Cathal BarryChristian liturgy not only recalls the salvific events but makes them present, writes Cathal Barry
The Spirit and the Church “cooperate” to manifest Christ and his work of salvation in the liturgy, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“Primarily in the Eucharist and by analogy in the other sacraments, the liturgy is the memorial of the mystery of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the Church’s living memory,” the document states.
The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit first recalls the meaning of the salvation event to the liturgical assembly by giving life to the Word of God, which is proclaimed so that it may be received and lived.
Celebration
As the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, states: “In the celebration of the liturgy, Sacred Scripture is extremely important. From it come the lessons that are read and explained in the homily and the psalms that are sung. It is from the Scriptures that the prayers, collects, and hymns draw their inspiration and their force, and that actions and signs derive their meaning.”
The Holy Spirit, the Catechism states, gives a spiritual understanding of the Word of God to those who read or hear it, according to the dispositions of their hearts.
By means of the “words, actions and symbols” that form the structure of a celebration, the Spirit puts both the faithful and the ministers into a “living relationship” with Christ so that they can “live out the meaning of what they hear, contemplate and do in the celebration”.
Once again, the Catechism says, it is the Holy Spirit who “gives the grace of faith, strengthens it and makes it grow in the community”. The liturgical assembly, according to the document is “first of all a communion in faith”.
The liturgical celebration, according to Church teaching, always refers to God’s saving interventions in history.
Assembly
In the Liturgy of the Word, the Holy Spirit “recalls” to the assembly all that Christ has done for us. In keeping with the nature of liturgical actions and the ritual traditions of the churches, the celebration “makes a remembrance” of the works of God. “The Holy Spirit who thus awakens the memory of the Church then inspires thanksgiving and praise,” the Catechism states.
Christian liturgy, according to the Church, “not only recalls” the salvific events but “makes them present”. The Paschal mystery of Christ is “celebrated, not repeated,” the Catechism states. “It is the celebrations that are repeated and in each celebration there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present,” it says.
The Epiclesis (“invocation upon”) is the intercession in which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, “so that the offerings may become the body and blood of Christ” and that the faithful by receiving them, “may themselves become a living offering to God”.
Together with the anamnesis, the epiclesis is at the heart of each sacramental celebration, most especially of the Eucharist:
The Holy Spirit’s transforming power in the liturgy “hastens the coming of the kingdom and the consummation of the mystery of salvation”. Sent by the Father who hears the epiclesis of the Church, the catechism states that the Spirit “gives life to those who accept him” and is, even now, the “guarantee” of their inheritance.