Our Holy Church celebrates the Liturgy in accordance with the scriptural outline for doing so. St. Paul recounted to the Church at Corinth the tradition He received and encouraged them to follow worthily:
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 23-26
Within this short synopsis we find what we celebrate and give thanks for (Eucharist means Thanksgiving). In this we encounter Jesus directly and powerfully in all His eternal presence and reality. We are there with Him from the beginning of time, through creation, His Incarnation, birth, teaching, arrest, Passion, death, burial, Resurrection, Ascension, and in His return.
Liturgy – taken from the Greek – means a public duty, a service undertaken by a citizen. As citizens of heaven we undertake this duty of worship. Every member of the Church, by their baptism, are not just spectators in the Liturgy of the Church but active participants with roles to perform.
Liturgy encompasses the whole of official public services of the Church including the Liturgy of the Hours, the Holy Mass, and the administration of its sacraments. Chief and foremost among all of the Church’s liturgies is the Holy Mass. It is the preeminent liturgy of the Church. Within our Holy Church, participants in the Holy Mass receive three sacraments: Penance (the forgiveness of sins), the Word, and Holy Communion.
All are welcome to the liturgies of our Holy Church. There, we collectively participate in and celebrate the great gift God has given us in His revelation, coming, and redemption.