Sunday Worship in the Absence of Discernment: The Challenge of Non-Eucharistic Sunday Services

Abstract

Since the Second Vatican Council and its reform of the liturgy, increasing numbers of Catholic parishes and communities have found themselves in a difficult situation. While a renewed understanding and participation in the celebration of Eucharist as the “source and summit” of our lives (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy [CSL], no. 10] was called for, communities around the world find themselves not able to celebrate the Eucharist on a regular basis due to diminishing numbers of ordained presbyters. Local communities, dioceses, and, more recently, the Vatican itself, have become involved in devising ways to respond to this situation, known variously as Sunday Communion services, Sunday Celebrations Without Eucharist, Sunday Celebrations of the Word and Hours, or as the Congregation for Divine Worship’s Directory (1988) calls them, Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest. A more recent unofficial title, and the one which I opt to use because of its fittingly memorable acronym, is Sunday Worship in the Absence of a Priest or SWAP. The 1988 Directory approved the use of three different forms of SWAP: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, or a Liturgy of the Word, with the option of pre-