the Council envisaged, then it always raises the mind and heart to God.
3) The four main constitutions: the main documents of the Council provide the backdrop for the renewal of life in the Church. Sacrosanctum concilium was important because of its concern for a liturgy that would encourage people to bring their faith beyond the confines of the Church while encouraging a “noble simplicity” in the conduct of liturgy. Gaudium et spes encouraged the Church to “open the doors” and show the world that the message of the Gospel and Christ’s redeeming work are for everyone. Dei verbum, the constitution on the Word of God, is an extremely rich document that encourages people to use the Scriptures that never fail to satisfy when approached with the eye of faith. This document is significant because Catholics are traditionally not known for their knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. The fact that most parishes have some sort of scripture-prayer group is a direct result of initiatives like Dei verbum. Finally, Lumen gentium, on the identity of the Church, has helped us realise that it is in the Church that our lives take on meaning, since Christ works in and through the Church that he established when conferring the keys to St Peter.
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