182 Signs and Words in the Liturgy

YOUCAT Lesson 182

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

182  Why do the sacred signs of the liturgy need words, too?

Celebrating the liturgy means encountering God; allowing him to act, listening to him, responding to him.  Such dialogues are always expressed in gestures and words.  [1153-1155, 1190]

Photo: ….. Through the Sacrament of Baptism  Kristie and John Racanelli bring Sarah to the family of God. …126…181

John is the grandson of my sister Margaret.

…….The Great Commission of Baptism is a divine sign:  Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus spoke to men through signs and words.  So it is in the Church, also, when the priest offers the gifts and says, “This is my Body…this is my Blood…”  Only these interpreting words of Jesus cause the signs to become sacraments:  signs that bring about what they signify.

…….Words and actions

…….1153   A sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit; this meeting takes the form of a dialogue, through actions and words. Admittedly, the symbolic actions are already a language, but the Word of God and the response of faith have to accompany and give life to them, so that the seed of the Kingdom can bear its fruit in good soil. The liturgical actions signify what the Word of God expresses: both his free initiative and his people's response of faith. –Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Second Edition

…….1154   The liturgy of the Word is an integral part of sacramental celebrations. To nourish the faith of believers, the signs which accompany the Word of God should be emphasized: the book of the Word (a lectionary or a book of the Gospels), its veneration (procession, incense, candles), the place of its proclamation (lectern or ambo), its audible and intelligible reading, the minister's homily which extends its proclamation, and the responses of the assembly (acclamations, meditation psalms, litanies, and profession of faith) [are to emphasized]. --CCC

…….1155   The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they accomplish what they signify. When the Holy Spirit awakens faith, he not only gives an understanding of the Word of God, but through the sacraments also makes present the "wonders" of God which it proclaims. The Spirit makes present and communicates the Father's work, fulfilled by the beloved Son. --CCC

…….IN BRIEF

…….1190 The Liturgy of the Word is an integral part of the celebration. The meaning of the celebration is expressed by the Word of God which is proclaimed and by the response of faith to it. --CCC