Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 182 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 182 - Part I. Why do the sacred signs of the liturgy need words, too?     

(Youcat answer) Celebrating the liturgy means encountering God; allowing him to act, listening to him, responding to him. Such dialogues are always expressed in gestures and words.                  

A deepening through CCC      

(CCC 1153) A sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit; this meeting takes the form of a dialogue, through actions and words. Admittedly, the symbolic actions are already a language, but the Word of God and the response of faith have to accompany and give life to them, so that the seed of the Kingdom can bear its fruit in good soil. The liturgical actions signify what the Word of God expresses: both his free initiative and his people's response of faith.         

Reflecting and meditating      

(Youcat comment) Jesus spoke to men through signs and words. So it is in the church, also, when the priests offers the gifts and says, “This is my Body…this is my Blood”. Only these interpreting words of Jesus cause the signs to become sacraments: signs that bring about what they signify.        

(CCC Comment)     

(CCC 1190) The Liturgy of the Word is an integral part of the celebration. The meaning of the celebration is expressed by the Word of God which is proclaimed and by the response of faith to it. 

(This question: Why do the sacred signs of the liturgy need words, too? is continued)