Thomas O’Loughlin 
The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy [EPUB ebook] 
Why Good Liturgy Matters

We all want to celebrate the liturgy well, to experience good, uplifting, and meaningful worship. But what is the best route to follow? In
The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy, Thomas O’Loughlin offers a way forward that strengthens faith, builds up Christian community, and points toward a new direction based on liturgical principles that are rooted in our natures as ritual beings as well as in the gospel.




The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy explains why good liturgy is important, how to recognize it, and how to assess liturgy in terms of a larger vision of the Christian life. O’Loughlin, a seasoned theologian and teacher, identifies ten principles that make for good liturgy. Such liturgy must be honest, open, joyful, inclusive, celebrative of community, facilitative of engagement, based in creation, attentive to the marginalized, free of clutter, and true to the pattern of the incarnation.



Since good celebrations build faith and bad liturgy weakens it, these principles promise to bring new life and meaning to every celebrating community.

 

Table of Content

Contents

 

Preface

Chapter 1 Why Is Good Liturgy Important?

Chapter 2 Ways of Assessing Liturgy

Chapter 3 Principle I: Good Liturgy Is Honest

Chapter 4 Principle II: Good Liturgy Is Joyful

Chapter 5 Principle III: Good Liturgy Celebrates Community and Expresses Our Identities

Chapter 6 Principle IV: Good Liturgy Facilitates Engagement

Chapter 7 Principle V: Good Liturgy Is Inclusive

Chapter 8 Principle VI: Good Liturgy Is Based in the Creation

Chapter 9 Principle VII: Good Liturgy Prioritizes the Marginalized

Chapter 10 Principle VIII: Good Liturgy Avoids Clutter

Chapter 11 Principle IX: Good Liturgy Follows the Pattern of the Incarnation

Chapter 12 Principle X: Good Liturgy Is Open

Chapter 13 Conclusion: Why Liturgy Matters

Bibliography

About the author

Thomas O’Loughlin is professor of historical theology at the University of Nottingham, UK. He uses the tools of the historian to look afresh at how we ask and answer theological problems. O’Loughlin was elected president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain in 2016. He is the author of The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy: Why Good Liturgy Matters and Washing Feet: Imitating the Example of Jesus in Liturgy Today, both from Liturgical Press.