Antiphon [an-tuh-fon]

This week’s word is ANTIPHON.

For a few years now I have been working on an acoustic theology that engenders an antiphonal spirituality, spirituality here meaning simply the enactment of one’s theology in the various spheres of human living. The word acoustic comes from the Greek akous which is the stem of akouein meaning to hear. An acoustic theology is based on the conviction that listening is an essential dimension of full human living and constitutive for an authentic, mature, responsible, and enlivening spirituality. The word antiphonal comes from the Greek words anti + phon, literally opposite sound, and refers to a verse or song to be chanted or sung in response. An antiphonal spirituality is rooted in the conviction that life is inherently interactive and a good life is gratuitously enchanted and consciously participative. An antiphonal spirituality is rooted in the antiphonal nature of all reality and the reciprocative responsibility of all human beings.

Grounded in intentional silence and stillness, contemplative listening at the service of true hearing is the first manifestation of real presence. Presence—or more accurately being present—makes possible a receptive heart. Receptivity, in turn, generates responsiveness thus completing the first back-and-forth round of participating in the antiphony of life.

Openness and responsiveness are the two most basic requirements and manifestations of a vital spiritual life oriented toward mutual and full participation. The kinship of the words response, responsive, responsorial, and responsible is illuminative here. From the perspective of faith, the nature of liturgy and the movement of the Mass are intentionally and inherently interactive since creation itself was generated from the generosity and hospitality of God and oriented toward the joy and responsibility of engaged and shared participation.

The central emphasis in The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), the document from the Second Vatican Council on Catholic communal worship, is that worshipers would not be reduced to nor allow themselves to become passive observers but rather that they would be “full, conscious, and active” participants. The movement of the Eucharistic liturgy is the prototype and inspiration for how to enter into the mystery and manners of life itself. Beyond giving thanks and praise, and committing our lives anew to the fourfold movement of the Eucharist—receiving, blessing, breaking, and sharing—the purpose of liturgy is to send us forth to participate in the liturgy of life.

The word antiphon reawakens me to my privilege and my responsibility to participate consciously and gratefully in the divinely inspired interplay of life. It reminds me that the nature of liturgy and the liturgy of nature are interactive. It calls to mind that all of life is prayer and, as Rabbi Heschel maintained, that “the purpose of prayer is to partake.”

The quotidian mystery of the Sunday liturgy, bringing together the spiritual and material, earthy simplicity and sacred elegance, silent receptivity and sung refrain, the plaintive cry of grief and the soaring song of praise, Eucharist and the hunger of the world, the insistent incantation for justice and the canticle of joy, is a living reminder of the antiphonal nature of all reality. Made possible by the divine exchange of life and love, all creation, all the earth, all of life is liturgy, enchanted by the pattern of call and response, infused with the intonations of lullaby and lament, love ballad and blues, gravity and grace.

An antiphonal spirituality brings together the contemplative and active dimensions of faith, the need for deep listening and the opportunity for a fitting response.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND ACTION:

a) The rhythm of call and response is present within each day. Each day contains opportunities, some small and others more significant, to be responsive. At the end of your days this week ask, “What, where, when, or by whom was I called today? How did I respond?”

b) Singing simple chants and refrains from psalms or songs is an easy but enlivening way to pray, make your way through the day, and participate in the chorus of life.

c) Mantra: “Open, Receptive, Responsive”

SEE earlier related entries: The Antiphons and Being Responsive respectively.