Saturday, September 8, 2018

166. The Liturgy


The Liturgy

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 166
Ave Maria series

God Acts in Our Regard by Means of Sacred Signs

166  Why does the Church celebrate the liturgy so often?
The people of Israel interrupted their work “seven times a day” (Psalm 119:164) in order to praise God.  Jesus participated in the liturgy and prayer of his people; he taught his disciples to pray and gathered them into the Upper Room so as to celebrate with them the liturgy of all liturgies: the gift of himself in the Last Supper.  The Church, which calls us to the liturgy, obeys his command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24b).  [1066-1070]




Council Fathers with their secretaries leaving St. Peter's Basilica Vatican II Council.  Photo by Lothar Wolleh. ....140...166



Just as a man breathes air in order to stay alive, so too the Church lives and breathes by celebrating the liturgy.  God himself is the one who breathes new life into her day by day and enriches her with gifts through his Word and his sacraments.  We can use another image, too: every liturgy is like a rendezvous of love that God writes on our calendar.  Anyone who has already experienced God’s love is glad to go to church.  Someone who from time to time feels nothing and goes nevertheless shows God his faithfulness.

Liturgy:  (from Greek leiturgia=public work, service, achievement by and for the people):  In the Christian Tradition, liturgy means that the People of God participate in the “work of God”.  The centerpiece of liturgical celebrations is the Holy Eucharist; the other liturgies—for example, the celebration of other sacraments, devotions, blessings, processions, and the Liturgy of the Hours—are ordered to it.

“The liturgy is never a mere meeting of a group of people who make up their own form of celebration…through our sharing in Jesus’ appearing before the Father, we stand both as members of the worldwide community of the whole Church and also of the communion of saints.  Yes, in a certain sense this is the liturgy of heaven.”  --Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, in “God and the World”

[1066-1070]

Why the liturgy?

1066 In the Symbol of the faith the Church confesses the mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the plan of God's "good pleasure" for all creation: the Father accomplishes the "mystery of his will" by giving his beloved Son and his Holy Spirit for the salvation of the world and for the glory of his name.( Ephesians 1:9)1 –CCC

Such is the mystery of Christ, revealed and fulfilled in history according to the wisely ordered plan that St. Paul calls the "plan of the mystery"(Ephesians 3:9; compare Eph 3:4)2 and the patristic tradition will call the "economy of the Word incarnate" or the "economy of salvation."—CCC

1067 "The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.' For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church."'(Sacrosanctum concilium 5 § 2; compare St. Augustine, En. in Psalm 138,2:Patrologia Latina 37,1784-1785)3  For this reason, the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation.—CCC

1068 It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the world:--CCC

For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.( Sacrosanctum concilium 2)4 –CCC

What does the word liturgy mean?

1069 The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God."(compare John 17:4)5  Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.—CCC

1070 In the New Testament the word "liturgy" refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity.(compare Luke 1:23; Acts of the Apostles 13:2; Romans 15:16,27; 2 Corinthians 9:12; Philippians 2:14-17,25,30)6 In all of these situations it is a question of the service of God and neighbor.  In a liturgical celebration the Church is servant in the image of her Lord, the one "leitourgos";( compare Hebrews 8:2,6)7 she shares in Christ's priesthood (worship), which is both prophetic (proclamation) and kingly (service of charity):--CCC

The liturgy then is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.( Sacrosanctum concilium 7 § 2-3)8 –CCC

Church  Council Fathers

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