Worship
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psalm 34:1
We were made for worship of the one true God. Worship is adoration and honor given to God, which is the first act of the virtue of religion. It sets us free from turning in on ourselves and idolizing the things of the world (cf. CCC, 2097). Public worship is given to God in the Church by the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ in the liturgy. “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed [and] it is also the font from which all her power flows.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10)
How
do I grow closer to God?
How
does God desire to be worshiped and praised?
how
do I entrust myself entirely to Christ?
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1. What is the liturgy?
The liturgy is the “participation of the people of God in God’s work” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1069). The liturgy puts us into contact with Divine Love by immersing us into the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’s Passion, death, Resurrection, and glorious Ascension.
2. What are the Sacraments?
A Sacrament is “an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131). The Sacraments build up the Church and nourish her members. Our Lord Jesus instituted seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick.
3. What is the Church?
The Church is “... the kingdom of Christ now present in mystery” (Lumen Gentium, 3). Established and continually sustained by Christ, the Church is the assembly of the people of God on earth (militant), in purgatory (suffering), and in heaven (triumphant). The Church is a visible society and hierarchical structure as well as an invisible community of faith, hope, and love. It is recognized by its four pillars: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
4. What is the Holy Eucharist?
The Holy Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ made present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass under the appearance of bread and wine. As the Real Presence of Christ among us, the Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life. Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever;... he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and … abides in me, and I in him” (CCC 1406, Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
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At the end of Mass we are sent to love and serve the Lord - to share our journey with others and to invite them to encounter Jesus Christ.
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Liturgical Year & Calendar (USCCB)
Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium
Why Mass? Video Series on Basics of Catholic Worship