235. How does the Church on earth celebrate the liturgy? (part 2) (continuation)
(Comp
235 repetition) The Church on earth celebrates the liturgy as a priestly people
in which each one acts according to his proper function in the unity of the
Holy Spirit. The baptized offer themselves in a spiritual sacrifice; the
ordained ministers celebrate according to the Order they received for the
service of all the members of the Church; the bishops and priests act in the
Person of Christ the Head.
“In brief”
(CCC 1189) The liturgical
celebration involves signs and symbols relating to creation (candles, water,
fire), human life (washing, anointing, breaking bread) and the history of
salvation (the rites of the Passover). Integrated into the world of faith and
taken up by the power of the Holy Spirit, these cosmic elements, human rituals,
and gestures of remembrance of God become bearers of the saving and sanctifying
action of Christ.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1142) But "the members do not all have the same
function" (Rom 12:4). 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 (Cf. PO
2; 15). 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. (CCC 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" (SC 29).
On reflection
(CCC 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" (SC 28). [END]
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