"Liturgy from Vatican II to the Present Day": LITURGY AND CATECHESIS

12^th Video Conference, Sat, 28 Sept. 2002 * Fr. Gregory D. Gaston, STD (Manila) 

Lex orandi, lex credendi. The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1124). Through the liturgy the believer is led to know more about the Church’s faith. This takes place not only intellectually, but also in an experiential manner, by putting us in direct contact with the object of our faith: God himself and what he has revealed.

Such spiritual union with God in the liturgy cannot but move the faithful on to be in touch with the world and concerned with the temporal realities of life. John Paul II made it clear that God refuses "worship isolated from life, liturgy separated from justice, prayer detached from daily efforts, faith devoid of works" (January 10, 2001, Wednesday audience). Liturgy inserts us more and more into the Trinitarian life, allowing us go beyond our human frailties and respond to our vocation to holiness by accepting Christ’s Good News and his invitation for us to follow him in this world. All this reflects the reality of catechesis as formation in living faith, faith put into action.

The Holy Father clarifies in Veritatis Splendor 103 the question of whether the Gospel message "is essentially only an ‘ideal’ which must then be adapted, proportioned, graduated to the so-called concrete possibilities of man". He answers by asking in turn, "But what are the ‘concrete possibilities of man’? And of which man are we speaking?" He continues, "Of man dominated by lust or of man redeemed by Christ? This is what is at stake: the reality of Christ’s redemption. Christ has redeemed us! This means that he has given us the possibility of realizing the entire truth of our being; he has set our freedom free from the domination of concupiscence."

In celebrating our redemption in the liturgy then we not only express our faith and deepen our knowledge of God. Rather, we are also given the capacity to fulfill the demands of the Gospel message, in whatever state of life we are in.

As a practical note, it can be said that every well-celebrated liturgy is therefore an invaluable means of catechesis. Whatever effort priests exert to celebrate the sacraments properly and in a dignified manner will surely contribute to the formation of the faithful and show them that indeed, God is present in our midst. Care has to be shown not only during the celebration itself, but also in its preparation: in the instruction of those participating; order and cleanliness of vessels, vestments, liturgical books and the place itself; quality of the homily and points for reflection, and so on. Such points have to be emphasized both in the on-going formation of priests, as well as in seminary formation.