Liturgy

At its heart, the Eucharist is a sacrament of communion, bringing us closer to God and to our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. If we live the fruits of the Eucharist in our daily lives, we will fill our families and our communities with the life-giving qualities that the Liturgy brings: hospitality, concern for the poor and vulnerable, self-offering, and thanksgiving.

An ancient saying in the Church reads “lex orandi, lex credendi,” meaning that the law of prayer is the law of faith. More loosely: as we pray, so we believe. To that we might add lex vivendi, meaning that as we pray, so we believe, and so we live. In the third edition of the Roman Missal, the bishops and translators took great care to ensure that the prayers accurately and fully reflect the mysteries of our faith. Thus, the words that we pray in each liturgical celebration help to form and strengthen our understanding of the faith. However, if the effects of the Liturgy stop at the doors of the church, we have not made our prayer and our faith part of our law of living. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches that the Eucharist helps us to grow in union with Christ, avoid sin, increase in charity, strengthen communion with our brothers and sisters, and recognize Christ in the poorest and most vulnerable members of society (see CCC, nos. 1391-1397). 

Copyright © 2010 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. Used with permission. All rights reserved.