The Mystery of Participation as the Essence of the Liturgy

A Theological Essay

Abstract

What Christian worship is all about has been discussed and expressed in many contexts: in dogmatic pronouncements, in ecumenical documents and declarations, in the writings of individual theologians. This article is a simple attempt to summarize the essence of some of the more influential of those writings. In order to make it as basic and as uncontroversial as possible I have based it on Bible passages and illustrated it with liturgical texts. It does not mirror any specific previously existing text, but its point of departure was the article “Participation” by Achille M. Triacca (2002). It can be summarized in the following theological statements:

1. God’s hidden plan for the salvation of the world has been revealed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
2. God’s saving actions continue in and through the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
3. Baptism and Eucharist are basic to the existence of the Church.
4. In worship, the Church celebrates what God has done for the salvation of humanity.
5. Liturgical celebration is not merely the remembrance of past events but makes God’s saving actions in the past mysteriously present in and through the act of worship.
6. By participating in worship, the faithful can thus also become partakers of the saving actions that are remembered and made present.
7. In this way, the faithful by their participation become sanctified and glorify God.
8. Sanctification and the glorification of God occur also outside of liturgical worship. Therefore, Christian life as a whole can be described as worship, or a liturgy.