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Virginia Sloyan

Virginia Sloyan

To cite this article: Virginia Sloyan (2002) Virginia Sloyan, , 17:4, 1-4, DOI:
10.1080/04580630208599247

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/04580630208599247

Published online: 10 Sep 2008.

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The Board of Directors and the Staff Members of
The Liturgical Conference dedicate
LITURGY Heritage Meets Hope to
Virginia Sloyan
In appreciation of
~ Her lavishing abundant gifts and faithful stewardship
on the people and the work of the Conference
over periods of time exceeding forty years:
~ Her service as editor of Homily Service,
with the highest standards of literary excellence
~ Her passion for God's word revealed in Scripture,
cherished by Jewish, Christian and Muslim faithful alike
and celebrated with hope in the liturgy of the church

~ Her example in word and deed of selfless advocacy for those who are
poor or captive, abused or alienated, homeless or hungry, neglected or sick
~ Her ready acceptance of others, as if her "Oh, how are you?"
were momentous enough to ring through the narthex of God's reign
~ Her spontaneous and warm welcome offered freely in Christ
to everybody without exception

~ Her restless, fertile mind, always prophetic, ever vital,

darting easily between communal and individual, local and global
~ Her dead-on wit
leading through to a worthy place

On this twenty-second day of February

in the year of our Lord two thousand and two
we wish her enthusiastically

¿fid multos annos

Frank C. Senn
President
E. Byron Anderson • Edward B. Branch • Víctor P. Cinson • Melva W. Costen
Iranganee Fernando • Scott Haldeman • Hilary Hayden, o.S.B. • David Philippart
Peter O'Brien • Robert Rimbo • Frank C. Senn • James A. Wilde
 WHO WE ARE
Virginia Sloyan

In an article entitled "Children's Literature and Christian

Mystágogy," ¡writtenfor•Mturg\jrCentralSymbolsp Elaine Ramshaw.artfùls
ly chose some childrerfsstories that could easilyibe-transformed iñtoo/íí.o
symbolicícárriers öf the tradition of Christianfaithii hvm noUi^viVÍH•;-:•; -vM
f¡ • In ^flffln,yVançleïeff b^y.Llqya.Àlejçander, central eharaç^er Taran; IOOJST ,
mgfpr fe j t ^
loo)A¿'for,JíKé;^ dï?aP^
pomfedtq see it's o ^ y l a p ^
see himseíf äs he really• is, witK all^ his strengths and wearinesses, a man
sharing in;the common humanity that counts for more than nobleibirth."
i-;.->--i--.--,h o * " ' i i f f i n f j t 1 - / ? ' " î f ^ ' i r
-'"'if v ' ; 3 v « " - - v n î * ' ' f . ' " J . * . - ' • • ' • / • ; s ' î i ' î f H '"'ví-'i ••/ v ' ' í ¡ i ' > : > ' r : ' ' r >
..,7')^enIfirst.Tead;^^ , ;^
"I maije rió çpr^çipuS/.cpnc^
Lluriet à'rià the"fpnt^e^^eâç&faterj.'^he^Î'èn^yloQJ^çî-^p á.ifor)í,)^rgq
enough ¡to,hold níy^.refíectípii^tthought of .Taran ^Hjrealizeci that \ye. :;, ¿
fm4^bwf.tmeldena^\m\tí\e]waW&.óf..óüf.bápHsmi^^/,J,-ji*v-.", | -, V , ¡
For several years; at thé titurgïcal Cprtf ërëhcë^â working h^etime^--! '
I was'súríoúnded;by!' people who saw their identities inWè^ vvàtèr of bäp2
tism:>Whether United"MëtHodisè;-Lutherans; EpMcppalíahs/ Roman ": ' fl
Catholics/ Presbyterians^or Disciples'ölCtöfe^flie^pärecülar'traditiön-''1'-1
did not change thé fatt'^we'fâiëw who5 we wérè by vif tiieof baptism:"': ;
The same conviction carried over into what this sacrament or symbol 1 '
meantjwe were part p|ffa communion^ part of ja church. ;This-past spring, I
was askgd to .be,^ Sponsor in. my own parishjirygashingtofl,. JXÇ., fíf a,.,., ¡
college sophomore but a senipr,çateçhumen;(member.pf the Elect);as she
prepared for baptism. Diane ended a brief presentation on the fourth
Sunday of: Lent with thé words, :"-Añd í o I really want tóbe;part'of you
guysí'í'AfewíStartlediobks in the Nativity Church assembly, Büt-riP^örie •'
cou^iaulther.ecelesiology.ic; oHi •••fd iShrD s¡f.^[ ni ùoD .;ífí(iiií \.¡n<, •JH[ÍÍ\'I

I sensed too during those years that many conference members,

whether subscribers, writers or board members/is'hared somèthirig else,
anditlflôwéd directiyfrbmthe grasp theyihadi On the significance: of their
baptism; It tooK this; fbrmi they were increasingly'ilitable' to share the'íí'•!•!
views on; liturgy with many people in'their own! cPrigrégatiôrf/ y}! ' s - '- ' ': '•• '
párishvOiice bne^përceives ; thé cëhtrâlity Pf puttie prayer in: parish' lifë"-"^
and begins to yearn for unity of worship among Christians, it is very s>i •'
hard to hear contrary or irrelevant views. We do hear them—all of us—
and must work with those who voice them, but it gets harder to listen.
We fervently need other folks, be they in the next parish or writing for
Liturgy, Homily Service or another good liturgical resource, to validate
what we know is true and to help us examine what we assume.
There's a beautiful scene in the novel Daughters, by Gerald Early.
After reading the story of the resurrection from Mark's gospel, a child
asks her father if he believes it. He says, "Yes," but then, in a rather harsh
tone, "You shouldn't believe just because I do." A friend, Ida, overhears
the conversation and takes issue with the father's position. "Your chil-
dren love you very much What's wrong with them believing because
you do?" The father gives lengthy reasons for what he has said. Ida will
have none of it: "The fact that you believe should mean something to
them. You know that old blues song, 'You're Gonna Need Somebody on
your Bond.' People need the assurance that other people believe."
Christians also need the assurance that symbols are the stuff of Ufe,
especially when their own culture says, "It's only symbolic," to describe
any metaphor—significant or otherwise—that appears on the political or
religious stage. If ever we thought symbols were peaceful or romantic
entities, we have been avoiding the material published by
Amnesty /USA: we have not attended to the horrible realities of life in
large parts of the world—our own and the "other" world. Trustworthy
researchers tell us that ordinary items are used to torture leaders of
reform, labor organizers, catechists, any who resist the prevailing sys-
tem—pieces of rope, kitchen utensils, light bulbs—so that when released,
these persons will be haunted by their memories and serve as cautionary
examples to their neighbors. Ordinary things—remembering—do the
words sound familiar?
The example is not chosen at random. Symbols surround us; they
lead us to truths that warm the heart and truths that numb us with cold.
They are more real than what we call reality.
The Liturgical Conference, for as long as it exists, will be made up of
women and men who at every Sunday eucharist have been urged to
praise and thank God in Jesus Christ by the Spirit's power, and to let the
day's scriptures take us where they will—even to the dreadful "ordinary."
Virginia Sloyan, editor emerita of Homily Service, when invited to
clear some times for an appointment with a photographer, said, "Not
until Tuesday, because Monday I have a book deadline." The book:
Anointing of the Sick, published in the Sourcebook Series of Liturgy
Training Publications in Chicago and scheduled for release in the fall of
2002.

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