CLE3 Module 1: Introduction to Liturgy and Sacrament
STEM 12 OLF | Prof. Quincy Casupanan | SEM 1 2022 | Sanchez, Rainiel T.
INTRODUCTION
This module contains the Introduction
to Liturgy and Sacrament, wherein can be
used to explore the importance of celebrating
the Liturgy in the Church, its etymology, the
nature and meaning of the Sacrament in
general.
LITURGY
The term Liturgy came from the combination
of two Greek words: Egos, which means Work;
and Leiton, an adjective of Leos-Laos, which
means People.
LEITOURGIA means “PUBLIC WORK.” Thus,
from its root words, liturgy signifies “PUBLIC
SERVICE” in the sense of serving and
worshiping God as his people or community.
Liturgy is more than just the rituals,
ceremonies, or communal services we perform
as an expression of our devotion to and
worship of God. It is a wellspring of our
relationship with God as His people or family
gathered together to glorify Him and to
receive blessings from Him.
The Church Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,
The Liturgy is defined by SC as “An exercise
of the priestly office of Jesus Christ”. Every
liturgical celebration is an action of Christ, the
Priest, and of His Body, which is the Church.
This sacred action has a double movement:
Ascending Movement – by which we present
to God our offering of adoration, praise, and
thanksgiving as well as our response of faith
and love to His blessings.
Descending Movement – by which God
blesses the gifts we offer and the Holy Spirit
sanctifies us particularly through perceptible
and effective signs – the Sacraments.
CCC teaches us that “Christ manifests, makes
present and communicates His work of
salvation through the liturgy of His Church”.
YouCat: “Liturgy is always in the first place
communion or fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Every liturgy, not just the celebration of the
Eucharist, is an Easter in miniature. Jesus
reveals His passage from death to life and
celebrates it with us”
As Children of God mandated to spread the
Gospel and to bear witness to faith, we have
our obligation to come together to praise God
as His Church and to partake of the Lord’s
Supper. Hence, the Second Vatican Document
on Sacred Liturgy reminds us: “Liturgy is the
summit toward which the activity of the
Church is directed: at the same time it is the
font from which all her power flows” (SC 10).
SC - Sacrosanctum Concilium
CCC - The Catechism of the catholic church
YouCat - Youth Catechism of the catholic
church
CFC - The Catechism for the Filipino Catholics
The Liturgy is the Work of the Blessed Trinity
and the Response of the People
The source and goal of the liturgy is God the
Father.
Everything comes from Him and it is just right
to return to Him our praises and worship.
Because of His overflowing love, He created
everything and In return, we bless and thank
Him for all the blessings He bestows upon us,
His children.
Each time we celebrate the liturgy, we raise to
God the Father our prayers of adoration,
contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication
through our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
The liturgy is the work of the Blessed Trinity
and the response of the People.
The Father is acknowledged and adored as the
source and the end of all the blessings of
creation and salvation. In His Word who
became incarnate, died, and rose for us, He
fills us with His blessings. Through His Word,
He pours into our hearts the Gift that contains
all gifts, the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1082).
The Priest of the Liturgy is Jesus Christ.
The entire life of Jesus is an uninterrupted
exercise of His Threefold Mission/Ministries
as King, Prophet, and Priest.
Christ is the sole mediator and priest. Because
He is true God, He intercedes for us with the
Father, and because he is true Man, He is our
High Priest who presides in our earthly liturgy.
His mediation is both Universal and Unique.
Universal, because it extends to all humanity
and all nations. Unique, because any other
mediator is but an instrument of Christ’s
singular mediation (cf. F. Ocariz, L.F. Mateo
Seco, and J. A. Riestra, 1994).
Liturgy is the action of the Holy Spirit.
The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of
tongues of fire upon the Apostle at Pentecost
inaugurated the time of the Church. The
gatherings of the believers for prayer and
worship were, from then on, the visible signs
and fruits of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
About the Church, the Holy Spirit is what the
soul is to the body. It is the principle of life and
unity within the Church. The Nicene Creed
professes the Church’s faith in the Holy Spirit
as “DOMINUM ET VIVIFICANTEM” the Lord
and Giver of Life.
Who celebrates the liturgy?
“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.”
We have once again the distinction as well as
the interconnection between “MINISTERIAL
PRIESTHOOD” and “COMMON
PRIESTHOOD.” While it is the ordained
ministers who preside at the Holy Mass, it is
the whole assembly that celebrates.
There is also the distinct presence of lay
ministers who perform specific services in the
liturgy. “To assist the work of the common
priesthood of the faithful, other PARTICULAR
MINISTRIES also exist, not consecrated by
the sacrament of Holy Orders; their functions
are determined by the bishops, in accord with
liturgical traditions and pastoral needs.
‘Servers, readers, commentators, and
members of the choir also exercise a genuine
liturgical function” (CCC 1143).
How to celebrate the liturgy?
The Church celebrates the liturgy by
employing signs and symbols that serve as
“BEARERS OF THE SAVING AND
SANCTIFYING ACTION OF CHRIST” (CCC
1189).
Catechism describes a sacramental
celebration is a meeting of God’s children with
their Father, in Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This
meeting takes the form of dialogue through
actions and words. The Word of God and our
response of faith give life to the signs and
symbols to perceive and describe spiritual or
interior realities” (YouCat 181).
The liturgy is celebrated through these
following signs:
1. Signs of the human world. “As a social
being, man needs signs and symbols to
communicate with others, through language,
gestures, and actions” (CCC 1146).
2. Signs of the covenant. The Chosen People
received from God distinctive signs and
symbols that marked its liturgical life (CCC
1150).
3. Signs taken by Christ. “In His preaching,
the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of
creation to make known the mysteries of the
Kingdom of God. He performs healings and
illustrates His preaching with physical signs or
symbolic gestures (CCC 1151).
4. Sacramental Signs. With Pentecost, it is
through the sacramental signs of His Church
that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of
sanctification (CCC 1152).
 When to celebrate the sacred liturgy?
In throughGod’ear, the church celebrates the
mysteries of faith. Through her liturgy, she
calls to mind the history of our salvation
according to a fixed calendar. These important
seasons are classified according to the
celebrations within the LITURGICAL
CALENDAR.
Where to celebrate the liturgy?
The church building can be considered a
monument of faith. It enshrines the faith of
our ancestors. The sacredness of the church is
the house of God calls for our utmost
reverence and most diligent attention. With or
without ongoing celebration, we are
constantly reminded to observe proper
decorum and the dress code in church.
SACRAMENT
A sacrament is an external or sensible sign,
instituted by Christ, which causes the grace
it signifies (cf. CCC 1131). This definition
underlines four essential points which help us
gain a better understanding of the nature and
meaning of sacraments.
A sacrament is an outward sign of inward
grace. The sacraments are signs that are
visible to our senses and efficacious in that
they affect what they signify.
1. It is a SIGN. It points to something, that is,
to the reality it represents. Although it bears a
natural resemblance to the signified reality, it
cannot point to itself. Thus, the water poured
on the body in baptism does not mean
washing of the body, but rather, it signifies the
washing of the soul.
2. It is a SENSIBLE SIGN. It is known through
the external senses. An abstract or an image
produced by the imagination could not be a
sacrament.
3. It is INSTITUTED BY CHRIST. Sacraments
are the very words and actions of Christ. They
are means or channels by which God
communicates His grace to us. God is the
principal author of all the sacraments. Only
God can give grace.
4. It causes the GRACE it signifies. The church
uses the Latin words EX OPERA OPERATO
(literally, “by the very fact of the action being
performed”) to explain that the sacramental
signs bestow the grace that they signify.
The Number of Sacraments
Christ instituted just seven sacraments
because “seven were necessary to provide for
the perfection of individual Christian and, the
government and multiplication of Church.
The seven sacraments are organized into three
groups:
1. The Sacraments of Christian Initiation
a. Baptism
b. Confirmation
c. Holy Eucharist
2. The Sacraments of Healing
a. Penance
b. Anointing of the Sick
3. The Sacraments at the Service of
Communion
a. Holy Orders
b. Matrimony
The necessity of the sacraments
The necessity of the sacraments lies in the fact
that Jesus established them for our salvation.
No one can save oneself. God alone can save
us. us. The Church exhorts us to receive the
sacraments worthily by preparing ourselves
very well for the reception of these great
means of channeling sanctifying grace.
Referring to the sacrament of Penance, St.
Pope Paul VI remarked that “prima e
duratissimo, poi e consolatissimo” (before, it
is very difficult, but after, it is very consoling).
This is exactly what it feels like before and
after going to Confession.
 The effects of the sacraments

The sacraments communicate respective

sacramental graces for our growth in holiness
and our supernatural life. Thus, the
sacramental graces are as follows:

1. Baptism gives help to lead a clean and

worthy spiritual life.
2. Confirmation strengthens us to face
temptations and difficulties.
3. Holy Eucharist nourishes and develops
spiritual life.
4. Penance gives spiritual strength for spiritual
battle.
5. Anointing of the Sick comforts the soul at
the moment of death.
6. Holy Orders give help for the proper
fulfillment of the duties it imposes.
7. Matrimony gives the help needed to comply
with the obligations of married life.
“Some have asserted that the Filipino
Catholics are ‘Sacramentalized’ but ‘not
Evangelized’” (CFC 1590).

One great effect of the sacraments is the

endowment of supernatural life to us. This is
the life purchased for us by Christ at the price
of His blessed passion and death, bestowed to
us at Baptism.

GENERALIZATION

Catechism emphasizes that Christ is the priest

in the liturgy. “The liturgy is the work of the
whole Christ, head, and body. Our high priest
celebrates it unceasingly in the heavenly
liturgy, with the holy Mother of God, the
apostles, all the saints, and the multitude of
those who have already entered the kingdom”
(CCC, 1187). Concerning the Church, the Holy
Spirit is what the soul is to the body. It is the
principle of life and unity within the Church.