1. Diocese of Sacramento Lay Formation Institute “Celebration of the Christian Mystery: How & Why?” Compiled by Stephen M. Matuszak, S.T.L. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2. What is Liturgy?  The mystery of God’s plan (Eph. 3:9) and the “Economy” of Salvation”  Christ the LORD accomplished the work of our redemption principally through the Paschal Mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead & Ascension  “Dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life”  The Church celebrates in the liturgy the Paschal Mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of salvation

3. The Mystery of Christ “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. The meaning of “liturgy”  Originally, a “public work”; a service in the name of or on behalf of the people  In tradition - The participation of the people of God in the work of God  In the NT, liturgia refers to the celebration of divine worship, the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity  Service to God and neighbor

5. Liturgy and the Church  In Liturgy the Church is servant in the image of the Lord, the one “leitourgos” (Heb. 8:2,6)  She shares in Christ’s priesthood (worship),  which is both prophetic (proclamation)  and kingly (service of charity).  “The liturgy is an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves man’s sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses” (S.C. 7).

6. Liturgy as source of life  Liturgy makes the Church present & shows her as a visible sign of the communion in Christ between God and man.  Liturgy engages the faithful in the new life of the Christian community  Liturgy calls forth the “conscious, active and fruitful participation” of all members. (S.C. 11)  Liturgy must be preceded by evangelization, faith and conversion.  Liturgy produces new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the Church & service to her unity

7. Prayer & Liturgy  The liturgy is a participation in Christ’s own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit (especially John 17).  In liturgy all Christian prayer finds its source and goal.  Through the liturgy each person is grounded in the great love which God the Father has bestowed on us in His beloved Son.

8. Catechesis & Liturgy  “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.” (S.C. 10)  It is the privileged place for catechizing the People of God. (“Liturgical catechesis”)  “Catechesis is linked with the whole of liturgical & sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men.”

9. Liturgical Catechesis  Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (“mystagogy”)  It proceeds from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the “sacraments” to the “mysteries” themselves.  Such catechesis is to be presented by local and regional catechisms.

10. Section I: Sacramental Economy  The Church was made manifest on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Spirit  The Holy Spirit ushers in a new era in the “dispensation of the mystery” in which Christ makes present and communicates His work of salvation, primarily through the liturgy.  He acts through what the Church in East & West calls the “sacramental economy”

11. The Father – Source & Goal of the Church’s Liturgy  Liturgy is the work of the whole Trinity  God the Father is the source of all blessing; His blessing is both word and gift.  From the beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman.  Divine blessings were made manifest in the aston- ishing and saving events God worked for His people, especially in the Exodus from Egypt.  Divine blessing is fully revealed & communicated today in and through the Church’s liturgy.

12. Christ’s Work in the Liturgy  Christ now acts through the sacraments he initiated in order to communicate his grace.  In the liturgy of the Church Christ principally makes his own paschal sacrifice present  His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in the past, but it is unique & different.  It cannot remain only in the past because all that he did participates in eternity and transcends time.  The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides eternally and draws everything toward life.

13. Christ is glorified in the Liturgy  The sacraments are perceptible signs that make present and efficacious the grace that they signify.  In the liturgy, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present.  The risen Christ entrusted to the Apostles his power of sanctifying. They entrusted this power to their successors through Holy Orders.  Christ is present in the liturgy through the word, the ministry of priests, in the people when they pray and sing, but especially the Eucharist (S.C. 7)

14. Earthly & Heavenly Liturgy  “In the earthly liturgy we share a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy, celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.”  “We eagerly await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory.” (S.C. 8; L.G. 50)

15. The Holy Spirit & Liturgy  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… He brings about in us genuine coopera- tion … The liturgy is the common work of the Holy Spirit & the Church  The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ  The Holy Spirit recalls the mystery of Christ  The Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ  The HS brings us into communion with Christ so as to form His Body, the Church.

16. The Paschal Mystery in the Church’s Sacraments  The whole liturgical life revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments.  All seven sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Trent)  The mysteries of Christ’s life are the foundation for what he would dispense in the sacraments through the Church.  Sacraments are “powers that come forth” from the Body of Christ which is ever-living

17. Sacraments of Faith  Christ sent the Apostles to preach repent-ance and forgiveness of sins to all nations.  The mission to baptize is implied in the mission to evangelize.  The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify us and to build up the Body of Christ.  The Church’s faith precedes the faith of the believer who adheres to it.  No sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of minister or community

18. Sacraments of Salvation  The sacraments confer the grace they signify when they are celebrated worthily  They are efficacious because in then Christ himself is at work– it is he who baptizes, etc.  This the meaning of ex opere operato (by the very fact of the action being performed)  The grace of the sacraments of the New Covenant is necessary for salvation.

19. Sacraments of Eternal Life  The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord until he comes.  The Liturgy shares in Jesus’ desire, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15).  “A sacrament is a sign that commemorates what precedes it – Christ’s passion; demonstrates what is accomplished in us through Christ’s passion – grace; and prefigures what that Passion pledges to us – future glory.” St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, part III)

20. Dying you destroyed our death, Rising you restored our life, LORD Jesus, come in Glory!