Campus Ministry
Tuesday July 21, 2020
Prayer for All Times and Seasons: Liturgy of the Hours on Campus
By Scott Paeplow
Even as a pastoral musician, it is easy for me to forget that the Church is constantly at prayer and has gifted us with a resource to track the movement of the day from sunrise to sunset in the Liturgy of the Hours. This ancient yet relevant practice of the Church immerses the participant in the language of the Book of Psalms, which includes emotional proclamations ranging from desolation and despair to exultation and triumph. This engagement with the psalms, partnered with canticles and readings from the New Testament, remind the person at prayer that God is ever faithful and may be found in every moment of the day and within all aspects of creation.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on in our community, I have found myself relying more and more each day on this beautiful prayer of the Church and the way that it invites us as a community of believers to connect with our ancestors of faith in longing for the fullness of time and redemption of all people. And I think that this has much to offer our faith community in our current context, especially as our Eucharistic celebrations on campus employ necessary safety precautions that naturally limit the number of congregants at each Mass.
Throughout the fall semester, Campus Ministry will be sharing resources for praying the Liturgy of the Hours within small communal settings, such as students’ homes in the Student Neighborhood or on separate floors in the first-year residence halls. These prayer materials will be partnered with videos on our YouTube channel so that students may pray the Divine Office on their own or with a group of their residential peers without concern over how to follow the flow of the prayer or how music and chant are utilized throughout it. We hope that this promotion of domestic liturgy on our campus may help to sustain us as we wait for the day when we may all gather together again safely to glorify and praise our gracious God at the table of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
As always, the larger UD community is invited to engage with us and utilize all of the prayer resources available at the Campus Ministry YouTube page.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on in our community, I have found myself relying more and more each day on this beautiful prayer of the Church and the way that it invites us as a community of believers to connect with our ancestors of faith in longing for the fullness of time and redemption of all people. And I think that this has much to offer our faith community in our current context, especially as our Eucharistic celebrations on campus employ necessary safety precautions that naturally limit the number of congregants at each Mass.
Throughout the fall semester, Campus Ministry will be sharing resources for praying the Liturgy of the Hours within small communal settings, such as students’ homes in the Student Neighborhood or on separate floors in the first-year residence halls. These prayer materials will be partnered with videos on our YouTube channel so that students may pray the Divine Office on their own or with a group of their residential peers without concern over how to follow the flow of the prayer or how music and chant are utilized throughout it. We hope that this promotion of domestic liturgy on our campus may help to sustain us as we wait for the day when we may all gather together again safely to glorify and praise our gracious God at the table of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
As always, the larger UD community is invited to engage with us and utilize all of the prayer resources available at the Campus Ministry YouTube page.
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