“Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. “ CCC 2096.
“Then the people bowed down in worship. And the Israelites did as the Lord had commanded.”Ex 12:28.
“Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God.” “Ps 95:6-7.
“Let us enter God’s dwelling: let us worship at God’s footstool.” Ps 132:7.
“You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Lk 4:8 from Dt 6:13.
“God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24.
“Worship him who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of water,” Rev 14:7.
“For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you,” Rev 15:4.
“The faithful, when they worship God, their source and model of all holiness, are themselves drawn and, as it were, impelled to holiness.” Pope Paul VI, 1964.
“It is especially necessary that there be close links between liturgy, catechesis, religious instruction and preaching.” Instruction on the Proper Implementation of the Liturgy, 1964.
“In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.” Sacred Liturgy, 8.
“Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy.” Ibid, 14.
“Everyone, above all in liturgical celebrations, will feel at one with others and in communion with the universal and local Church. The liturgical assembly is presider over by the person empowered to unite, guide, instruct, and sanctify God’s people. It is a sign and instrument of the unity of all with Christ,” Instruction on Mass, 1969.
“Liturgy is “the participation of the People of God in the work of God.” It is the “exercise of the priestly office of Jesus in which God is worshiped and adored and people are made holy. God begins the work of sanctifying people in time and space and brings that work to completion. Those who respond to God in worship and in service are given the privilege of becoming co-workers in the divine plan.” USCCB Built of Living Stone.
“Liturgical Services are not private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is the sacrament of unity, namely, the holy people united and organized.”CCC 1140.
“Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations.” CCC 1141.
The work of liturgy is to “engage the faithful in the new life of the community and involves the conscious, active, and fruitful participation of everyone.” CCC 1071.
“The liturgy produces its fruits in the lives of the faithful: new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the Church, and service to her unity.” CCC 1072.
“Worship itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.” Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love.
Liturgy
Those with the gift of leading liturgy have a strong attachment to ritual and worship in the Church. They are energized by the presence of the Trinity in all the Masses, sacraments and prayers of the Church. They love the ritual and experience adoration in all the liturgical celebrations. They see the whole expanse of those who lead and participate in the ceremonies: the priest, musicians, servers, Eucharistic ministers, the readers and the laity. They experience the holiness and love of God in their service of the Church and they seek to make God the center and the focus of all rituals.
Questions to share
- Which passage touches you or burns in your heart the most? Why?
- How have you exercised this gift in the past?
- How are you now exercising this gift in ministry?
- Do you see new ways you can exercise this ministry in the future?