Learning the Liturgy with Mr. Miyagi: The Case for Liturgical Catechesis

Authors

Benjamin Leeper, Concordia Seminary, St. LouisFollow

Document Type

Article

Keywords

liturgy, worship, miyagi, karate, church, christian, catechesis, discipleship, absolution, luther

Submission Type

Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep

Abstract

Using the narrative of The Karate Kid as a guide, I will demonstrate that Christian formation is a matter of recontextualizing liturgical practices in the daily life of the believer, so that she knows when, where, and how to use the precogni¬tive spiritual habits formed by Word and Sacrament in Christian worship. This understanding challenges prevalent liturgical theology, which tends to assume an automatic connection—or worse, no connection at all— between worship and daily life, by highlighting the necessity of locating for believers the telos of the church’s rites and ceremonies in discipleship. Finally, I will provide concrete examples of the many forms that liturgical catechesis takes to holistically address the head, heart, and hands of Christian disciples. A right understanding and application of liturgy is the key to bridging the gap between Sunday and Monday.

Disciplines

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Submission Cost

Free

Submission Audience

Laity; Ministers; Scholars

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Leeper, Benjamin (2023) "Learning the Liturgy with Mr. Miyagi: The Case for Liturgical Catechesis," Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholar.csl.edu/grapho/vol5/iss1/6