Vorlage:1955 Rezensionen Besinnung vor der Feier der heiligen Messe

• [1955-000] [Englisch] Joseph N. Moody: To Renew Our Interest (Rezension zu: Guardini, Meditation before mass), in: Commonweal, 63, 1955, S. 624 [neu aufgenommen] – [Rezension] - https://books.google.de/books?id=JJE5AQAAIAAJ
  • S. 624: „IN THE SUMMER of 1953 this reviewer attended the International Pax Romana Congress at Bonn and had an opportunity to note the universal respect for Monsignor Guardini among European intellectuals. His philosophical writings have assured him high respect among German Catholics. His work among University youth and his sermons in war-ravaged Berlin added affection to esteem. Lately he has won a wide circle of admirers in the United States with what the advertisements describe as "the number one Catholic best-seller," The Lord, and the less ambitious, The Rosary of Our Lady. He should win new friends with the present volume. It must be stated at once that Meditations before Mass does not appear to have the classic dimensions of The Lord. The pace of Part One, which deals with the preconditions of our approach to the Mass, is slow. But as one goes on, the majesty of the author's theme emerges and his lucidity in theological exposition becomes apparent. All of what he has to say is helpful, but at his best he is magnificent. The major contention of the book is that the Mass is the sacred action of Christ's community through which we fulfill the intention of Our Savior that we should live and act as a true community. The collection of individuals which enters a church must be transformed into a congregation, a "holy people" in the sight of God. To this end the walls of indifference, disregard, and enmity which separate us from "the others" must be broken down, so that all can be swept along on a surge of prayer toward God. But this congregation is not a closed circle of those united in the same building by common faith and mutual love. It extends over the whole earth to all who believe in Christ. It reaches beyond the borders of death to all who have "gone home" to God. It is the universal Church, the spiritual Christ, which offers the Mass and it is linked in love with those who have not as yet the gift of faith. To penetrate this mystery demands of the believer that he make a serious effort of preparation and concentration. Silence is needed, so that he can respond to the presence and to the Word of God. So, too, is composure, the creative elan of the mind. For all life is perpetual becoming and perpetual perishing; and the law of diminishing impressions will tarnish our appreciation of the sacred action if we do not renew our interest by means of meditation. This renewal is the purpose of the volume which places before us the fundamental considerations for a richer understanding of the Mass. The writings of this learned German Catholic invite comparison with those of Monsignor Knox, another scholar with the gift of stating profound truth in understandable language. Both derive their power from a disciplined mind that makes its own the luxuriant treasures of the Faith. Each has facility with the homely illustration and the vivid word. The English translator of the Scriptures has a lighter touch than the German philosopher; but both can make the faith come alive in the minds of modern man. They make us conscious of the debt we owe to our European sharers in the faith who have added so much spiritual nitrogen to the still shallow soil of American Catholicism.“