168 The Priority of Liturgy

YOUCAT Lesson 168

168  YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

Why does the liturgy have priority in the Church and of the individual?

  “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows” (Second Vatican Council, Socrosanctum concilium 10).  [1074]

…….Photo: ..... Lay members of Our Lady Queen of the Universe parish at Woodruff, WI prepare to assist their pastor and deacon in a Sunday Mass distribution of communion .....168

During Jesus’ lifetime, multitudes of people flocked to him, because they were seeking his healing presence.  Even today we can find him, for he lives in his Church.  He assures us of his presence in service to the poor (Matthew 25:40)… in united prayer (Matthew 18:20)] and in the Eucharist.  There we run directly into his arms.  And when we let him get close to us, he teaches us, feeds us, transforms us, heals us, and he becomes one with us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

“Without the Sunday Eucharist, we cannot live.  Do you not know that the Christian exists for the Eucharist and the Eucharist for Christians?”, answered the martyr Saturinus (a.d. 305) during cross-examination to the accusation that he had taken part in the forbidden assembly on Sunday.

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10b

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.  Matthew 18:20

Catechesis and liturgy

1074 "The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows." (Sacrosactum Concilium 10)¹³ It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God. "Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men."( John Paul II, Catechesi tradendae 23)¹⁴ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition