RE 3: LITURGY and SACRAMENTS

Ace M. Soberano First Semester, AY 2016-2017

Notre Dame-Siena College of Polomolok RE 3A - Saturday I 7:30AM-10:30AM
RE 3B - Saturday I 10:30AM-1:30PM

References:
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
Catechism for the Filipino Catholics (CFC)

LITURGY: THE PEOPLE’S WORK AND PUBLIC DUTY

Culmen et Fons

What is Liturgy?

The word LITURGY comes from the Greek leitourgia, which is a combination of leitos, an adjective which means
pertaining to the people (laos), and ergon, a noun which means work. Hence, etymologically the word means any service
done for the common welfare.

It is the “public worship rendered by the Mystical Body of Christ (the Church) in the entirety of its Head and members.”
Thus, the liturgy is the public worship of the Church, by the Church adequately understood as the Mystical Body of Christ,
the worship of both Head and members: Christ worshiping the Father and with His members, the members worshiping
God in and through their Head, Christ.

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." 5 Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer
and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.

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. 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"; 7 she shares in
Christ's priesthood (worship), which is both prophetic (proclamation) and kingly (service of charity):
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. 8
CFC 1503 Vatican II describes the Liturgy as: “an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ” in which our “human
sanctification is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses and is effected in a way proper to each of these signs,” so
that “full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Christ, that is, the Head and his members.” (cf. SC 7)

Liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Non liturgical acts can be:
 Preaching the Gospel
 Inviting people to faith
 Conversion
 Observance of Christ’s commandments
 Works of charity

Vatican II affirms that: Liturgy is summit (culmen) towards the activity of the Church is directed, and the fountain (fons)
from which all her powers flows.” (cf. SC 37; EO 6)

Who Celebrates the Liturgy?

1137: Liturgy is an "action" of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already
in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast.

The celebrants of the heavenly liturgy (CCC 1137-1139)

1137 The book of Revelation of St. John, read in the Church's liturgy, first reveals to us, "A throne stood in heaven, with
one seated on the throne": "the Lord God."1 It then shows the Lamb, "standing, as though it had been slain": Christ
crucified and risen, the one high priest of the true sanctuary, the same one "who offers and is offered, who gives and is
given."2 Finally it presents "the river of the water of life . . . flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb," one of most
beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit.3
1138 "Recapitulated in Christ," these are the ones who take part in the service of the praise of God and the fulfillment of
his plan: the heavenly powers, all creation (the four living beings), the servants of the Old and New Covenants (the
twenty-four elders), the new People of God (the one hundred and forty-four thousand), 4 especially the martyrs "slain for
the word of God," and the all-holy Mother of God (the Woman), the Bride of the Lamb, 5 and finally "a great multitude which
no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and tongues." 6
1139 It is in this eternal liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to participate whenever we celebrate the mystery
of salvation in the sacraments.
The celebrants of the sacramental liturgy (CCC 1140-1144)

1140 It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that celebrates. "Liturgical services are not
private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is 'the sacrament of unity,' namely, the holy people united and
organized under the authority of the bishops. Therefore, liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church. They
manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they touch individual members of the Church in different ways, depending on
their orders, their role in the liturgical services, and their actual participation in them." 7 For this reason, "rites which are
meant to be celebrated in common, with the faithful present and actively participating, should as far as possible be
celebrated in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately." 8

1141 The celebrating assembly is the community of the baptized who, "by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy
Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that through all the works of Christian men they may
offer spiritual sacrifices."9 This "common priesthood" is that of Christ the sole priest, in which all his members
participate:10
Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active
participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the
Christian people, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people," have a right and an
obligation by reason of their Baptism.11

1142 But "the members do not all have the same function." 12 Certain members are called by God, in and through the
Church, to a special service of the community. These servants are chosen and consecrated by the sacrament of Holy
Orders, by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the person of Christ the head, for the service of all the members of
the Church.13 The ordained minister is, as it were, an "icon" of Christ the priest. Since it is in the Eucharist that the
sacrament of the Church is made fully visible, it is in his presiding at the Eucharist that the bishop's ministry is most
evident, as well as, in communion with him, the ministry of priests and deacons.

1143 For the purpose of assisting the work of the common priesthood of the faithful, other particular ministries also
exist, not consecrated by the sacrament of Holy Orders; their functions are determined by the bishops, in accord with
liturgical traditions and pastoral needs. "Servers, readers, commentators, and members of the choir also exercise a
genuine liturgical function."14

1144 In the celebration of the sacraments it is thus the whole assembly that is leitourgos, each according to his function,
but in the "unity of the Spirit" who acts in all. "In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office
to perform, should carry out all and only those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the norms of
the liturgy."15

How is the Liturgy celebrated?

1. Signs and symbols (CCC 1145-1152)

1145 A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy (teaching) of
salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old
Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ.
 1146 Through signs of the human world - As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives
spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to
communicate with others, through language, gestures, and actions. The same holds true for his relationship with
God.
 1147 Through visible creation - The material cosmos is so presented to man's intelligence that he can read there
traces of its Creator.16 Light and darkness, wind and fire, water and earth, the tree and its fruit speak of God and
symbolize both his greatness and his nearness.
 1148 Through perceptible realities - means of expressing the action of God who sanctifies men, and the action of
men who offer worship to God. The same is true of signs and symbols taken from the social life of man: washing
and anointing, breaking bread and sharing the cup can express the sanctifying presence of God and man's
gratitude toward his Creator.
 1149 Through religious rites - the liturgy of the Church presupposes, integrates and sanctifies elements from
creation and human culture, conferring on them the dignity of signs of grace, of the new creation in Jesus Christ.
 1150 Signs of the Old Covenant – God’s distinctive signs and symbols that marked its liturgical life; symbols of
God's mighty deeds for his people. Old Covenant signs: circumcision, anointing and consecration of kings and
priests, laying on of hands, sacrifices, and above all the Passover.
 1151 Signs taken up by Christ (New Covenant) - Mysteries of the Kingdom of God performed by Christ through
healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic gestures. 18 He gives new meaning to the
deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover, 19 for he himself is the meaning
of all these signs.
 1152 Sacramental signs. Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his Church that the Holy Spirit
carries on the work of sanctification. The sacraments of the Church

2. Words and actions (CCC 1153-1155)

1153 A sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit;
 Dialogue through actions and words.
 Language as a symbolic action
 Liturgical actions that signify what the Word of God expresses

1154 The Liturgy of the Word - 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).

1155 The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they
accomplish what they signify. The Spirit makes present and communicates the Father's work, fulfilled by the beloved Son.

3. Singing and music (CCC 1156-1158)

1156 Combination of sacred music and words – forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy." 20
 "He who sings prays twice."21
1157 Song and music fulfill their function as signs in a manner all the more significant when they are "more closely
connected . . . with the liturgical action,"22 according to three principal criteria:
 the beauty expressive of prayer,
 the unanimous participation of the assembly at the designated moments, and
 the solemn character of the celebration.
The glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful – purpose of the liturgical words and actions

1158 The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in
the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate. 25 Hence "religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently
fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services," in conformity with the Church's norms,
"the voices of the faithful may be heard." But "the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic
doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources." 26

4. Holy images (CCC 1159-1162)

1159 The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and
incomprehensible God, but the incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new "economy" of images:
Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image. But now
that he has made himself visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of what I have seen of
God . .  . and contemplate the glory of the Lord, his face unveiled. 27

1160 Christian iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by
words. Image and word illuminate each other:
We declare that we preserve intact all the written and unwritten traditions of the Church which have been
entrusted to us. One of these traditions consists in the production of representational artwork, which accords with
the history of the preaching of the Gospel. For it confirms that the incarnation of the Word of God was real and not
imaginary, and to our benefit as well, for realities that illustrate each other undoubtedly reflect each other's
meaning.28

1161 All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and
of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. They make manifest the "cloud of witnesses" 29 who
continue to participate in the salvation of the world and to whom we are united, above all in sacramental celebrations.
Through their icons, it is man "in the image of God," finally transfigured "into his likeness," 30 who is revealed to our faith.
So too are the angels, who also are recapitulated in Christ:
Following the divinely inspired teaching of our holy Fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church (for we know
that this tradition comes from the Holy Spirit who dwells in her) we rightly define with full certainty and correctness
that, like the figure of the precious and life-giving cross, venerable and holy images of our Lord and God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, our inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the saints and the
just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of
God, on sacred vessels and vestments, walls and panels, in houses and on streets. 31

1162 The contemplation of sacred icons, united with meditation on the Word of God and the singing of liturgical hymns,
enters into the harmony of the signs of celebration so that the mystery celebrated is imprinted in the heart's memory and
is then expressed in the new life of the faithful.

CFC 1504 Eucharist – is the center of the Chruch’s liturgy which commemorates the Paschal Mystery of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
 Passion
 Death
 Resurrection
 Ascension
 Sending of the Holy Spirit or Pentecost

Paschal Mystery – is a core doctrine of the Church, one of the essential beliefs of all Christians. CCC defines it as:
 “Christ’s work of redemption accomplished principally by his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and glorious
Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life”. The Paschal Mystery is celebrated
and made present in the liturgy of the Church, and its saving effects are communicated through the sacraments,
especially the Eucharist, which renews the paschal sacrifice of Christ as the sacrifice offered by the Church.”

Essential Qualities of the Liturgy

1. Trinitarian and Paschal
 The Church liturgical prayer is directed to the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Its specific
Trinitarian form takes on a Paschal quality since the liturgy celebrates the Good News of our actual salvation
worked by the Blessed Trinity through Jesus Christ’s Paschal Mystery.

2. Ecclesial
 Liturgy is the prayer of the Church gathered in assembly, an ecclesial activity, celebrated by the WHOLE Christ,
Head and members.
 It is the action of Jesus Christ the Priest, and at the same time an activity of the community, a gathering together
in an ordered assembly and communion of the baptized.
 Different roles in the liturgical assembly:
1. Priest
2. Deacon
3. Readers/Lectors
4. Ministers of Music
5. Ministers of Communion
6. Collectors, etc.

3. Sacramental
 Basically, the liturgy celebrates the Church’s prayer through a pattern of symbolic, ritual movements, gestures and
verbal formulas that create a framework within which the corporate worship of the Church can take place.
 Predominant symbols used in the liturgy:
1. Gathering of the baptized assembly
2. Natural symbols from creation like light, darkness, water, oil, fire
3. Humanly-produced symbols like bread and wine
4. Christian salvific symbols like reading and interpretation of the Scriptures, Sign of the Cross, the Paschal
Candle, laying on of hands.

4. Ethically Oriented
 The liturgy relates directly to moral life since it empowers the people of God to full Christian discipleship.
 Liturgical worship and Christian morality – go together
 One goal of liturgical celebrations:
“The faithful (people) return to ordinary activities, newly strengthened in faith, confirmed in hope, and
inspired with the power of love.
 Liturgy aims at confirming our Mission as Christians – service of/to our neighbors.

5. Eschatological
 The Liturgy commemorates Christ’s past saving Mystery, demonstrates the present grace effects brought about
by Christ, and points to the future glory yet to come.
 The future orientation is operative now

CFC 1514: The Liturgy, then, is:

a. the official public worship of the Blessed Trinity,
b. by the whole Church, through the celebration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery,
c. in a sacramental, symbolic activity,
d. with intrinsic moral/ethical links, and
e. in a built-in eschatological orientation toward perfect fulfilment in the future.

Worship is the interior reverence and homage offered to the Divine Majesty through words and actions in public rituals. It
is the acknowledgement of God’s supreme excellence and the expression of man’s submission to His dominion resulting
therefrom. As such, it pertains to the virtue of religion, the virtue, therefore, which inclines us to render to Almighty God
the honor and service due to His supreme majesty.

Ritual, whether secular or religious, is a social, programmed symbolic activity that can create, communicate, criticize, or
transform the basic meaning of community life. It creates our fundamental bonding with others =, grounding the structure
of social relationships that provide our basic identity. Authentic religious rituals show four constant traits as follows:
1. symbolic
2. consecratory
3. repetitive
4. involves remembrance
Seasons of the liturgical year are:
Advent – a period covering the 4 Sundays before Christmas during which we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth and
anticipate his coming again at the end of time. The liturgical colour for Advent is violet.
Christmas – the season of Christmas celebrates Christ’s birth and early manifestations. It runs from 25th December to
until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday after 6th January. The liturgical colour for the Christmas season is
white.
Lent – the 6-week time of preparation for the celebration of Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and finishes on the
evening of Holy Thursday. The liturgical colour for Lent is violet.
Easter – the heart of the liturgical year is the Easter Triduum (three days) celebrated from the evening Mass of the Lord’s
Supper on Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday evening. The Easter Vigil is the high-point of the celebration. The joyful
celebration of Christ’s resurrection continues for the 50-day Easter season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost. The
liturgical colour for Easter is white.
Apart from these seasons, there are 33 or 34 weeks of the year that do not celebrate a particular aspect of the mystery of
Christ but are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. This period of the Church calendar is called Ordinary
Time because the weeks are numbered in order. The liturgical colour for Ordinary Time is green.