YOUCAT Lesson 170, part 9 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:
…..St. Peter Preaching at Pentecost by Benjamin West (1738–1820)
..... Jesus said, “The Advocate,
the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you
everything and remind you of all that [I] told you (John 14:16). “ …..170
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
The communion of the Holy
Spirit
…….1108 In
every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into
communion with Christ and so to form his Body. The Holy Spirit is like the sap
of the Father's vine which bears fruit on its branches.( compare John 15:1-17;
Galatians 5:22)26 The
most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the
liturgy. The Spirit who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectibly in the
Church. For this reason the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion
which gathers God's scattered children together. Communion with the Holy
Trinity and fraternal communion are inseparably the fruit of the Spirit in the
liturgy.( compare 1 John 1:3-7)27
--Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
…….1109 The
epiclesis is also a prayer for the full effect of the assembly's communion with
the mystery of Christ. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit"( 2 Corinthians 13:13)28
have to
remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. The
Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of
the faithful a living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation into
the image of Christ, by concern for the Church's unity, and by taking part in
her mission through the witness and service of charity. --CCC
…….IN BRIEF
…….1110 In the liturgy of the Church, God the
Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and
salvation with which he has blessed us in his Son, in order to give us the
Spirit of filial adoption. --CCC
…….1111 Christ's work in the liturgy is
sacramental: because his mystery of salvation is made present there by the
power of his Holy Spirit; because his Body, which is the Church, is like a
sacrament (sign and instrument) in which the Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery
of salvation; and because through her liturgical actions the pilgrim Church
already participates, as by a foretaste, in the heavenly liturgy. --CCC
…….1112 The mission of the Holy Spirit in the
liturgy of the Church is to prepare the assembly to encounter Christ; to recall
and manifest Christ to the faith of the assembly; to make the saving work of
Christ present and active by his transforming power; and to make the gift of
communion bear fruit in the Church.
--CCC
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