The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 145: Introduction to the Liturgy (2024)

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

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. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. 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.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're 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'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 145. Yesterday we had Bishop Cousins joining us.

Amazing. We're reading paragraphs 1066 to 1075. I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism when I read this, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And you can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates

and daily notifications. Also quick little note as we launch into today, this second pillar, thank you, thank you so much. You guys have stuck together, stuck together and stuck with us. We've been here for 145 days. Here we are, especially after a day like yesterday. Oh man, my dad at one point, he was like,

yeah, I'm used to these 15 minute days, maybe 20 minute days. And all of a sudden he throw 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. 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 Irbum? I'm like, okay, well maybe I need to enunciate a little bit better.

That's probably true. Today we're introduced to a new document, the new document's called Sacrosanctum Concilium, right? Sacrosanctum Concilium 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 Catechism 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 lit way 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 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 gonna be just like, hey, 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,

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, on 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 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 you know introductory comments tomorrow will start section 1 the sacramental economy whole nother thing, but today we have the intro So let's call upon the Lord and and pray right now Father in heaven we give you thanks. We praise you we give you glory and we We love you help us to love you not just in our in our hearts Not just to love you in our thoughts or having a good attitude or good opinion of you Lord God 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 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, it's Day 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 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 patristic 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 by 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, our 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 act of 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 Laetrigos. She shares in Christ's priesthood, worship, which is both prophetic – proclamation – and kingly – service of charity. Sacrosanctum Concilium 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 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. Catechesis 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 catechizing the people of God.

As St. John Paul II stated, Catechesis 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. Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ. It is mystagogy, by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the sacraments 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 rites and cultures, will present what is fundamental and common to the whole Church in the liturgy as mystery and as celebration. Section 1. And then, the seven sacraments and the sacramentals. Section 2. Ok, so there we have it.

Paragraphs 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 has he done? Well, through his life, death, the resurrection and ascension into heaven by giving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and 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 why the liturgy because here's what Jesus has done for us

He's given us the Holy Spirit and it is 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 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 the word liturgy originally meant public work or service in the name of be 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 You know just and I know that I'm restating what you just heard But it is really important for us to understand because we're gonna use the term liturgy a bunch over the next couple weeks slash months

So to be able to understand okay. Here use the term liturgy a bunch over the next couple 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 and 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 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 in the Eucharist,

but any of the sacraments, whenever we participate in them, it is the work of God. So, I mean, think about the anointing of the sick, as just as an example. The work of God is healing. The work of God. So, and we think about the anointing of the sick, as 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, and giving 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, in the Eucharist, right? What's happening there? Well, that is the self-offering of the Son to the Father in 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 constantly being presented to it. It's being presented to us. It's constantly happening, this offering of Son 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 if we always, remember, it's always come back to this piece of, we're participating in what God is doing. So the liturgy 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 in we're not simply observing. That's a whole nother thing we're going to talk about as we move forward. Too often, you're gonna hear me say this 1000 times in the next few weeks and months. Too often, when we're going to talk about as we move forward. It's 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 10 71 says, the conscious, active, and fruitful participation of everyone. And that doesn't mean you are now a lector. That doesn't mean that now you're an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Mass.

It doesn't mean you're now a greeter. 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 going to confession, I'm participating in the work of God of reconciliation, of healing, of giving strength, and I'm participating

by confessing my sins and receiving His grace. If I'm going to mass, I'm 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 I can 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 sanctification. 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 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, I've also said 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 sacramental economy chapter one the paschal mystery in 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.