Liturgische Bibelhermeneutik: Die Heilige Schrift im Horizont des Gottesdienstes by Marco Benini

Abstract

Reviewed by: Liturgische Bibelhermeneutik: Die Heilige Schrift im Horizont des Gottesdienstes by Marco Benini Emery de Gaál Marco Benini Liturgische Bibelhermeneutik: Die Heilige Schrift im Horizont des Gottesdienstes Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen 109 Münster: Aschendorff, 2020 xvi + 574 pages. Paperback, €76.00. Memorably, St. Jerome had stated apodictically: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” (Commentary on Isaiah, Prologue). Fr. Marco Benini, professor of liturgical studies and sacramental theology at the Catholic University of America, dynamizes this fifth-century adage, arguing that within the liturgical context Scripture flourishes and in fact, comes to its own, enabling an encounter with the living Lord. Neither is the Bible “a self-supporting entity,” nor is the process of the Bible’s canon formation imaginable outside the celebrated liturgical praxis. His point de départ is Vatican II’s insight that “Sacred Scripture is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 24). This document’s section concludes by observing that “it is essential to promote that warm and living love for Scripture to which the venerable tradition of both Eastern and Western rites gives testimony.” In an original way, the author takes to heart this injunction in this study. He poses the question how liturgy engages Scripture and what hermeneutic significance this may possess. “A faith-filled understanding of Sacred Scripture must always refer back to the liturgy,” he quotes Pope Benedict XVI writing in Verbum Domini, no. 52. To remedy this lacuna, he chooses what he calls a “liturgical approach” (21). [End Page 197] In the first part (23–244) he examines intertextually the use of the Old and New Testaments, especially in the Roman, Ambrosian and Byzantine rites. The Rite of Milan is of particular interest, as there a new lectionary of readings had been recently instituted (2008). Benini portrays briefly the German Protestant pericope revision (2014/15–2018) as well as that of the Old Catholics (2013/2018). His lengthy analyses include readings for the commemoration of the saints and the anointing of the sick. Much attention is given to the Psalms. Included are surveys of the German and Italian missals (1975/1983), and the French “Oraisons nouvelles pour les dimanches” (1982–1984). Liturgical prayers and chant texts are shown to be biblically inspired. The book also examines diachronically the rite of baptism and the washing of the feet. In the second section (245–460) Benini systematically unfolds various dimensions of a liturgical hermeneutics. He shows how seemingly disparate Scripture readings are related to one another. More than that, Benini delves into the principles and criteria for their selection for liturgical use. The author focuses on the Latin and Eastern churches, but does explore also the proclamation of the Word among German Protestants and even within the Jewish synagogal context. Establishing this plateau, he highlights theological aspects of a Scripture-based hermeneutics. He explores the anamnetic role of Scripture and how this informs the sacramental dimension of God’s proclaimed Word. The sacramentality of the Word shines forth luminously as “Spirit-worked, performative presence of God” (462). This presence is both personal and dynamic, aiming at the listeners and hearers to become “active participants.” The presence of our Lord in the Eucharist is thereby apprehended as somewhat analogous to His presence in Scripture. Therefore, in the liturgy the author perceives a dialogical encounter between creature and Creator occurring in the present tense, much as has been described in Scripture in the past tense. Scripture came about endowed with an indwelling entelechy towards becoming presentic. The real human response of today is enabled through the recorded, inspired word. Benini describes the reciprocal interdependence of word and sacrament, as well as more specifically of that of word and the Eucharist. In this rich matrix an appreciation for a non-post-modern unity of [End Page 198] Scripture and “Christ’s Paschal Mystery” becomes tangible (402). This in turn accesses the pneumatic-epicletic dimension of God’s Word. In the intersection of Scripture and sacraments the activities of the Blessed Trinity in the economy of salvation are efficacious. “Active Participation” as enjoined by Pius X in Tra le Sollecitudini (1903) comes into prominent focus. Nothing short...