Bishop Keating…
On the Eucharist: http://www.adoremus.org/docKeatingLtr88.html
Bishop John Keating
A PASTORAL LETTER ON REVERENCE FOR THE EUCHARIST
The late Bishop John R. Keating, of the diocese of Arlington, issued this pastoral letter on the Liturgy in observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It was written at a time when revisions of biblical and liturgical texts were being prepared, and shortly before the US bishops began the extensive process of official consideration of newly revised biblical and liturgical texts began.The bishop’s letter, rich in citations of Vatican documents on the liturgy, treats themes that would become the focus of considerable discussion and, at times, controversy, such as posture of people, the sacred and sacrificial dimensions of the Mass, and the need for a serious review of the post-conciliar changes in the liturgy. His letter is divided into two parts: “the two elements of Eucharistic worship … the external ritual and the internal reality, and … the reverence due to each.”
In the light of the imminent release of the third typical edition of the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) — and continuing exploration of the Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy, the bishop’s reflections merit renewed attention.
Bishop Keating was a canon lawyer and a member of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. He became bishop of Arlington in 1983, and died in Rome on March 22, 1998.