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Chapter 14. The Celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ • 167
Part Two of the
Catechism
, containing two sections, deals with the
liturgy of the Church. Section One presents the basic teachings about
liturgy. Section Two presents the Seven Sacraments. The word
liturgy
comes from a Greek term meaning “public work or work done on behalf
of the people.” Liturgy always referred to an organized community. A
work, then, done by an individual or a group was a liturgy on behalf
of the larger community. All the worshipers are expected to participate
actively in each liturgy, for this is holy “work,” not entertainment or a
spectator event. Every liturgical celebration is an action of Christ the
High Priest and of his Mystical Body, which is the Church. It therefore
requires the participation of the People of God in the work of God.
Liturgy is centered on the Holy Trinity. At every liturgy the action of
worship is directed to the Father, from whom all blessings come, through
the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We praise the Father who first
called us to be his people by sending us his Son as our Redeemer and
giving us the Holy Spirit so that we can continue to gather, to remember
what God has done for us, and to share in the blessings of salvation.
Through the liturgical celebrations of the Church, we participate in
the Paschal Mystery of Christ, that is, his passing through death from
this life into eternal glory, just as God enabled the people of ancient
Israel to pass from slavery to freedom through the events narrated
in the Book of Exodus (cf. Ex 11-13). The liturgies of the Church also
help to teach us about Jesus Christ and the meaning of the mysteries we
are celebrating.
A mystery is a reality that is both visible and hidden. Jesus Christ’s
death and Resurrection become present to us and effective for us in the
liturgical life of the Church. His death and Resurrection are hidden now
in the eternity of God, but as Risen Lord and Head of the Church, Jesus
Christ calls us to share in them through the liturgy of the Church, that
is, by the visible gathering of the community for worship and remem-
brance of what God has done for us. It is the Holy Spirit, the source of
the Church’s life, who draws us together through liturgical actions, the
chief of which are the Sacraments. The term
liturgy
itself has a broader
application than that of Sacrament, for it embraces all the official public