Published February 4, 2007

Local Names Featured Among Speakers

By Ray Dyer
Sooner Catholic

OKLAHOMA CITY — The recent Southwest Liturgical Conference held here offered a virtual smorgasbord of ideas and inspiration for liturgical leaders, Catholic educators and parish leaders. A decided Oklahoma flavor simmered among the ingredients of prayer, music and thought-provoking discussion that combined to make up the three-day conference Jan. 17-20. Several Oklahoma priests were presenters in the many workshops offered during the conference, while well-known Oklahoma music director Oliver Douberly was presented the SWLC 2007 Faithful Servant Award. For many years, Douberly has directed and assisted with major liturgical events in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

This was the 45th Annual Study Week hosted by the SWLC. It was last held here in 1989. The 2007 version drew impressive numbers considering most braved ice, snow and sub-freezing temperatures to make their way to Oklahoma City. Participants came from as far as Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming and Colorado and only two presenters were forced to cancel because of the weather. The event took up a major portion of the second floor of the Cox Convention Center and featured vendors from across the United States.  

Father Stephen Bird, pastor of Epiphany Church and Archdiocesan Director of the Office of Spiritual Life, served as chairman and moderator for the conference. He was assisted by a team of Oklahoma Catholics who handled every facet of the event.

The Study Week theme, “Dies Domini - Sunday - the Day of the Lord” captured exactly the message the conference set out to deliver. As Betsy Bumgarner, a presenter from Colorado told one workshop group, “Like a priest once told me, ‘You’re not a human-doing, you’re a human-being.”’

In his homily during the opening Mass celebrated at the Parish of Saint Mark in Norman, Archbishop Beltran told the conference attendees, “The way we gather and celebrate our Sunday Masses should affect the way we live daily. It should influence us in our decisions, our attitudes and our work.”

The   archbishop   cited   two  ministries in which he said the Church continues to demonstrate its commitment to a living liturgy.

“I am convinced that Catholic Schools along with Catholic Health Care have been the most effective ministries of the Church in the United States for the past 200 years,” Archbishop Beltran said. He reminded the faithful the Church joined in the International Celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25 and said the “Church prays for Christians to be united — or I should say reunited.”

Father Thomas Boyer, pastor of the Parish of Saint Mark, presented a powerful workshop during Study Week that focused on children and the liturgy. Many in the room were Oklahoma Catholic School prin- cipals and teachers, out of class that day specifically to attend the SWLC.  

“I don’t believe in liturgy for children,” Father Boyer said. “I believe in liturgy with children. Now, understand there is such a thing as childish liturgy, but that’s bad.”

Students, most of them fifth-graders from All Saints School in Norman, served simple and yet dramatic roles in Father Boyer’s  presentation. Some provided music with their keyboard, flute and guitar, while others sang or served as readers. The workshop opened with All Saints students processing into the room with the Crucifix held high, a young girl waded through the audience offering a bowl of Holy Water to those in the audience who dipped their fingers and blessed themselves, making the sign of the cross.

“In our culture and in this country, there is a fair amount of hostility toward children, and it seems to me that we ought to acknowledge that as we reflect on our behavior as leaders and planners of liturgy,” Father Boyer said.

In the United States, children, he said, are exploited for financial gain. “Ten minutes in front of a TV screen or the magazine section of a grocery store and you’ve got that point.” Father Boyer went on to say that children are rejected in our country.

“We see it in housing, in the amount of parental time given to children, and to our horror, it has been all around us with abuse in our own Church, in schools, day care facilities and in homes.”

Father Boyer called this rejection a form of violence and he said it has consequences, such as violence, self indulgence and sexual promiscuity.

“For those of us who care about them and want to initiate them into the mysteries of our faith, this is a special challenge because nothing we do can compete with the technology and possibilities for entertainment they have available. Consequently, we ought not to go there. I’m not an entertainer.”

Father Boyer disagreed with those who believe liturgy is only for adults. He said our faith celebrates events and not ideas. “Whenever we try to celebrate an idea, we’re in trouble. It is events that matter.” He said that’s why liturgy is so important for the young as well as the old.

“A child rarely says: ‘Tell me’ unless it’s a story about an event. A child often says: ‘Show me.’”