Jyrnell B.

Salino Christian Worship

Fr.Errol d’Lima, S.J. 21 September 2017

An Ecclesial Activity

The Catholic Faith Catechism says that the essential qualities of the Liturgy are Trinitarian and
Paschal, Ecclesial, Sacramental, Ethically Oriented and Eschatological. Since the title of this work points
us to the functions of the Liturgy in the local Church, I opted to focus solely on the Liturgy’s ecclesial
quality.

In the Philippines’ setting, average Catholics do not have a concise understanding of their faith.
Critics may say that we are a Christianized people yet not catechized. A good example of this is our
tendency to be individualistic in our practice of faith. A good example of this is our fondness in popular
religiosity or the so-called popular piety. I am not against Popular Religiosity but I observe that most of
those who practice them do not have strong foundation in our Catholic faith. For instance, there are few
people who go to mass on Sundays but thousands of devotees gather on streets during a Popular
Religiosity event. The reason for this phenomenon is that liturgy becomes boring while popular religiosity
is festive in nature. Besides, they expect the Lord to answer their requests through their devotions and
they believe that failing to fulfill their vows would mean inviting misfortunes. In addition, popular
religiosity is attractive because people can get rid of their clerics whom they consider naïve in such
practices.

The Church teaches us that liturgy is a prayer of the whole believing community. It includes both
the clerics and the laity. It is the celebration with Christ together with His chosen people.1 If the liturgy is
an activity of a believing community, it is very relevant in the local church for it is a coming together of
all baptized. It is a communitarian activity and not an individualistic one. Liturgy is supposed to remind
us that in the church there is no division between clerics and laity especially in worship.

For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the mystery of the

incarnate Word. As the assumed nature inseparably united to Him, serves the
divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a similar way, does the visible
social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who vivifies it, in the
building up of the body.2

1
Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education, Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines,1197
2
Lumen Gentium, 26
 It is correct to say that a liturgical assembly is arranged in different roles. Since the church is the
body of Christ, each member has different functions in liturgical prayers. Each member of a believing
community receives different gifts and charisms. As a result, their giftedness would be of good help for
the local Church. There is space for enrichment and understanding in the local Church.

Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is
the "sacrament of unity," namely, the holy people united and ordered under their
bishops.3

Filipinos are family oriented. We participate in the practices of popular piety because we pray for
the good health and safety of our family members and friends. However, we forget about the bigger
community. It is a challenge to transcend from family concerns towards solidarity with fellow Catholics.
Christ must be the center of this of unity for after all, our family belongs to a bigger family of believers.

It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head that celebrates.
"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 under the authority
of the bishops. Therefore, liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church.
They manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they touch individual members of the
Church in different ways, depending on their orders, their role in the liturgical services,
and their actual participation in them." For this reason, "rites which are meant to be
celebrated in common, with the faithful present and actively participating, should as far
as possible be celebrated in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately."4

Many people insist that individualistic piety can lead to fideism. It is a kind of faith that rejects
reason. For example, an individual may claim that God will not answer his novena because he prayed
only for 8 days. Thus, the novena is incomplete. Such faith is devoid of reason and a legalistic faith. Only
in understanding our liturgy with our community we can strengthen or make our faith dynamic. For a
liturgy to be called Catholic, it must be an ecclesial activity.

Similarly, the Liturgy is neither a priest’s solo prayer nor is an individual understanding of
Christian life but a celebration of all baptized in the community. Our tendency is to become over
dependent to the clergy in our liturgical celebrations. We limit our understanding of liturgy to our
perception that we are mere audiences in liturgical celebrations. The time when a priest murmurs the

3
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10
4
CCC, 1140
Tridentine or Latin mass while the faithful recites their popular devotions at his back belongs to the past.
Our understanding must be more of a participative liturgical activity.

Each of us shares the Spirit of Love. This kind of unity is not only for socialization but for a
meaningful form of worship. We can bring our talents in reading, singing and other gifts in the
community through the Liturgical activities. A priest cannot celebrate a liturgical prayer alone. He is in
need of the assistance from the other members of the church. In the same way, it is wrong to get rid of our
leaders in our common worship of God. In other words, participating in a liturgical activity is not merely
a social function. It is rooted in our common following of Christ. Such kind of intimacy with other
Christians in our local Church will lead us to a collaborative liturgy. Furthermore, we are all responsible
for one another.