YOUCAT Lesson 170, part 6 of 9 parts
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth
God and the Sacred Liturgy
What is the most profound origin of the liturgy?
170 The most profound
origin of the liturgy is God, in whom there is an eternal, heavenly banquet of
love—the joy of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because God is love, he would like to let us
participate in the feast of his joy and to grant us his blessings. [1077-1109]
Painting: …..Moses and the Ten
Commandments… by Jusepe de Ribera, Museum of San Martino.....114…170 …..
“…the saving events and significant realities … have found their
fulfillment in the mystery of Christ (promise and covenant, Exodus and
Passover, kingdom and temple, exile and return.” (see CCC # 1093 below).
Our earthly liturgies must be celebrations full of beauty
and power: Feasts of the Father who created us-that is why the gifts of the
earth play such a great part: the bread, the wine, oil and light, incense,
sacred music, and splendid colors.
Feasts of the Son who redeemed us—that is why we rejoice in our
liberation, breathe deeply in listening to the Word, and are strengthened in
eating the Eucharistic Gifts. Feasts of
the Holy Spirit who lives in us—that is why there us a wealth of consolation,
knowledge, courage, strength, and blessing that flows from these sacred
assemblies. 179
Blessing: A blessing
is something good that comes from God (Latin benedicere; Greek eu-logein=to
call good) to bless is a divine, life-giving, and life-preserving action. God, the Father and Creator of all being,
says: It is good that you exist. The fact
that you are is something beautiful.
Then I will go to the altar of God, the God my exceeding
joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Psalm 43:4
…….THE LITURGY - WORK OF
THE HOLY TRINITY
…….1093 In the
sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's Church
was "prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel
and in the Old Covenant,"( Lumen
gentium 2)14 the Church's liturgy has retained certain elements of the
worship of the Old Covenant as integral and irreplaceable, adopting them as her
own:
-notably, reading the Old
Testament;
-praying the Psalms;
-above all, recalling the
saving events and significant realities which have found their fulfillment in
the mystery of Christ (promise and covenant, Exodus and Passover, kingdom and
temple, exile and return). —Catechism of
the Catholic Church, Second Edlition
…….1094 It is
on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord
is built,( compare Dei Verbum 14-16; Luke 24:13-49)15
and
then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis
unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the mystery of
Christ. It is called "typological" because it reveals the newness of
Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types) which announce him in
the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By this re-reading in the
Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled.( compare 2
Corinthians 3:14-16)16 Thus
the flood and Noah's ark prefigured salvation by Baptism,( compare 1 Peter 3:21)17 as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the
rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert
prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven." (John 6:32; compare 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 )18 --CCC
…….1095 For
this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the
Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in
the "today" of her liturgy. But this also demands that catechesis
help the faithful to open themselves to this spiritual understanding of the
economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it and enables us to live
it. __CCC
…….1096 Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy. A better knowledge of the Jewish people's faith and religious
life as professed and lived even now can help our better understanding of
certain aspects of Christian liturgy. For both Jews and Christians Sacred
Scripture is an essential part of their respective liturgies: in the
proclamation of the Word of God, the response to this word, prayer of praise
and intercession for the living and the dead, invocation of God's mercy. In its
characteristic structure the Liturgy of the Word originates in Jewish prayer.
The Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical texts and formularies, as well as
those of our most venerable prayers, including the Lord's Prayer, have
parallels in Jewish prayer. The Eucharistic Prayers also draw their inspiration
from the Jewish tradition. The relationship between Jewish liturgy and
Christian liturgy, but also their differences in content, are particularly
evident in the great feasts of the liturgical year, such as Passover.
Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover. For Jews, it is the Passover
of history, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is the Passover
fulfilled in the death and Resurrection of Christ, though always in expectation
of its definitive consummation. --CCC
…….1097 In the liturgy
of the New Covenant every
liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments,
is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives
its unity from the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the
children of God into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial,
cultural, social - indeed, all human affinities. –CCC
…….1098 The
assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord and to become "a people well
disposed." The preparation of hearts is the joint work of the Holy Spirit
and the assembly, especially of its ministers. The grace of the Holy Spirit
seeks to awaken faith, conversion of heart, and adherence to the Father's will.
These dispositions are the precondition both for the reception of other graces
conferred in the celebration itself and the fruits of new life which the
celebration is intended to produce afterward. --CCC
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