Day 163: Summary of the Liturgy (1187-1199)

• It’s Day 163!!

• It’s MCNUGGET DAY!!

• Every bullet point today is covering what we have read the last few days

• Who celebrates the liturgy?

• How is the liturgy celebrated?

• When is the liturgy celebrated?

• Where is the liturgy celebrated?

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we praise you. We give you glory. We thank you for bringing us to this day. We ask that you please send your Holy Spirit to not only remind us of what you have done, remind us of what you have taught us and told us and revealed to us through your Word in Scripture and through your Holy Church. Remind us of all these things. But also fill us with insight. Give us wisdom. Not just knowledge. Give us even more. Give us the practical knowledge, practical wisdom, to be able to worship you well and walk with you in Faith, in Hope, and in Love. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• WHO CELEBRATES THE LITURGY?

• It is the work of Christ, Head and Body

• It is Jesus Christ our High Priest who is constantly presenting Himself and offering Himself to the Father

• He has done this throughout Eternity

• He is the Son pouring Himself out in love to the Father 

• The Father is pouring Himself out in love to the Son

• That love between them being SO REAL that we call it the Holy Spirit

• Which is a DIVINE PERSON

• In a unique way, the Son presents the Sacrifice UNITED WITH HIS HUMANITY to the Father continually

• All the Angels and Saints in Heaven are drawn into that worship, and they get drawn into that expression, that gift, that sacrifice, that offering of love

• We get to participate in this on Earth

• If we could pull back the veil on all that is happening in the Sacraments we realize that on one level we are using water to do one thing, oil to do another thing, and praying prayers we read out of a book

• AND YET…

• They are the ways in which we are participating in something that we cannot see

• The altar is where time and Eternity MEET

• The altar is where Heaven and Earth KISS

• We get to participate in this

• If we can have the veil pulled back for even a moment and see what is REALLY HAPPENING in the Sacraments we realize these are not empty rituals or just prayers from a book

• They are a real participation IN TIME of what is happening IN ETERNITY

• This is a real participation ON EARTH of what is currently happening right now IN HEAVEN

• All of the Angels and Saints are glorifying the Father continually

• All the People of God are caught up in this love, worship, this Marriage Feast of the Lamb

• JOY IN FULLNESS OF LOVE IN HEAVEN

• Our participation in the Sacraments is sharing in this

• It doesn’t feel like that all the time

• AND YET…

• If we knew what was happening, the way we would approach the Lord and the Eucharist would be dramatically changed

• We talked about the Liturgy of the Hours a couple of times

• Paragraph 1196 says, “The faithful who celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours are united to Christ our high priest…”

• This is one of the reasons it is called THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

• It is an extension of Christ’s Priesthood onto this earth

• Those who share in the Baptismal priesthood get to participate in this

• You don’t have to be in Church or at Mass to do this

• The Mass is the highest and most perfect form of participating in the work of Christ, the High Priest

• BUT…

• Simply by praying The Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer, Evening Prayer, or Night Prayer (any one of those even) is a participation in the prayers and the priesthood of Jesus Christ

• Paragraph 1196 continues, “...in order to be joined with his unceasing and universal prayer that gives glory to the Father and implores the gift of the Holy Spirit on the whole world.”

•  So often we look at this world and see so much brokenness

• There is so much darkness

• It seems like evil wins at times

• So what do we do?

• We can go online and start ranting on social media

• OR…

• We could do some GOOD near us

• In our family or our community

• BUT…

• When we run out of these things, what else can we do?

• WE CAN EXERCISE OUR PRIESTHOOD AND PARTICIPATE IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS!!

• We can be joined with Jesus’ unceasing and universal prayer that gives glory to the Father and implores the gift of the Holy Spirit on the whole world

• There are so many prayer apps for the Liturgy of the Hours

• iBreviary

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!