Acting Beautifully
In an essay about Eucharistic Traces in the work of Peter Handke, Jan-Heiner Tück shows how Handke evidences something of Guardini’s great intuition, that the Mass, by inculcating ritualised, deliberate movement, teaches us to engage beautifully with things.
‘One of the benefits of Holy Mass: I sit properly; I stand up properly, for instance when the Gospel is read; when the homily begins, I sit down properly again; during consecration I fall properly to my knees; while walking up to receive Corpus Christi I find my proper place in a line among other communicants; then I return to my pew by a proper detour.’
To point towards the educative impact of such experience is not pernickety; it is wise; it is to take on board what incarnation means.
