UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA

OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY

CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

MODULE IN THEOLOGY 3: LITURGY AND SACRAMENTS

Module No. 2 Date: _____________

Title:
Liturgy: The Action of the Holy Spirit with Christ
as the Priest

Overview
The priest is the “main celebrant” of all liturgical celebrations in the church, especially
the Eucharistic celebration or the Holy Mass. Sometimes, the priest becomes the reason for
people to go or not to go to church. It is as if the priest is the main performer and we are
merely his audience when we attend the mass and we say that Mass was great because of
the entertaining homily of the priest, or the Mass was boring because of his lousy homily.
This should not be the basis of attending the mass because the liturgical celebrations show
the visible signs and fruits of prompting of the Holy Spirit and the priests are the
“representatives of Christ”that lead us to be closer to God and bring God to us. During
mass, the Holy Spirit unites the Church to Christ. “The Holy Spirit’s mission in the liturgy of
the Church is to prepare the People of God for the meeting with Christ, manifest Christ,
bring about Christ’s word of salvation, and effect the gift of communion in the Church.”
(Belmonte, 1993)

In this module, we shall understand the importance of taking part in the mass
regardless of the priest’s charism or ability in delivering the homily and bear in our hearts
that the Liturgy is the work of Christ as the priest and also the action of the Holy Spirit and
of the Church.

Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
 Understand that the priest acts in the person of Christ and the Holy Spirit has an
important role in the liturgy;
 Bear witness to their roles as members of the liturgical assembly and live the life
nourished and sustained by the Holy Spirit; and
 Pray that the Holy Spirit may enrich their life and they may understand more deeply their
share in the priesthood of Christ.
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

Christian Message
Doctrine: In the book of Mark, Jesus summoned his Apostle and they immediately followed
Him. This is a manifestation of His leadership. As a priest He instituted the Eucharist and
we are encouraged to partake in the sacrament.

Moral: Holy Mass is the highest form of worship. As Catholics, we are encourage to attend
and participate in the Holy Mass every Sunday and all days of obligation.

Worship: God is calling us to live in holiness through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us
trust God’s promise and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Content
I. What are the roles of the priests in the liturgy?
We are taught that the priests are “representatives of Christ” and they, too, are “men
of God”,’ hence, we hold them in high esteem. The Church teaches that the priest acts in
persona Christi (in the person of Christ) in celebrating the sacraments. The priest is
intimately and uniquely configured to Jesus Christ, the High Priest. By his ordination, it is
the priest who sanctifies (munus sanctificandi), teaches (munus docendi), and governs
(unus regendi) in persona Christi capitis (in the person of Christ the head). (Sancrosanctum
concilium, n.2)

True enough, priests inspire people to go to Mass. Conversely, priests may also be a
disappointment to people because of their inability to deliver a good homily or because they
themselves are distracted at what they are doing. Nonetheless, we should understand that
the Mass is neither about the priest nor about his homily, but it is all about the sacrifice of
Christ.

Christ is present during the Eucharist in various ways. He is present in the person of
the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass. According to the Constitution of the Sacred
Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Christ is present in his word “since it is He Himself
who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the Church.” He is also present in the
assembled people as they pray and sing, “for He has promised ‘where two or three are
gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them’. (Mt 18:20) (Sancrosanctum
Concilium, n.7)
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

In his Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei, Pope Paul VI enumerates the presence of
Christ in the Church:

1. Christ is present in the Church when she prays. He prays for us as our priest, He prays in
us as our Head, He is prayed to by us as our God.
2. Christ is present in the Church as she performs her works of mercy. He is the one who
performs these works through the Church and who continuously helps men with His divine
love.
3. Christ is present in the Church as she moves along her pilgrimage with a longing to reach
the portals of eternal life.
4. Christ is present in the Church as she preaches since the Gospel which she proclaims is
the Word of God.
5. Christ is present in the Church as she rules and governs the people of God, since her
sacred power comes from Him and since He, the “Shepherd of the Shepherd,” is present in
the Bishops who exercise that power.
6. Christ is present in the liturgy of the Church as she administers the sacraments.
7. Moreover, Christ is present in His Church in a still more sublime manner as she offers the
sacrifice of the mass in His name. The divine Founder of the Church is present in the Mass
both in person of his minister and above all - really and sacramentally present- under the
Eucharistic species.

II. Why do we consider Christ as the priest in the liturgy?

Christ is truly the priest in the liturgy. The priest that we see at Mass is acting in the
person of Christ. At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded His Apostles to do the breaking of
the bread in memory of Him. In celebrating the Eucharist, we are remembering the sacrifice
of Christ, the High Priest, at Calvary. This act of remembering is not a mere recollection of a
distant past, but rather a way of making present the bloody sacrifice of our Lord in the Cross
in an unbloody way, that is, by offering bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and
for our salvation. The greatest point of the Mass is not the homily, but the consecration. In
this part, the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ. At the Holy Mass,
Christ is giving Himself to us to nourish us and to sustain us on our journey toward His
heavenly Kingdom where we can celebrate the heavenly banquet forever with Him.

The essence of the Mass, therefore, is meeting Christ and joining Him in His
sacrifice. We go to Mass because we want to be nourished by Christ through His life-giving
Word and by receiving His body and blood. The “common priesthood” is that of Christ the
sole priest, in which all his members participate: Mother Church earnestly desires that all
the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical
celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the Liturgy, and to which the Christian
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

people, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people,” have a right
and an obligation by reason of their Baptism. (CCC 1141)

The entire life of Jesus is an uninterrupted exercise of His triple role of mediation as
king, prophet, and priest. He is the mediator of the New Eternal Covenant. His mediation is
absolutely necessary because as He said; “No one comes to the Father except through Me”
(Jn 14 :6) and because “there is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other
name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Christ is the sole Mediator and Priest. Because He is true God, He intercedes for us with the
Father, and because He is true Man, He is our High Priest who presides in our earthly
liturgy.

The Catechism emphasizes that Christ is the priest in the liturgy. “The liturgy is the
work of the whole Christ, head and body. Our High Priest celebrates it unceasingly in the
heavenly liturgy, with the Holy Mother of God, the apostles, all the saints and the multitude
of those who have already entered the kingdom” (CCC 1187).

Aside from Jesus Christ as the Priest, the Holy Spirit

has also a big role in the liturgical celebrations. The
descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire
upon the apostles at Pentecost inaugurated the time of the
Church.

Click the link below to watch the video to further your

understanding: https://youtu.be/PLa-lj0zCGg

The gathering of the believers for prayer and worship

were, from then on, the visible signs and fruits of the
promptings of the Holy Spirit. In relation to the Church, the Holy Spirit is what a soul is to the
body. It is the principle of life and unity within the Church. The Nicene Creed professes the
Church’s faith in the Holy Spirit as Dominum et Vivificantem, the Lord and the Giver of life.

The role of the Holy Spirit in the Liturgy is somewhat ambiguous and less precisely
stated compared with the explicit roles of the Father and the Son. The Father is the one
from whom all things come and to whom all our prayers are ultimately directed. The Son is
the one through whom the Father comes to us and through whom we return to the Father:
He is the Mediator. But, what does it mean to say “in the Holy Spirit”? “To God the Father
with (meta) the Son, together with (sun) the Holy Spirit.” More frequently, “in the Spirit”
means in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit in the person by whom the Church is enabled to
worship the Father through the Son (Rom 8:15).
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

The Holy Spirit is hard to understand because we do not have a concrete or visible
image of Him, even though we might have had many daily experiences with Him. From the
Scriptures, we know many symbols of the Holy Spirit, such as water, dove, fire, anointing,
cloud, and light. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is known by many names and titles such as
Sanctifier, Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Guide, Spirit of God, among others.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy, by sanctifying us, seals us in the loving
relationship of the Trinity, which is at the heart of the Church. The Holy Spirit inspires faith
and brings about our co-operation. It is that genuine co-operation, expressive of our desire
for God, which makes the liturgy a common between the Trinity and the Church. (CCC
1091-1092). In the liturgy, we offer a pleasing sacrifice and fitting adoration to the Father in
union with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. We honor and praise God worthily because the
Holy Spirit helps us turn our minds and hearts to God. It is also through Holy Spirit that we
are able to make a commitment to lead a holy life and to serve the Church in unity and
charity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the essential elements of the
relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church in the liturgy:
1. The Holy Spirit is the teacher of Church’s faith and the artisan of the sacraments.
2. The Holy Spirit prepares the Church to receive the life of the risen Christ.
3. The Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ and elicits the response of faith of
the believers.
4. The Holy Spirit, Through His own transforming power, brings about the salvation of
Christ.
5. The Holy Spirit unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ.

Assessment and Evaluation

TASK 1

1. Write the characteristics of a Priest that encourage or discourage you to go and attend
Mass.

Encourage Discourage
______________________ ________________________

______________________ ________________________

______________________ ________________________
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

2. How does the priest affect your disposition during the Mass?

3. In a form of blog/vlog/poem/spoken poetry/song, create a reflection about the role of the

Holy Spirit in your Christian life as signified by the symbol that you have drawn.

References
1. Catholic Church. (1994). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana.
2. Catholic Church. (2005). Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican
City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
3. Flannery, A. (Ed.). (1984). Sacrosanctum Concilium in Vatican Council II: The
Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Pasay City: Paulines Publishing
House.Catechism of the Catholic Church
4. https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/details/ns_lit_doc_20120307_dio-
spirito_en.html
5. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a1.htm
6. http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2002-10/03-999999/07LitIN.html

Prepared: Checked: Approved:

__________________________ ______________________ _____________________

Teacher Academic Coordinator Principal
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF PEACE ACADEMY
CALINGASAN ST., LUNA (POB), TUY, BATANGAS

ACTIVITY SHEET IN Theology 3: Liturgy and Sacraments

MODULE NO. 2

NAME: _______________________________________
GRADE&SECTION: _____________________________
DATE: _______________________________________

Task #1

1. Write the characteristics of a Priest that encourage or discourage you to go and attend
Mass.

Encourage Discourage
______________________ ________________________

______________________ ________________________

______________________ ________________________

2. How does the priest affect your disposition during the Mass?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3. In a form of blog/vlog/poem/spoken poetry/song, create a reflection about the role of the

Holy Spirit in your Christian life as signified by the symbol that you have drawn.