247. Why is the one
Mystery of Christ celebrated by the Church according to various liturgical
traditions?
(Comp
247) The answer is that the unfathomable richness of the mystery of Christ
cannot be exhausted by any single liturgical tradition. From the very
beginning, therefore, this richness found expression among various peoples and
cultures in ways that are characterized by a wonderful diversity and
complementarity.
“In brief”
(CCC 1208) The diverse liturgical
traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the catholicity of the
Church, because they signify and communicate the same mystery of Christ.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1201) The mystery of Christ
is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any
single liturgical tradition. The history of the blossoming and development of
these rites witnesses to a remarkable complementarity. When the Churches lived
their respective liturgical traditions in the communion of the faith and the
sacraments of the faith, they enriched one another and grew in fidelity to
Tradition and to the common mission of the whole Church (Cf. Paul VI, EN
63-64).
On reflection
(CCC 1202) The diverse liturgical
traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission. Churches of the
same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the mystery of Christ
through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition
of the "deposit of faith" (2 Tim 1:14 (Vulg.) in liturgical
symbolism, in the organization of fraternal communion, in the theological
understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness. Through the
liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation of all
peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that
Church is sent and in which she is rooted. The Church is catholic, capable of
integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of
cultures (Cf. LG 23; UR 4).
(Next question: What is the criterion that assures unity in the
midst of plurality?)
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