167 Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, part 5

YOUCAT Lesson 167, part 5 of 6 parts

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

167  What is liturgy?

Liturgy is the official divine worship of the Church.  [1077-1112]

…..Photo at left: ….. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist using the words of St Paul: 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 ..... The consecration of the Host has a“calling to mind” and the “invocation” at every Catholic Mass (see CCC #1106 below). .....167

A liturgy is not an event that depends on good ideas and great songs.  No one makes or invents a liturgy.  It is something living that grew over millennia of faith.  A Mass is a holy, venerable action.  Liturgy becomes exciting when one senses that God himself is present under its sacred signs and its precious, often ancient prayers.

Power came forth from him and healed them all.  Luke 6:19b

…….THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

…….The Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ

…….1104 Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present. The Paschal mystery of Christ is celebrated, not repeated. It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present.—Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1105 The Epiclesis ("invocation upon") is the intercession in which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, so that the offerings may become the body and blood of Christ and that the faithful by receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God.( compare Romans 12:1)²³ –CCC

…….1106 Together with the anamnesis [“a recalling to mind”], the epiclesis [“invocation upon”] is at the heart of each sacramental celebration, most especially of the Eucharist:

You ask how the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine . . . the Blood of Christ I shall tell you: the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought. . . . Let it be enough for you to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of the Holy Virgin and by the Holy Spirit that the Lord, through and in himself, took flesh.( St. John Damascene, De fide orth. 4,13:Patrologia Graeca 94,1145A)²⁴ –CCC

1107 The Holy Spirit's transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the kingdom and the consummation of the mystery of salvation. While we wait in hope he causes us really to anticipate the fullness of communion with the Holy Trinity. Sent by the Father who hears the epiclesis [invocation] of the Church, the Spirit gives life to those who accept him and is, even now, the "guarantee" of their inheritance.( compare Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 1:22)²⁵ --CCC