218. What is the liturgy?
(Comp
218) The liturgy is the celebration of the mystery of Christ and in particular
his paschal mystery. Through the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus
Christ the liturgy manifests in signs and brings about the sanctification of
humankind. The public worship which is due to God is offered by the Mystical
Body of Christ, that is, by its head and by its members.
“In brief”
(CCC 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" (Cf. Jn 17:4). Through the liturgy
Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in,
with, and through his Church.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1066) In the Symbol of the faith the Church confesses
the mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the plan of God's "good
pleasure" for all creation: the Father accomplishes the "mystery of
his will" by giving his beloved Son and his Holy Spirit for the salvation
of the world and for the glory of his name (Eph 1:9). Such is the mystery of
Christ, revealed and fulfilled in history according to the wisely ordered plan
that St. Paul calls the "plan of the mystery" (Eph 3:9; cf. 3:4) and the patristic
tradition will call the "economy of the Word incarnate" or the
"economy of salvation." (CCC 1067) "The wonderful works of God
among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ
the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished
this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion,
Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed
our death, rising he restored our life.' For it was from the side of Christ as
he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth 'the wondrous
sacrament of the whole Church"'(SC 5 § 2; cf. St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 138, 2: PL 37, 1784-1785).
For this reason, the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal
mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation.
On reflection
(CCC 1068) It is this mystery of Christ that the Church
proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it
and bear witness to it in the world: 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 (SC 2). (CCC 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
(Cf. Lk 1:23; Acts 13:2; Rom 15:16, 27; 2 Cor 9:12; Phil 2:14-17, 25, 30). 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" (Cf. Heb
8:2, 6); 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 (SC 7 § 2-3).
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