Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death by Bruce T. Morrill, S.J.

Abstract

Antiphon 18.2 (2014) 198–223 Book Review Bruce T. Morrill, S.J. Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 2009 xii + 274 pages. Paperback. $34.95. Informed by academic expertise and pastoral experience, Bruce Morrill undertakes a systematic study of contemporary Catholic sacramental rites of healing, primarily those set forth in the Pastoral Care of the Sick and the Order of Christian Funerals. Morrill makes a compelling case for his thesis that there is an intrinsic (if often underappreciated) link between divine worship and human healing. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God reveals the divine will for humanity as salvation—a word that even etymologically bespeaks healing. In celebrating the Church’s healing rites, Christians can experience themselves and others as sites of the gracious, saving activity of God and sacramental witnesses to God’s solidarity with human suffering. While often perceived and practiced as rituals addressed to individuals for their ultimate spiritual benefit, Morrill contends that the prayers, symbols, and gestures of the postconciliar rites possess the capacity to work healing (through Christ, in the power of the Spirit) that is holistic, human, bodily, ecclesial, and deeply liturgical. Morrill begins by surveying the book’s main foci: worship and healing. The first chapter articulates a theology of liturgy rooted in the Paschal Mystery, developed in word and sacrament, and manifested in and through the lives and bodies of those baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Chapter 2 examines the concept of “healing” against the backdrop of postmodern approaches to health, illness, situations of crisis, and death; prevailing cultural understandings both align with and differ from the theology and practice of healing offered in the reformed sacramental rites. These considerations inform the next two chapters that plumb Scripture and Tradition as primary sources for the Church’s “liturgical ministry of healing.” Drawing on Louis-Marie Chauvet’s sacramental theology, Morrill concludes that the liturgically celebrated Paschal Mystery provides a privileged en- 199 Book review counter between the healing Christ of the Gospels and the ethical mandate to enact Christian faith in daily life. The book’s final section (chapters 5–7) considers how the revised rites offer healing to human persons through renegotiated meaning in illness and old age, passage from life to death, and eschatological hope in bodily resurrection. Morrill emphasizes the theology conveyed by the rites, the conflicting worldviews people may bring to celebrations of the rites, and pastoral suggestions for engaging these rites more fully within the larger context of the Church’s liturgical life so as to cultivate in members of the assembly “a repertoire ready to serve at the hour of death” (184) and at other times of illness or crisis. A concluding chapter invokes renewal “in the light of sound tradition” (261, see SC 4) as a way to lend perspective to the continued reception and development of these rites in a postmodern context where “the sacramental rites that may well ‘speak’ to the needs of people and thus promise renewal for the church are those that most explicitly offer healing” (263). Morrill’s investigation of divine worship and human healing is impressive in its scope. The author interweaves concepts from Christian theology with complementary biblical, historical, philosophical, and social-scientific insights to produce a multitextured work that will captivate a diverse audience while making a valuable contribution to the body of literature on the topic of human healing. The text and footnotes introduce readers to studies from cultural theory and ethno-medicine as well as stories gleaned from the popular media that reflect shifting perceptions on topics as diverse as pain management, funeral planning, and the possibility of “miracles” in today’s world. The book features several extended pastoral examples disclosing a perceived need for healing within the Church and its members (ranging from the sexual abuse scandal in the American Catholic Church to colliding worldviews during a contemporary funeral) that Morrill effectively analyzes to demonstrate how ecclesial and social factors impinge upon the theological resonance of particular celebrations of sacramental healing. These pastorally-oriented examples enrich the book and illustrate the challenge of enfleshing the...