Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 192 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 192 - Part III. Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy?

(Youcat answer - repeated) There are changeable and unchangeable components of the liturgy. Unchangeable is everything that is of divine origin, for instance, the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Then there are changeable parts, which the Church occasionally must change. After all, the mystery of Christ must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived out at all times and in all places.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1203) The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way" (SC 4).

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus effectively addressed the entire person: mind and understanding, heart and will. That is precisely what he wants to do today also in the liturgy. That is why it has different characteristics in Africa and in Europe, in nursing homes and at World Youth Days, and differs in appearance in parishes and monasteries. But it must still be recognizable that it is the one liturgy of the whole worldwide Church.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1205) "In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable part, a part that is divinely instituted and of which the Church is the guardian, and parts that can be changed, which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of recently evangelized peoples" (John Paul II, Vicesimus quintus annus, 16; cf. SC 21). (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.

(This question: Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 192 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 192 - Part II. Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy?

(Youcat answer - repeated) There are changeable and unchangeable components of the liturgy. Unchangeable is everything that is of divine origin, for instance, the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Then there are changeable parts, which the Church occasionally must change. After all, the mystery of Christ must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived out at all times and in all places.

A deepening through CCC

(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).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus effectively addressed the entire person: mind and understanding, heart and will. That is precisely what he wants to do today also in the liturgy. That is why it has different characteristics in Africa and in Europe, in nursing homes and at World Youth Days, and differs in appearance in parishes and monasteries. But it must still be recognizable that it is the one liturgy of the whole worldwide Church.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1207) It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the people where the Church finds herself, though without being submissive to it. Moreover, the liturgy itself generates cultures and shapes them.     

(This question: Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy? is continued) 

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 192 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 192 - Part I. Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy?

(Youcat answer) There are changeable and unchangeable components of the liturgy. Unchangeable is everything that is of divine origin, for instance, the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Then there are changeable parts, which the Church occasionally must change. After all, the mystery of Christ must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived out at all times and in all places.    

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1200) From the first community of Jerusalem until the Parousia, it is the same Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith, celebrate in every place. The mystery celebrated in the liturgy is one, but the forms of its celebration are diverse. (CCC 1209) The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity to apostolic Tradition, i e., the communion in the faith and the sacraments received from the apostles, a communion that is both signified and guaranteed by apostolic succession.      

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus effectively addressed the entire person: mind and understanding, heart and will. That is precisely what he wants to do today also in the liturgy. That is why it has different characteristics in Africa and in Europe, in nursing homes and at World Youth Days, and differs in appearance in parishes and monasteries. But it must still be recognizable that it is the one liturgy of the whole worldwide Church.

(CCC Comment)

(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).      

(This question: Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 191.

YOUCAT Question n. 191 - What liturgical spaces define a house of God?

(Youcat answer) The central places of a house of God are the altar with the crucifix, the tabernacle, the celebrant’s chair, the ambo, the baptismal font, and the confessional.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1187) The liturgy is the work of the whole Christ, head and body. Our high priest celebrates it unceasingly in the heavenly liturgy, with the holy Mother of God, the apostles, all the saints, and the multitude of those who have already entered the kingdom. 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The altar is the central point of the church. On it Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and Resurrection are made present in the celebration of the Eucharist. It is also the table to which the People of God are invited. The tabernacle, a kind of sacred safe, houses with the greatest honor in a most worthy place in the church the Eucharistic species in which the Lord himself is present. The so-called perpetual lamp indicates that the tabernacle is “occupied”. If the lamp is not burning, the tabernacle is empty. The raised chair (Latin cathedra) of the Bishop or the priest means that ultimately Christ is the one who leads the congregation. The ambo (from Greek anabainein = to climb up), the lectern for the Word of God, should manifest the value and dignity of the biblical readings as the Word of the living God. Baptisms are performed at the baptismal font, and the holy water font should be a vivid reminder of our baptismal promises. A confessional or confession room is there so that we can acknowledge our guilt and receive forgiveness.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1188) In a liturgical celebration, the whole assembly is leitourgos, each member according to his own function. The baptismal priesthood is that of the whole Body of Christ. But some of the faithful are ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders to represent Christ as head of the Body. 

(The next question is: Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 190 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 190 - Part III. What is a Christian house of prayer?

(Youcat answer - repeated) A Christian house of prayer is both a sign of the ecclesial communion of people at a specific place and also a symbol of the heavenly dwellings that God has prepared for us all. In God’s house we gather together to pray in common or alone and to celebrate the sacraments, especially the eucharist.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1186) Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life to which all men are called. The visible church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the People of God is journeying and where the Father "will wipe every tear from their eyes"  (Rev 21:4). Also for this reason, the Church is the house of all God's children, open and welcoming. 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) “It smells like heaven here.” “Here you can be very quiet and reverent.” Many churches surround us perceptibly in a thick atmosphere of prayer. We sense that God is present here. The beauty of churchbuildings directs our attention to the beauty, greatness, and love of God. Churches are not just stonemessengers of the faith, but dwelling places of God, who is really and truly and substantially presenting the sacrament of the altar.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1199) It is in these churches that the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings his praise, lifts up her prayer, and offers the sacrifice of Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly. These churches are also places of recollection and personal prayer.   

(The next question is: What liturgical spaces define a house of God?)