LESSON-1-2 (1).docx

**LESSON 1 - THE FATHER - SOURCE AND GOAL OF THE LITURGY** **INTRODUCTION** "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, him in love to be h...

**LESSON 1 - THE FATHER - SOURCE AND GOAL OF THE LITURGY** **INTRODUCTION** "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, him in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." (CCC 1077) **BIBLICAL FOUNDATION** "In the beginning when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate." **(Gen 1: 1-2: 4)** The act of Creation and Revelation of God the Father, is seen as the initial liturgical act. The liturgy is a response to this divine act of creation and revelation. In the Old Testament perspectives, God reveals Himself as the creator and the covenant-maker setting the foundation for Christian worship and sacred rituals for worship e.g., offerings and sacrifices. In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us that God is our Father, that He alone is worthy of our worship. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (**John 4: 24)** Jesus highlighting that the Father is the source and essence of true worship. **THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE** In Christian Theology, the Father is the ultimate source of worship and liturgical celebrations and practices. This understanding derives from the doctrine of Holy Trinity, according to which the Son and the Holy Spirit originate from the Father. **Blessing** is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift. When applied to man, the word \"blessing\" **means adoration and surrender** to his Creator in thanksgiving. **(CCC 1078)** From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God\'s work is a blessing. From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the canticles of the heavenly Jerusalem, the inspired authors proclaim the plan of salvation as one vast divine blessing. **(CCC 1079)** From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman. The covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed this blessing of fruitfulness despite man\'s sin which had brought a curse on the ground. But with Abraham, the divine blessing entered into human history which was moving toward death, to redirect it toward life, toward its source. By the faith of \"the father of all believers,\" who embraced the blessing, the history of salvation is inaugurated. **(CCC 1080)** The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus), the gift of the promised land, the election of David, the presence of God in the Temple, the purifying exile, and return of a \"small remnant.\" The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, interwoven in the liturgy of the Chosen People, recall these divine blessings and at the same time respond to them with blessings of praise and thanksgiving. **(CCC 1081)** In the Church\'s liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated. The Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit. **(CCC 1082)** The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us is thus evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and \"in the Holy Spirit,\" blesses the Father \"for his inexpressible gift in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. On the other hand, until the consummation of God\'s plan, the Church never ceases to present to the Father the offering of his own gifts and to beg him to send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the faithful, and upon the whole world, so that through communion in the death and resurrection of Christ the Priest, and by the power of the Spirit, these divine blessings will bring forth the fruits of life \"to the praise of his glorious grace." **(CCC 1083)** **ST. AUGUSTINE ON WORSHIP** Worship does not benefit God but the ones giving the worship since it is in the worship of God that man attains blessedness. St. Augustine affirms the analogy of Plotinus pointing out that the sun is God and the moon is the rational soul. As the moon is illuminated by the sun, so, too, does the soul shine by participation in the true light, which is God. Because it is man who benefits from God, man owes their service to God. Augustine introduced three Greek terms to signify worship: latreia, threskeia and eusebeia. 1\. **Latreia,** ordinarily understood in Greek as service owed to human beings, however, in the Scriptures, it means "service which pertains to the worship of God." The Latin equivalent for this may be cultus but this is not owed to God alone. 2\. **Threskeia or religio** in Latin means "more precisely not just any worship but specifically the worship of God." However, religio can still be ambiguous because it can be observed when it comes to human relationships. **3. Eusebeia** or piety is also the worship of God but is used for duties to parents. St. Augustine affirms that; "whether each person also in the Trinity can also by Himself and not with the other two be called God, or great, or wise, or true, or omnipotent, or just, or anything else that can be said of God, not relatively, but absolutely." **(De Trin. VII. I)** St. Augustine investigates whether the Father can be considered wise, powerful, by himself, or only in conjunction with the Son and the Holy Spirit. He explores whether these attributes are shared equally among the Persons of the Trinity or if they pertain to them differently. **(On The Trinity, Book VII, Chapter I)** St. Augustine affirms his faith in the Trinity - God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He seeks to understand this mystery through reason, while acknowledging its transcendence. In St. Augustine\'s understanding, God the Father is the ultimate source of all creation and liturgical worship. The liturgy is seen as a response to God\'s initiative, where believers gather to honor and glorify the Father, acknowledging Him as the creator and sustainer of life. St. Augustine\'s theology presents the Father as both the source of liturgical worship and the ultimate goal of the faithful\'s journey, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and its worship practices. **LESSON 2: LITURGY AS A PARTICIPATION IN THE PRIESTLY FUNCTION OF CHRIST** **THE MEANING OF LITURGY** Etymologically, the word liturgy is derived from the Greek words: laos (people) and hergon (work). Thus, the immediate meaning of the compound word \'\'leitourgia" meaning liturgy is "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people". Indirectly, it also refers to the public office one undertakes. Coming from its origin, the word liturgy has a secular meaning. Liturgy is a public, communal, official worship of the Church where the People of God participate in the work of God. **(MD, 25) Mediator Dei** HELLENISTIC PERIOD The word Liturgy acquired a much broader meaning include the work done by slaves for their master and even the small acts of service one did to his friend. SEPTUAGINT BIBLE The Septuagint employed the word leitourgia as many as one hundred seventy (170) times to designate a levitic cult. In the Septuagint (Greek Bible) this secular word leitourgia came to be used for the sacred rites in Israel to designate a levitic cult defined as a divine institution entrusted to the care of Israel's nobility, the levitic priest. NEW TESTAMENT The word leitourgia appear fifteen (15) times in the new testament, referring to Christ\'s sacrificial or priestly offering whereby Christ became the leitourgos (the one doing the liturgy) of the sanctuary. EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITERS The early Christian writers retained the cultic meaning of the liturgy. The Didache affirms that bishops and deacons also perform the leitourgia of prophets and teachers. The Apostolic Tradition claims that clerical ordination is propter liturgiam (by reason of liturgy). The Churches in the East have consistently kept the usage of leitourgia to refer to the sacred rites, in general, and the Eucharistic celebration, in particular. **LITURGY AS A PARTICIPATION IN THE PRIESTLY FUNCTION OF CHRIST** Jesus is the Great High Priest "Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins." "No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only God's call that a man is made high priest." **(Heb 1: 1-5)** "Christ the Lord, High priest taken from among men" Jesus is the great high priest particularly in the book Hebrews. This concepts highlights Jesus' role as the mediator between God and humanity. Jesus' role as high priest is integral to Christian beliefs about salvation and intercession. Jesus' priesthood is eternal priesthood, because He lives forever, has permanent priesthood and able to save completely those who come to God through Him. **THE NATURE OF THE LITURGY** 1\. **The Mediator Dei no. 25**, defines the Liturgy as "the official public worship of the Church," by 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 its 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. **(Adams 3-11)** 2\. **The Sacrosanctum Concilium** no. 7, which speaks the liturgy as "an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ", as "the whole public worship performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, "by the head and its members", and as "an action of Christ the Priest and His Body which is the Church. **(Flannery 1-40)** 3\. Liturgy is "the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time, and the fountain from which all Church's power flows" **(SC 9-10) (CCC 1074).** All these affirmations underscore the active role played by Christ in the exercise of His priestly office. This same office which He performed as He preached the good news, healed the sick, freed those in bondage, and culminated by His death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit. **(Chupungco 4-6).** Another element of the definition is the role of the Church, which Christ associates with Himself in a capacity of minister. The phrases "through the hands of the priest", "when the priest baptizes", "when the Holy Scriptures are read", and "when the Church prays and sings" indicate the Church ministerial role in the liturgy. Being an action of Christ and the Church, the liturgy "is a sacred action surpassing all others: no other action of the Church can equal its effectiveness by the same title and to the same degree". **THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS** 1\. The Church Liturgy principally celebrates Christ's Paschal Mystery: Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ. The center of the Church's liturgy is the Eucharist. The Eucharist commemorates the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Church. Through the Paschal Mystery, Christ has completed his saving mission and the Church celebrates this in order to be able to live it out in the faithful's lives and in order to give witness to it in the present world. Through the Liturgy, the Church participates in the heavenly liturgy as well. **LITURGY AS AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD** In the Liturgy, God comes to meet man and man meets God. God comes to meet us in the celebration of His Word and His sacraments. He speaks to us personally through the Scriptures during the Mass and in the reading of the liturgy of the hours. **(Verheul 21-34)** It is the nature of Liturgy to be an encounter with God. God speaks to us in Liturgy: 1\. Celebration of the word during mass - Sacred scriptures is an essential component of liturgy. Mostly, words that we read in liturgy derived from sacred scriptures. 2\. Celebration of the Sacraments -- Receiving sacraments is a way for the Christian liturgy to express and enacts its faith and a means of grace. 3\. Reading of the Liturgy of the Hours -- Liturgy of the Hours forms part of the liturgy. By its very nature, it has a special role of Guiding Christians to a progressive participation in the saving mystery of Christ through structured prayer. **EFFECTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LITURGY** \- It nourishes our faith and lifts our minds up to God, so that we may give Him honor and thanks for the graces we have received from Him. \- It helps our Christian life grow everyday, favors our union with Christ and may bring others back to the Church. \- It is the realization of our salvation and helps the faithful express Christ's mystery and the Church nature in their lives. The Liturgy, through Sacraments, is also an exercise of Christ's priestly function through which, by means of sensible signs, man's sanctification is realized and exercised by His mystical body. It is sacred act operated by Christ through His Church and through which we participate in the heavenly Liturgy celebrated by the hosts of angels and saints. Through sacraments, the church communicates to God's people the fruits of Christ's paschal mystery. **SERMON 228B** The **Sermon 228B** was delivered around 418-420 AD during the final years of St. Augustine as a bishop of Hippo, which he frequently addressed issues related to moral behavior and Christian doctrine. The focus of **Sermon 228B** is on the Eucharist as the sacrament of the body of Christ. St. Augustine stresses the connection between what is celebrated on the altar and the hearts of those celebrating. The Sacrament of our time is the body and blood of the priest himself. St. Augustine affirms; "simple sacrifice, which is not offered now just in the one earthly city of Jerusalem, nor in that tabernacle which was constructed by Moses, nor in the temple built by Solomon. These were just shadows of things to come" (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). The Church is tasked with spreading the Gospel and leading the people to Christ. St. Augustine's **Sermon 228B** concerns for the Church's mission, the significant role of the sacraments, and the need for a moral and faithful Christian life in anticipation of the final judgment. St. Augustine has identified some of the main points of Sermon 228B**:** **Avoid hypocrisy:** St. Augustine emphasizes in Sermon 228B a warning against hypocrisy. He stresses that it essential for the believers to align their actions with their professed beliefs. **Unity of Faith and Practice**: St. Augustine underlines the unity between faith and practice. He argues that what one believes should be reflected in one's actions. This approach should be holistic to ensure that the faith is not only a set of beliefs and principles but it is lived out in everyday behavior. **Genuine Spiritual and Christian living**: A true Christian life for St. Augustine must involve more than an outward observance of religious rituals, genuine and authenticity requires a deep inner transformation and sincere love for God. St. Augustine also emphasizes at the end of his sermon on the importance of unity within the Church. He suggests that Church must be one in faith and purpose and on the importance of maintaining and faithful commitment to the Christian principles.