Liturgies
While the liturgy of the Eucharist (the Mass) is the source and summit of our liturgical life as Catholic Christians, the word "liturgy" means the celebration of Mass and more. If we equate the word liturgy with worship, then the scope is broader. Liturgy is all those rites – words and actions with universal meaning – through which the Church gathered publicly praises God in Jesus' name. In addition to the Mass, it includes all the liturgical celebrations of sacraments and sacramentals: baptisms, weddings, confirmations, penance, anointings, and other sacraments, as well as the Liturgy of the Hours and many other rites: Christian funerals, RCIA rites, the consecration of churches, profession of religious vows, and rites of blessing water, palms, ashes and the like. Non-liturgical prayer and devotions are covered in the section labeled Spirituality
In the life of the Church, as in the life of Jesus, the dynamic process of God's initiative and our cooperative response is meant to become visible, and the liturgy is the explicit celebration of that ongoing process. Liturgies turn us toward praising God. As Cardinal Joseph Bernardin put it, it reminds us of who we are and whose we are! It allows us to celebrate things too good to be true!
That celebration is expressed in a variety of forms, a variety of liturgies, but always with these common elements: a community gathering together to praise and thank God, to remember and make present God's great deeds, to offer common prayer, and to realize and celebrate the kingdom of peace and justice in an outreach beyond itself.
Preparing Liturgies: Sunday and Seasons
Simple liturgical preparation resource for beginning liturgy committees with a list of basic resources.
Download a sample liturgy committee planning calendar calendar: 41k Word doc or 138k PDF doc).
