“The liturgist is a general practitioner who sees a lot in his practice
and for whom virtually everything is important”. The phrase from
the Introduction to the book offers a useful starting point for
understanding what the authors essentially want to convey. While much
may be important, this volume addresses specifically the relation
between liturgy and mystery. Many of the contributing
authors recognise the bodied reality of mystery as crucial to the
“health” of liturgical relationship. The contributors acknowledge that
neither the “practitioner” as liturgist, nor the theologian alone can
provide the necessary “life-giving connections” that help mediate
between liturgy and mystery. Thus, the skills and knowledge from various
liturgical traditions and denominations are utilised to explore: (1) the
gospels and Christ event, (2) the ongoing process of tradition through
verbal and non-verbal means, (3) the transparency of mystery itself, (4)
the partaking in the Mystery through the links with other areas and
commitments of life, and (5) the revision of the classical approach to
the relationship between liturgy and systematic theology. This paired
liturgical and theological investigation ultimately opens ways for
understanding what liturgy itself is, and what theology maybe
should be.