Liturgy of the Church

We who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe.

Hebrews 12:28

What is the purpose of the Liturgy of the Church?

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. (Acts of the Apostles 2:41-42)

The liturgies of the Church help us to give glory to God individually and communally, avail us of grace through the Sacraments, and express our response to God's call to discipleship. They are, furthermore, a sharing in the eternal liturgy of Heaven.

As in all states of Christian life, the lay faithful can neither respond to the universal call to holiness nor contribute to the mission of the Church without a life of constant prayer, both individual and communal. Our worship of God has both a personal dimension and a communal dimension. Private prayers and devotions complement, but do not replace, our need for communal worship—and vice versa. (Cf. CCC 821)

The purpose of the liturgy (from the Greek ergos, "work," and leiton," of the people") is diverse. It gives glory and honor to God, builds up the faith of the people, and instructs the faithful in the Faith. The Christian liturgy is the response of faith and love to the "spiritual blessings" with which the Father constantly enriches us. At the same time, the Church unceasingly offers to the Father her own gifts "to the praise of the glory of his grace." (Cf. CCC 1983,1091)

We who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe.

(Hebrews 12:28)

The liturgy is also an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, continued in and by the Church under the impulse of the Holy Spirit.

In the Eucharistic liturgy—the Mass, or Divine Liturgy—led by ordained ministers and involving the prayer and participation of the entire assembly of the People of God, the Holy Spirit prepares the assembly to encounter Christ; recalls and manifests Christ to the assembly; makes the saving work of Christ present and active by his transforming power; and makes the gift of communion bear fruit in the Church. (Cf. CCC 1070, 1097, 1112)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1097 and paragraph 1187 addresses this question.

-The Didache Bible