Vatican CITY – The liturgy is not a spectacle to be observed, but a prayer event where Christians encounter the presence of Christ in their lives, said Pope Francis.
Throughout the Catholic Church’s long history, people have been tempted to practice an “intimate Christian” or private life that has failed to recognize the importance of the liturgy in spiritual life, the pope said on February 3 during his weekly general audience.
However, “I would dare to say that Christianity without liturgy is Christianity without Christ,” he said.
Continuing his series of lectures on prayer, the pope reflected on the significance of the liturgy in Christian life.
Although there are certain forms of spirituality in the Catholic Church “that failed to adequately integrate” the liturgy, the Pope noted that “much has been achieved in recent decades”, especially thanks to the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, “Sacrosanctum Concilium.”
The document, he said, “reaffirms in a comprehensive and organic way the importance of the divine liturgy for the life of Christians” because in the liturgy men and women can truly find Christ who “is not an idea or feeling, but a living person” .
Along with Sacred Scripture and the sacraments, the liturgy “cannot be dispensed with because in Jesus Christ it has become a means of salvation”.
“Therefore, there is no Christian spirituality that is not rooted in the celebration of the holy mysteries,” said the pope.
The Mass or Divine Liturgy, he continued, is the spiritual act that is at the center of “the whole Christian experience” because Jesus is present and “gives himself to his faithful”.
“Every time we celebrate a baptism, or consecrate bread and wine in the Eucharist, or anoint the body of a sick person with sacred oil, Christ is here!” said the pope. “He is present as when he healed the weak limbs of a sick person or when, at the Last Supper, he gave his will for the salvation of the world.”
Christians who go to Mass, he added, are not “spectators of something that escapes without our involvement”, but active participants who celebrate it “through the diversity of gifts and ministries”.
Christians are called to turn their lives into an act of worshiping God, said Pope Francis, “but this cannot happen without prayer, especially liturgical prayer”.
“This thought can help us all: when I go to Sunday Mass, I will pray in community, I will pray with Christ who is present”, he added, moving away from the prepared words. “When we go to baptism, Christ is present. (You can say), ‘But, Dad, this is an idea, a figure of speech.’ No, Christ is present! In the liturgy, you pray with Christ who is at your side ”.