Liturgy = Our Work

‎"When we go to mass, we do not go there only to commemorate Jesus; we go there to find him, to receive him. He is present there, He lives. And He will never leave us." 

- Maria Montessori

 

*liturgy -  via Medieval Latin, from Greek leitourgia,  from leitourgos  minister, from leit-  people + ergon  work

 

When I was in grad-school, my Sacraments professor said much that stuck with me. He was one of those teachers that was so passionate about what he taught that you couldn't help but be affected for a long time thereafter. One  tidbit that he has left with me was the profoundness of our participation in Liturgy.

 

The Last Supper, Death and Resurrection happen outside of time. They are always going on. When we arrive at the Celebration of the Eucharist our work is the participation in these timeless events. We gather together at a table, the table of the Last Supper. We are not simply taking part in the acting out of these events. We are tapping into that timelessness that is our reality as Catholics. Jesus is there, present to each one of us in this meal that He, himself set for us with a food that will sustain and transform us if we let it. 

 

After receiving the Eucharist one day, I was surveying the congregation. It hit me, all of us (I think my parish seats 1,500 people) have been participating in this immenseness of Christ. All of us have received Christ. All of us are now Christ-bearers. We have been given an incredible gift of the chance to be transformed and to transform. 

 

So by participating in Liturgy our work becomes to let Christ transform us and to let Christ transform others through us. Part of this work is also the realization that my neighbor is also a Christ-bearer. So how do I realize Christ in my neighbor? How do I help or hinder them in their tranformative work?