Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Currently Reading:

The Liturgy — Work Of The Holy Trinity

April 23, 2016 Our Catholic Faith No Comments

By DON FIER

Part 3

Just as we saw two weeks ago that the Father is the source and goal of the liturgy, we similarly saw last week that Jesus Christ is the center of the liturgy. It is in His Paschal Mystery, which is recalled during the memorial acclamation at each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the words: “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again,” where this is signified and made present.
His “once-for-all” sacrifice on Calvary and His glorious Resurrection are not merely commemorated, but made present in sacramental form.
We have in Christ, then, who is risen and “seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 8:1), an eternal High Priest who “is still ‘our advocate with the Father’ (1 John 2:1), who ‘always lives to make intercession’ (Heb. 7:25) for us” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 519). The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church expertly summarizes the manner by which Christ continues His liturgical work from Heaven:
“By giving the Holy Spirit to his apostles he entrusted to them and their successors the power to make present the work of salvation through the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments, in which he himself acts to communicate his grace to the faithful at all times and places throughout the world” (n. 222).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), having thus far dealt with the Father and the Son in its instruction on the liturgy as the work of the Holy Trinity, now focuses on the crucial role of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life.
So important is the Advocate in the Church’s liturgical life that Christoph Cardinal Schönborn positively affirms: “Everything in the Church that is truly alive, that lives with the life of Christ, has been raised to life by the Holy Spirit” (Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church [L-CCC], p. 17). This statement, in essence, underscores what St. Augustine stated so many centuries ago: “What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church” (Sermo 267, 4; as cited by CCC, n. 797).
More than twice the length of earlier segments on the Father and the Son, this 19-paragraph section entitled “The Holy Spirit and the Church in the Liturgy” consists of two introductory paragraphs followed by four short subsections that enumerate the works by which we can know the presence of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy in a special way: “he prepares men for the encounter with Christ; he manifests him and his words to men; he makes Christ present; and he unites men with Christ” (L-CCC, p. 17; cf. CCC, n. 1092).
It is interesting to note that this section of the Catechism (in contrast to the two prior sections on the Father’s and the Son’s role in the liturgy) considers the work of the Holy Spirit together with the Church. It is stated in the opening paragraph that “the desire and work of the Spirit in the heart of the Church is that we may live from the life of the risen Christ” (CCC, n. 1091). It is the Holy Spirit, explains Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, “[who] is the Teacher whom Christ promised. He enlightens our faith and inspires our response” (The Faith, p. 103).
“When the Spirit encounters in us the response of faith,” teaches the Catechism, “the liturgy becomes the common work of the Holy Spirit and the Church” (CCC, ibid.). In other words, provided that we respond with living faith to the inspirations and illuminations of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier unites us in a loving community in the Church; we are thereby enabled to share in the life of Christ now risen (cf. The Faith, ibid.). “By his transforming power, [the Holy Spirit] makes the mystery of Christ present here and now” (CCC, n. 1092).
The Catechism proceeds at this point to provide illumination on each of the four previously mentioned workings of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s liturgy. First, it is the Spirit who prepares the People of God to encounter Christ. To use an analogy, just as any professional athlete or renowned concert pianist cannot perform with excellence without extensive preparation, so too must faith be awakened and hearts opened in preparation for an authentic encounter with Christ.
When did this period of preparation commence? “Already from the beginning of the world the foreshadowing of the Church took place,” maintain the Vatican II fathers. “It was prepared in a remarkable way throughout the history of the people of Israel and by means of the Old Covenant” (Lumen Gentium, n. 2).
In the events of the Old Testament, God was continually preparing a people for Christ’s coming: remotely when He called Abraham and promised that he would become the father of a great people, and immediately with Israel’s election as the People of God (cf. CCC, n. 762). It is for this reason that “the Old Testament dimension must never be absent from the Church’s liturgy” (L-CCC, p. 18).
As the Catechism explains, “In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant” (CCC, n. 1093). Since “the Old Covenant has never been revoked” (CCC, n. 121), the Church “has retained certain elements of the worship of the Old Covenant as integral and irreplaceable, adopting them as her own” (CCC, n. 1093).
Three specific elements are mentioned that are prominent in the Church’s liturgy: reading of the Old Testament, praying of the Psalms, and recalling many of the saving events and significant realities of salvation history (which are fulfilled by the Holy Spirit in our very midst). The Holy Spirit enables those who are properly disposed to see the Old Testament as a preparation for the New as they attentively participate in the liturgy.
The paschal catechesis of the Lord, then, is built “on this harmony of the two Testaments” (CCC, n. 1094), as are the teachings of the apostles, the Church fathers, and the magisterial office of the Church. “God, the inspirer and author of both Testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New” (Dei Verbum, n. 16).
In other words, the “figures” and “types” (e.g., the great flood and Noah’s Ark as prefiguring Baptism, manna in the desert as prefiguring the Eucharist, etc.) that are prominent in the Old Testament are unveiled and revealed in the New Testament.
That is precisely why the Church, in her liturgy, continues to celebrate the great deeds of God from Israel’s past. In the words of Cardinal Schönborn, the Old Testament readings are “the school by which God guides us to the point of being ready for the coming of Christ” (L-CCC, p. 18).
And as the Catechism explains: “Especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, [the Church] re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the ‘today’ of her liturgy” (CCC, n. 1095).
Yet a demand is placed upon those assembled — they must open themselves up to God’s grace and allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen their faith and enlighten their minds so they might grasp a spiritual understanding of the word they hear.
The Catechism goes on to explain that, in its characteristic structure, the Liturgy of the Word and even the prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist have their origin in Jewish prayer. The same can be said for the Liturgy of the Hours and many other liturgical texts and formularies that are so familiar to us. Moreover, the Church’s liturgical calendar is strongly influenced by the great festivals of the Chosen People; however, there are significant differences in content.

Interior Conversion

Perhaps most apparent and striking is the Feast of the Passover: “Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover. For Jews, it is the Passover of history, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is the Passover fulfilled in the death and Resurrection of Christ” (CCC, n. 1096).
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, in a commentary on the Catechism’s teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy, emphasizes an incalculably vital point about our preparation for the liturgy.
It must not primarily be seen as “an intellectual reception of the theological truths but an interior affair of the heart wherein conversion is best expressed and the conviction towards a life in union with the will of the Father most vividly recognized. . . . Docility to the Holy Spirit is the precondition for the graces received during the celebration itself and for their subsequent affects and effects (cf. CCC, nn. 1097-1098).”
Our preparation, in other words, must not aim first at outward works but interior conversion; otherwise, our exterior works will remain sterile and false (cf. CCC, n. 1430). Only in this manner will we become receptive to the graces that will move us to love one another in a manner that transcends “racial, cultural, social — indeed, all human affinities” (CCC, n. 1097).

+ + +

(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)