1. Introduction to Liturgy

2. Evolution of the word LITURGY 1. ETYMOLOGY  GREEK  Laos (people)  Ergon (work/activity)  Therefore: Liturgy means ACTIVITY OF THE PEOPLE (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)

3. 2. Early Church  Everything that Christians did to take part of God’s work, the “divine plan” :  proclamation of the Gospel and service to one’s neighbor.  ‘rubrics’ – what the priest does around the altar in the ceremonial worship.

4. 3. Scripture  OLD TESTAMENT  bk of Leviticus - the worship of Yahweh  NEW TESTAMENT  Lk 1.23 ritual and priestly duty (Zechariah)  Acts 13.32Worship of the Lord  Rom 13.16 Work or material service  Rom 15.16 Preaching the Good News  2 Cor 9.12 Service to others  Heb 8.2 Christ’s sacrificial or priestly offering whereby he became the liturgist of the sanctuary  Rom 15.16 The spiritual sacrifice of Christians  Acts 13.12The cultic celebration of the Christians who “made liturgy to the Lord” at Antioch.

5. 4. MEDIATOR DEI  # 25: “The public worship which our Redeemer as head of the Church renders to the Father, as well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to the Founder, and through him to the heavenly Father.”  It is the worship rendered by the Mystical Body of Christ in the entirety of its head and members.

6. 5. VATICAN II: Sacrosanctum Consilium #7:  An exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ as  Full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members”, and as  An action of Christ Priest and his Body which is the Church  BASIC CONCEPT OF THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST:  Celebration of the Mass  The Sacraments  Word of God  Divine Office

7.  Center of Christ Liturgy(EUCHARIST)  PASCHAL MYSTERY  Passion  Death  Resurrection  Therefore in the Holy MASS  Christ offers himself through the hands of the priest, who formerly offered himself on the cross

8.  What are the active role played by Christ in the exercise of his priestly ministry? 1.preached the Good News 2.healed the sick 3.freed those in bondage 4.culminated his death on the cross, resurrected from the dead and bestowed the Holy Spirit upon his apostles.

9.  The Church Ministerial Role in the Liturgy  “through the hands of the priest”  “when a person baptizes”  “when the holy scriptures are read”  “when the Church prays and sings”  Therefore: the LITURGY being an action of Christ, “is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its effectiveness by the same title to the same degree.”

10. Essential Components of Liturgy:  Sacred Sriptures 1.the readings are given and explained in the homily 2.psalms are sung 3.the prayers, collects, and liturgical songs are scriptural in their inspiration 4.it is from the Scriptures that actions and signs derive their meaning. In consequence the celebration of the liturgy, whether of the MASS, SACRAMENTS, SACRAMENTAL, or the LITURGY OF THE HOURS always includes the proclamation of God’s Word.

11. ULTIMATE AIM OF LITURGY:  “Perfect glorification of God and the sanctification of those who celebrate it.  These are signified and brought about “by means of signs perceptible to the senses.”  SIGNS AND SYMBOLS give the liturgy a sacramental dimension, that is, they contain and reveal the presence of Christ and the mystery which Christ celebrates.

12. SIGNS AND SYMBOLS in the LITURGY:  words: sacramental formularies  gestures: hand laying  materials: water, bread, wine, oil  the difference that exists among signs gives rise to the different forms of liturgical celebrations

13. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LITURGY 1. SC # 10 - “culmen te fons”  The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time the source or fount which all the Church’s power flows. 2. SC #14 : considers “the full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy aim of the conciliar reform and the promotion of liturgy. Active participation is the right and duty of the faithful “by reason of their baptism

14. 4. SC 26: declares that “Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations belonging to the Church.” 5. SC 38: speaks of “substantial unity” of the liturgy in opposition to “rigid uniformity.” The liturgy is celebrated in the concrete situation of the worshipping community and hence takes into consideration their culture and traditions.

15. LOCAL SITUATION  For FILIPINO CATHOLICS, liturgy means being caught up in the yearly cycle of liturgical seasons like Advent, Lent, Holy Week, Easter Time, Ordinary Time and in celebrating feast days like Pentecost, Christ the King, Immaculate Conception and others.

16. LITURGICAL CALENDAR  The chart shows the 52 weeks of the year situated around and centers in the paschal mystery represented by the cross (death) and Easter candle (resurrection). The signs alpha and omega mean Christ is the beginning (alpha) and the end (omega) of everything.  The lines in the circle mark the Sundays directed towards the symbols of the paschal mystery because Christians celebrate the Lord’s death and resurrection every Sunday. Each Sunday is therefore a little Easter Feast, the original day, the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year (SC 106).

17.  Every Sunday and important liturgical events derive their themes from biblical readings particularly from the Gospels which are read in more or less a continuous manner throughout the Sundays of a year. There is a three-year cycle: Year A, B, & C.  Year A – main source is the gospel of Matthew  Year B – main source is the gospel of Mark  Year C – main source is the gospel of Luke  Gospel of JOHN is used to supplement that of Mark during the Lenten season as well as in the Easter season of every year and to some special occasions.

18.  There are two special cycles in the chart: Christmas Cycle (weeks 1-7) and Easter Cycles. The Christmas cycle is composed of Advent and the Christmas season. The Ester cycle has its center and high point in the Paschal Triduum beginning Holy Thursday evening and lasting until Easter Sunday. This is preceded by Lent and followed by the Easter season.

19.  The remaining weeks of the year is the so-called “Ordinary Time” or the time throughout the year in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated but rather the Christ event revealed in the saints. It has two blocks: Part I is between Christmas and Lent and Part II is the longer period between Easter and Advent.

20.  Each cycle has a particular liturgical color:  Ordinary Time  Advent and Lent  Christmas and Easter (white)  Feast of martyrs  Marian celebrations

21.  To sum it all, the Liturgical Year is divided into  A - dvent  C - hristmas  O – rdinary Time I  L - ent  P – aschal Triduum  E – aster Time  O – rdinary Time II

22. SUMMARY:  By virtue of our baptism, all Christians have the right and duty to full, active and conscious worshipping and celebrating people, a priestly people. This priesthood is expressed in our full and active participation in liturgical and sacramental celebrations, in prayer and thanksgiving, in active charity, in offering spiritual exercises.

23.  We are all called to carry our and express the priestly nature of our baptism through  regular mass  celebration of the sacraments  bible sharing (home and community)  celebration of the liturgy of the word in the chapel (if there’s no mass or if our community is far from the parish church)  patronal fiesta  popular devotions such as rosary, novena, etc  prayers for the dead  rituals for harvesting

24.  From the definition of the liturgy, we were able to identify our rights and duties in the liturgy by virtue of our baptism. All of you here are hoping to be commissioned to serve Christ in the liturgy. I hope and pray that Jesus the true liturgist will keep that desire to serve him burning in your heart. And we all say: THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED.