The Liturgy
YOUCAT Catechism +
Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 167
Ave Maria series
167 What is liturgy?
Liturgy is the official divine
worship of the Church. [1077-1112]
The Institution of the Eucharist by Nicolas Poussin.....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.
[1077-1112]
THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
1077 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us before him in
love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the
Beloved."( Ephesians 1:3-6)3 –Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
1078 Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source
of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift.( eu-logia,
bene-dictio.)4 When
applied to man, the word "blessing" means adoration and surrender to
his Creator in thanksgiving. --CCC
1079 From the beginning until the end of time the whole of
God's work is a blessing. From the liturgical
poem of the first creation to the canticles of the heavenly Jerusalem, the
inspired authors proclaim the plan of salvation as one vast divine blessing. —CCC
1080 From the very beginning God blessed all living beings,
especially man and woman. The covenant with Noah and with all living things
renewed this blessing of fruitfulness despite man's sin which had brought a
curse on the ground. But with Abraham, the divine blessing entered into human
history which was moving toward death, to redirect it toward life, toward its
source. By the faith of "the father of all believers," who embraced
the blessing, the history of salvation is inaugurated. —CCC
1081 The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing
and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and
Exodus), the gift of the promised land, the election of David, the presence of
God in the Temple, the purifying exile, and return of a "small
remnant." The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, interwoven in the liturgy
of the Chosen People, recall these divine blessings and at the same time
respond to them with blessings of praise and thanksgiving. --CCC
1082 In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is fully
revealed and communicated. The Father is acknowledged and adored as the source
and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who
became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through
his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy
Spirit. —CCC
1083 The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a
response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us
is thus evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and "in
the Holy Spirit,"( Luke 10:21)5 blesses the Father "for his
inexpressible gift(2 Corinthians 9:15)6 in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving.
On the other hand, until the consummation of God's plan, the Church never
ceases to present to the Father the offering of his own gifts and to beg him to
send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the faithful, and
upon the whole world, so that through communion in the death and resurrection
of Christ the Priest, and by the power of the Spirit, these divine blessings
will bring forth the fruits of life "to the praise of his glorious
grace."( Ephesians 1:6)7 –CCC
II. CHRIST'S WORK IN THE LITURGY
Christ glorified . . .
1084 "Seated at the right hand of the Father" and
pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts
through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. The sacraments
are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature. By
the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present
efficaciously the grace that they signify. --CCC
1085 In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own
Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly
life Jesus announced his Paschal mystery by his teaching and anticipated it by
his actions. When his Hour comes, he lives out the unique event of history
which does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is
seated at the right hand of the Father "once for all."( Romans 6:10; Hebrews 7:27; Heb 9:12;
compare John 13:1; Jn17:1)8 His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in our
history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and then
they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by
contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed
death, and all that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all men -
participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being
made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward
life. —CCC
1086 "Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father
so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that
they might preach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God
by his death and resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan and from
death and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that
the work of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the
sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life
revolves."(Sacrosanctum
concilium 6)9 –CCC
1087 Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the
apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying (compare John 20:21-23)10 : they became sacramental signs of Christ. By the power of
the same Holy Spirit they entrusted this power to their successors. This
"apostolic succession" structures the whole liturgical life of the
Church and is itself sacramental, handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders. —CCC
1088 "To accomplish so great a work" - the
dispensation or communication of his work of salvation - "Christ is always
present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present
in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same
now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on
the cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is
present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ
himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who
speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present
when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are
gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them."'(Sacrosanctum
concilium 7; Matthew 18:20)11 –CCC
1089 "Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with
himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are
sanctified. The Church is his beloved Bride who calls to her Lord and through
him offers worship to the eternal Father."( Sacresanctum
concilium 7)12 –CCC
1090 "In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of
that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward
which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God,
Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of
the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of
the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await
the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too
will appear with him in glory."( Sacrosanctum
concilium 8; compare Lumen gentium 50)13 --CCC
III. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH IN THE
LITURGY
1091 In the liturgy the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith
of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the
sacraments of the New Covenant. The desire and work of the Spirit in the heart
of the Church is that we may live from the life of the risen Christ. When the
Spirit encounters in us the response of faith which he has aroused in us, he
brings about genuine cooperation. Through it, the liturgy becomes the common
work of the Holy Spirit and the Church. —CCC
1092 In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery the
Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation:
he prepares the Church to encounter her Lord; he recalls and makes Christ
manifest to the faith of the assembly. By his transforming power, he makes the
mystery of Christ present here and now. Finally the Spirit of communion unites
the Church to the life and mission of Christ. --CCC
The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ
1093 In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what
was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's
Church was "prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of
Israel and in the Old Covenant,"( Lumen gentium 2)14 the Church's liturgy
has retained certain elements of the worship of the Old Covenant as integral
and irreplaceable, adopting them as her own:
-notably, reading the Old Testament;
-praying the Psalms;
-above all, recalling the saving events and significant
realities which have found their fulfillment in the mystery of Christ (promise
and covenant, Exodus and Passover, kingdom and temple, exile and return). --CCC
1094 It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the
Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built,(compare Dei Verbum 14-16; Luke 24:13-49)15 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the
Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old
Testament: the mystery of Christ. It is called "typological" because
it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types)
which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By
this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are
unveiled.( compare 2 Corinthians 3:14-16)16 Thus the flood and Noah's ark prefigured salvation by Baptism,( compare 1 Peter 3:21)17 as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water
from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the
desert prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven."( John 6:32;
compare 1 Corinthians 10:1-6)18 –CCC
1095 For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and
Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events
of salvation history in the "today" of her liturgy. But this also
demands that catechesis help the faithful to open themselves to this spiritual
understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it
and enables us to live it. —CCC
1096 Jewish
liturgy and Christian liturgy. A better knowledge
of the Jewish people's faith and religious life as professed and lived even now
can help our better understanding of certain aspects of Christian liturgy. For
both Jews and Christians Sacred Scripture is an essential part of their
respective liturgies: in the proclamation of the Word of God, the response to
this word, prayer of praise and intercession for the living and the dead,
invocation of God's mercy. In its characteristic structure the Liturgy of the
Word originates in Jewish prayer. The Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical
texts and formularies, as well as those of our most venerable prayers,
including the Lord's Prayer, have parallels in Jewish prayer. The Eucharistic
Prayers also draw their inspiration from the Jewish tradition. The relationship
between Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy, but also their differences in
content, are particularly evident in the great feasts of the liturgical year,
such as Passover. Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover. For Jews, it
is the Passover of history, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is
the Passover fulfilled in the death and Resurrection of Christ, though always
in expectation of its definitive consummation. —CCC
1097 In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action,
especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter
between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from
the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the children of God
into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social
- indeed, all human affinities. —CCC
1098 The assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord
and to become "a people well disposed." The preparation of hearts is
the joint work of the Holy Spirit and the assembly, especially of its
ministers. The grace of the Holy Spirit seeks to awaken faith, conversion of
heart, and adherence to the Father's will. These dispositions are the
precondition both for the reception of other graces conferred in the
celebration itself and the fruits of new life which the celebration is intended
to produce afterward. --CCC
The Holy Spirit recalls the mystery of Christ
1099 The Spirit and the Church cooperate to manifest Christ
and his work of salvation in the liturgy. Primarily in the Eucharist, and by
analogy in the other sacraments, the liturgy is the memorial of the mystery of salvation.
The Holy Spirit is the Church's living memory.(compare John 14:26)19 –CCC
1100 The Word of God. The Holy Spirit first
recalls the meaning of the salvation event to the liturgical assembly by giving
life to the Word of God, which is proclaimed so that it may be received and
lived:
In the celebration of the liturgy, Sacred Scripture is extremely
important. From it come the lessons that are read and explained in the homily
and the psalms that are sung. It is from the Scriptures that the prayers,
collects, and hymns draw their inspiration and their force, and that actions
and signs derive their meaning.( Sacrosanctum
concilium 24)20 –CCC
1101 The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual understanding of the
Word of God to those who read or hear it, according to the dispositions of
their hearts. By means of the words, actions, and symbols that form the
structure of a celebration, the Spirit puts both the faithful and the ministers
into a living relationship with Christ, the Word and Image of the Father, so
that they can live out the meaning of what they hear, contemplate, and do in
the celebration. —CCC
1102 "By the saving word of God, faith . . .
is nourished in the hearts of believers. By this faith then the congregation of
the faithful begins and grows."( Presbyterorum
ordinis 4)21 The proclamation does not stop with a teaching; it
elicits the response of faith as
consent and commitment, directed at the covenant between God and his people.
Once again it is the Holy Spirit who gives the grace of faith, strengthens it
and makes it grow in the community. The liturgical assembly is first of all a
communion in faith. —CCC
1103 Anamnesis (a recalling to
mind) . The liturgical celebration always refers to God's saving
interventions in history. "The economy of Revelation is realized by deeds
and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other. . . .
[T]he words for their part proclaim the works and bring to light the mystery
they contain."( Dei verbum 2)22 In the Liturgy of the Word the Holy Spirit
"recalls" to the assembly all that Christ has done for us. In keeping
with the nature of liturgical actions and the ritual traditions of the
churches, the celebration "makes a remembrance" of the marvelous
works of God in an anamnesis (a recalling to mind) which may be more or less
developed. The Holy Spirit who thus awakens the memory of the Church then
inspires thanksgiving and praise (doxology). --CCC
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. —CCC
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
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; Galations 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 –CCC
…….1109 The epiclesis [invocation upon] 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
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
JT Church Nicolas
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