The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 145: Introduction to the Liturgy

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

Together, with Fr. Mike, we begin the section of the Catechism examining the liturgy. We start with an exploration of the questions of “why” the liturgy and “what” the liturgy is. Fr. Mike explains that it is through the liturgy that we are able to encounter the grace that Jesus Christ has won for us. He emphasizes that it is the liturgy that gives us access to God, himself. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1066-1075. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

I am your name is Father Mike Schmitz and you are listening to the Catechism in a Year Podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days we will read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity and God's families we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 145. Yesterday we had Bishop Cousins, joining us with amazing, we're reading paragraphs 1066 to 1075. I'm using the ascension edition of the Catholicism. When I read this, but you'll do it, it includes the foundations of faith

approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catholicism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C.I.Y. And you can also click follow or subscribe on your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Also quick and little note as we launch into today is you know second pillar. Thank you. Thank you so much. You guys have stuck together stuck together stuck with us. We've been here for 145 days. Here we are, especially after you know a daily like yesterday, oh man, my dad at one point, he had, he was like, yeah, I'm used to these 15 minute days, maybe 20 minute days, and all of a sudden,

you give it to me this curve ball with this really long day, and I'm like, oh, sorry, dad, sorry about that. But here we are. So thank you for all those of you who are here, and also all those who have supported the production of this podcast with your prayers and financial gifts. Literally could not do this without you. Here we are, day 145.

Again, okay, we're talking about the liturgy. Couple things to keep in mind. If you remember, way back when we had this book called Dei Verbum, right? And everyone say, who's Dave Earbum? I'm like, okay, well, maybe I need to announce you a little bit better. That's probably true. Today, we're introduced to a new document, the new document is called Sacrosanctum Consilium, right? Sacrosanctum Consilium is a document of the Second Vatican Council. A couple times today, I'm going to reference that document because it really has guided

the way in which the catacasem here has presented the sacraments. Now, one of the things that we heard yesterday with Bishop Cousins is the beauty, the mystery, just the way that sacraments impact our lives, like the liturgy impacts our lives. And it's just incredible because we have this, here is God who is so transcendent, right? He is so other. And yet he reaches down to us and he comes to us in the liturgy, he comes to us in the sacraments. And also we serve, we worship, we praise the Lord through the liturgy.

And so there's this incredible high and powerful vision. Now, today, as we launch into our understanding of the liturgy, it's going to be just like, wait, some nuts and bolts right away. Like, for example, number one, why the liturgy? Why would we even have such a thing as liturgy? Also, we're using this word liturgy. What does it mean? Well, 1069 says, the word liturgy originally meant a public work or a service in the name of

or on behalf of the people. Now, in the Christian tradition, it means that the participation of the people of God in the work of God. And so just keep that in mind. 1070 also gives kind of another explanation of liturgy. It refers not only to divine worship, but also to the proclamation of the gospel and to active charity. So all of these meanings for the word liturgy

are we're gonna kind of use them. We're gonna use them all. So when you hear that word liturgy, realize, okay, this is a public work. It's a service in the name of, from behalf of the people, but also it is the participation of the people of God in the work of God. Let's hold on to that one. The participation of the people, but also it is the participation of the people of God in the work of God.

Let's hold on to that one. The participation of the people of God in the work of God. So God is doing something in this world. When we enter into the liturgy, we are entering into and participating with what God is doing in this world. And we also recognize that this is the source of our life. So this is introductory comments. Tomorrow we'll start section one, the Sacramento economy, whole another thing. But today we have the intro. So let's call up on the Lord and pray right now. Father in heaven, we give you thanks, we praise you, we give you glory and we love you.

Help us to love you, not just in our hearts, not just to love you, in our thoughts, or having a good attitude, or a good opinion of you, Lord God, it helps us to love you, not just in our hearts, not just the love you, in our thoughts, or having a good attitude, or good opinion of you, Lord God, to help us to love you through worship, help us to love you by participating in your work, your work of sanctifying this world, your work of redeeming this world, your work of transforming this world, your work of reaching out to our brothers and sisters who are in the most need. We ask you to please help us to do that now in the course of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

amen. As I said, as they say, 145, we are reading paragraphs 1066 to 1075. How we worship, part 2, the celebration of the Christian mystery, the liturgy, section 1, the sacramental economy. Why the liturgy? In the symbol of the faith, the liturgy, Section 1, the sacramental economy. Why the liturgy? 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.

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, and the Petristic tradition will call the economy of the word incarnate or the economy of salvation. 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. For this reason, the church celebrates in the liturgy above all, the paschal mystery, but which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation. 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. As sacrosanctum concilium states, 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. What does the word liturgy mean? 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. Through the liturgy, Christ, a Redeemer and high-priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through His church. 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. 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, latergos. She shares in Christ's priesthood worship, which is both prophetic, proclamation, and kingly, service of charity. Sacro-Sanctomchantilium further states, 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. Liturgy as Source of Life. As the work of Christ, Liturgy is also an action of His church. It makes the church present and manifests her as the visible sign of the communion in Christ

between God and men. It engages the faithful in the new life of the community and involves the conscious, active, and fruitful participation of everyone. The sacred Liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. It must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the faithful, new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the church, and service to our unity. Prayer and Liturgy

The Liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the Liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal. Through the liturgy, the inner man is rooted and grounded in the great love with which the Father loved us in his beloved Son. It is the same marvelous work of God that is lived and internalized by all prayer at all times in the Spirit. Catacesis and liturgy The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed. It is also the font from which all her power flows.

It is therefore the privileged place for catacizing the people of God. As St. John Paul II stated, catacesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of the turgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men. Lattergical Catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ. It is mystogogy, by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the sacraments, to the mysteries. Such catechesis is to be presented by local and regional catechisms. This catechism, which aims to serve the whole church in all the diversity of her rights and cultures,

will present what is fundamental and common to the whole church in the liturgy as mystery and as celebration, section one. And then the seven sacraments and the sacramentals. Section two. Okay, so there we have it. Baragraphs 1066 to 1075. One thing just to highlight. Right away, the church asks the question, why the liturgy?

Hopefully you caught the answer. The answer is, here is what God has done for us. Here is the way the Lord has created God, has created this world. He's also redeemed this world through the Paschal mystery, right? The life, death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.

God wants to bring what he has done for us to us. And so he does that in the power of the Holy Spirit through the liturgy. Like it's through the liturgy that we encounter, the grace that Jesus Christ has won for us. This is the massive, massive part of understanding that what is the work of God? Well, the work of God is everything in this world, right? But in the economy of salvation, remember in the way in which God has saved this world,

what is he done? Well, through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, by giving the Holy Spirit and the atpentecost. He has Redeemed us for the Lord. He's brought us into made it possible for us to live in Right relationship with God not just like okay, now we have a relationship with God and we can live in heaven But even in this world we get to have access to the Father. We get to have access to God Himself and so what why the liturgy? Because here's what Jesus has done for us He's given us the Holy Spirit and it is through the liturgy? Because here's what Jesus has done for us. He's given us the

Holy Spirit and it is through the liturgy that we encounter and participate in what God has done for us. And this is just so important. That's one of the reasons why 1069 that paragraph is so important in that second line. Okay, well, first line says with the word liturgy originally meant public work or service in the name of on behalf of the people. So, yep, definitely. The second line, in Christian tradition, it means the participation of the people of God in the work of God. And I know that I'm restating what you just heard, but it is really important for us to understand, because we're going to use the term liturgy a bunch over the next couple of weeks slash months. So to be able to understand, okay, here is the term liturgy. This always means the participation

of the people of God, that's you and me in the whole church, in the work of God. And what is the work of God? Again, redemption, sanctification. Here's the work of God that is reconciliation, the work of God that is, here he wants to make us like him, right? Divinization in this amazing, incredible way. So that's our participation in what God is doing every time you and I show up for the sacraments. Every time you and I worship the Lord above all new christs, but any of the sacraments, whenever we participate in them, it is the work of God. So think about the anointing of the sick, as just as an example. The work of God is healing. The work of God is giving work of God. So let me think about the anointing of the sick. Let's just as an example.

The work of God is healing. The work of God is giving His divine life. Whether the body is healed or only the soul is healed, what's happening is there's a healing. And the work of God is the healing, the healing of the person. The work of God is reconciliation, and strengthening the giving of the person that courage to take the next step in life.

And when we celebrate that sacrament of anointing of the sick, we are participating in that work of God in the mass and the Eucharist, right? What's happening there? Well, that is the self offering of the Son to the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, right? It's the sacrifice once for all that happened on Calvary, but it is constantly, we're constantly being presented to it. It's being presented to us. It's constantly happening, this offering of sun to the Father and the Power of the Holy Spirit. We get to, that's the work. We get to participate in that self-offering in the liturgy. And so we always remember, we always come back to this piece of, we're participating in what God is doing.

So the liturgy is not meant to So the little G is not meant to be dry, it's not meant to be, it's not empty, it's not simply going through the motions. What we're doing every single time is we're in some ways tapping into what is happening in God, right? We're tapping into, we're participating and we're not simply observing. That's a whole other thing we're going to talk about as we move forward too often. You're going to hear me say this a thousand times in the next few weeks and months. Too often when we show up to the sacraments, when we show up to worship, we are simply watching. We're watching someone else pray. We're maybe, maybe praying along or maybe following along. But we're meant to participate fully. That's one of

the reasons why paragraph 1071 says the conscious, active, and fruitful participation of everyone. And that doesn't mean you and our elector, that doesn't mean that now you're an extraordinary and a majority of us are all the communion at mass. It doesn't mean you're an agreeater. The conscious, active, and fruitful participation of everyone means you and I understand what is happening, what is going on in this particular liturgy,

and we're participating in it in whatever way we possibly can. So again, if I'm going to confession, I'm participating in the work of God of reconciliation, or of healing, of giving strength, and I'm participating by confessing my sins and receiving his grace, if I'm going to mass, and participating by praying and offering up my heart and offering up the sacrifice of the Eucharist in participation with the ministerial priest and in participation with Jesus Christ, the high priest. So, okay, got to go on and on, but all these ways.

But if we can get this, this is going to be our key for the next number of days. The key being, okay, God's work, the work of God is sanctification, the work of God is redemption, the work of God is deification. The work of God is redemption. The work of God is deification. The work of God is active right now, reconciliation. And every time we show up for the liturgies, we are participating in that work of God. If we get that, we will get the next,

the next number of days, weeks, months will be powerful. And if we don't get it, they'll still be powerful because there's a lot of other things going on, but that's gonna be our key right now as we move forward. So I'm just inviting us all. Have our eyes open, have our ears open, and just watch for the opportunity to participate in God's work,

because that is liturgy, our participation in the work of God. Anyways, that's what I got today. That's the one message. If you can remember anything from today, the reason I said it a thousand times today, well, also I think the word a thousand, a couple times. Why I repeated myself so many times

is because we want to get this so absolutely clear. Okay, tomorrow we're gonna start section one. This was just a prologue kind of a situation. Section one, the Sacramento economy, chapter one, the Paschal Mystery in the age Paschal mystery, and the age of the church. This is the work of the Holy Trinity. More on that tomorrow right now, please. Let's pray for each other.

I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you