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The Liturgy, Prayer, the Mystical Body of Christ. The meaning of "the…
The Liturgy, Prayer, the Mystical Body of Christ. The meaning of "the cosmic function of the liturgy"
Liturgy and the Church
The liturgy of the Church and Sacraments are intimately linked/intertwined
There are seven Sacraments and the greatest one is the Eucharist. This is because in the Eucharist, Christ is truly present
Where and how does this come about?
In the liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Sacraments:
are gifts of God, to be accessed for all time, beyond the time of Jesus walking the earth. They are gifts that bring us into God's own life.
The Liturgy:
is the context in which this happens. Liturgy is the work of God and the work of humanity combined
Prayer
It is the Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said, instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer:
Blessing
Petition
Intercession
Thanksgiving
Praise
The Mystical Body of Christ
Mystical body is the society of those who have been baptised, profess the faith of Christ, and who are governed by their bishops under the visible head, the Pope.
St Paul speaks of all Christians as members of Christ, so that with Him they form one Mystical body
St Paul did not use the word Mystical. It was developed more recently to bring focus to the fact that this union is unique
Jesus Christ is the head of the Mystical body, the high priest and chief celebrant
Another part of the Mystical body is made up of the souls in Purgatory (awaiting entry to heaven)
A third part of the Mystical body are those who have attained eternal happiness in heaven
The liturgy is celebrated by the whole of this Body of Christ: Christ as the head and high priest, together with his Body, the Church in heaven, in purgatory and on earth.
The Cosmic Function of the Liturgy
To the extent that one can grasp that, then the next aspect can be more appreciated. God's plan is cosmic- it embraces heaven and earth: All of creation is involved and affected by the Liturgy (an act of the mystical body of Christ
In the beginning, God, over a long period of time, prepared the earth with gifts, one step at a time, first the mineral world, then the plant world, then the animal world.
The emergence of man (Hebrew “adam” / earth creature) brings creation to a new level. Now there is a creature that can participate with God in the perfecting of creation… who can transform earth by the work, with intelligence and love.
Link to Liturgy:
Liturgy means “work of the people” – the word for liturgy and “work” in both Greek and Latin are the same.
When “work” is performed, even on the spiritual plane, it requires effort from the people.
Work is the way human beings perfect themselves and are of service to creation and to every human being in creation.
The same applies to the liturgy… It is work in a true sense: something Montessori understood well (when she calls the activities of the children as works).
We cannot work effectively alone: one way or another, we rely on other people, or other creatures, not to mention God’s own presence.
The same is true of liturgy.
Liturgy can only be done in relationship – with each other and with Christ and the Church. (Remember what has been said about the Mystical Body of Christ: The body with its head.