1	Liturgy and the Sacraments Diocese of Madison Lay Institute March 10, 2007 Rev. Tait C. Schroeder, STL, V.E.
2	* What is Liturgy? “The word ‘liturgy’ originally meant a ‘public work’ or a ‘service in the name of/on behalf of the people.’ In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God.’ Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.” (CCC 1069)
3	Reflection/Application How is this definition lived out or not lived out in your experience of “liturgy?” Whose “work” is the liturgy? Road analogy
4	* SC 14 “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…”
5	* Reflection/Application SC 30 – “acclamations, responses, psalms, antiphons, hymns, as well as by actions, gestures and bodily attitudes…a reverent silence should be observed.” Actuosa, not activa – This terminology does not necessarily denote external activity. Rather, the Council Fathers were seeking an internal attitude of mental and heart-felt attention and devotion. What does “active participation” mean?
6	CCC 1072 – SC 9 “‘The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church’: it must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and conversion. It can then produce 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.”
7	Reflection/Application Remember the triangle of Scripture, Sacraments, and Ethics stemming from Faith – we must strive to keep a balance between all these elements
8	* CCC 1074 – SC 10 “‘The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.’ It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God.”
9	* Lex orandi, lex credendi SC 22, #3 – “No other person, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” – Why? – to change the way we pray could and does affect the content of the faith and the way in which we believe We learn and live our faith from the way we pray. Our faith cannot only be intellectual knowledge, it must also be expressed in worship. “The law of prayer is the law of belief”
10	SC 21 “For the liturgy is made up of unchangeable elements divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change.”
11	Reflection/Application What would the “elements subject to change” in the liturgy be? What would the “unchangeable elements” in the liturgy be?
12	* SC 7 Christ’s four presences in the liturgy: “the person of his minister” “the eucharistic species” “his word” “he is present when the Church prays and sings”
13	* Reflection/Application What are some “practical” applications of the four-fold presence of Christ? Is there a hierarchy among these four presences?
14	* SC 28 “In liturgical celebrations each person, minister, or layman who has an office to perform, should carry out all and only those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the norms of the liturgy.”
15	* Reflection/Application Name some examples of where this norm takes place. Where does this norm derive its rationale?
16	* SC 60 “Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the Church’s intercession. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.”
17	Reflection/Application Given this definition, name some of the various sacramentals of the Church.
18	Latin in the Liturgy SC 36 – the Latin language is to be preserved SC 54 – “Nevertheless care must be taken to ensure that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”
19	Sacred Music SC 116 – chant with “pride of place” and polyphony encouraged SC 120 – “The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church”
20	Sacred Furnishings SC 126 – “Ordinaries should ensure that sacred furnishings and works of value are not disposed of or destroyed, for they are ornaments in God’s house.” Reform vs. Discontinuity hermeneutic