Catholic Rituals:

Sacraments and Liturgy

Sacraments
Catholics have many rituals, among which are the sacraments. The celebration
of these sacraments is called liturgy. The most important liturgy for Catholics is
the Sunday Mass.
What are sacraments? Christians believe that God encounters them in the rituals
of the sacraments. Catholics believe that there are seven sacraments (all
Christians accept baptism, but not all accept the other sacraments).
The Church believes that these sacraments have their source in Jesus Christ.
What Jesus did is at work for Christians today in the sacraments by the action of
the Holy Spirit. The sacraments bring the person of Jesus into the lives of
Christians in the twenty-first century.
All important life experiences have rituals, including birth and growth,
forgiveness, sickness, and vocation in life. At the different stages of life,
Catholics and other Christians turn to Jesus so that his death and resurrection
can have an effect on all areas of life. By the rituals of the sacraments,
Christians enter into the deeper meaning of life. In the sacraments, Christians
encounter Jesus in the important moments of their lives.

Liturgy
The liturgy of a sacrament always makes present something that Jesus said or
did. That is why a readingabout Jesus from the Bible is part of each sacrament.
These scripture passages about Jesus are always accompanied by a ritual action.
For example, in the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, the priest reads a
story of Jesus healing someone.
Then the priest lays hands on the sick person and anoints the person's head and
hands with oil. In the sacrament of marriage, a story from the Bible about love
and commitment is followed by a man and a woman's words of commitment to
each other.
Together, the word of God and the ritual action effectively make the two into a
married couple.
In the rituals of the liturgy, Christians turn to Jesus so that his death and
resurrection can enter into all the areas of life. That iswhy participating in
liturgy is so powerful. Through the participants, God's work in Christ comes
alive in people today.

Rite of Initiation
How does someone become a Catholic?
The story of Laura at the beginning of the chapter tells us. When she was an
infant, her parents took her to church to be baptized. Through the ritual actions
and words of baptism, she became a Christian and a member of the Catholic
Church. For full initiation into the Church, a person is baptized, is confirmed
(chrismated), and receives the Eucharist.

Baptism
In its most basic form, baptism involves a priest or deacon pouring water over
the person's head and saying, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This action and these words make real what
they signify: the baptized person receives a new identity and new life in God—
he or she becomes Christian.

Confirmation
The sacrament of confirmation is celebrated through the laying on of hands and
the anointing with perfumed oil to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It completes baptism (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1288-1289).

Eucharist
Baptism and confirmation are the first steps of initiation into the Catholic faith.
Initiation is completed and continued in the Sunday Mass. The Catholic Church
calls the Mass or Eucharist the "fount and apex of the whole Christian life"
(Constitution on the Church, #11).
Living a fully Christian life takes a lifetime; it is a never-ending journey.
The Sunday Mass is the constant companion on this journey.
The liturgy of the Mass has hardly changed since the third and fourth centuries.
The structure of the Mass is both simple and complex. It consists of two parts:
the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The leaderof the
assembly is first the bishop and, in his absence, the priest.
During the Eucharist, everyone who is present participates. At the beginning of
the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest (or bishop) says to the people, "Lift up your
hearts." The people respond, "We lift them up to the Lord." In other words, they
say, "We are ready!" People stay active throughout the prayer, responding aloud
to the words of the priest and singing "Amen" at the end. Through the
Eucharistic Prayer, the whole Church prays that the Holy Spirit will unite all
people in one body and one spirit and heal all divisions among people. The
highlight of participation is the rite of Communion, where the people eat and
drink the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ. By participating in the Eucharist,
Catholics are affirming and committing themselves to God's great act of saving
and reshaping the world in the image of Jesus Christ.

Time is a mysterious thing. It governs our lives and affects everything we do.
Yet, if we were to ask, "What is time?" we would find it hard to answer the
question.
Time pervades everything, including religion. Countries organize time by
setting workweeks and time for leisure, civic holidays, and days of
remembrance. For countries, and for people, who work to benefit society and to
earn money to survive, it is largely the economy that shapes time.
In contrast, religions organize time through rituals. Rituals shape how we mark
time, how we live out our traditions, and what we expect for the future. Rituals
show what people think is important, what preoccupies them.
For religions, the sacred shapes time.
Each religion has a certain time set aside for the sacred: for example, for
Muslims, it is Friday; for Jews, it is Shabbat (Saturday); for Christians, it is
Sunday. A religion may follow five-day weeks, seven-day weeks, or nine-day
weeks. It has "high" times or seasons, with special feasts and celebrations, and
"low" times, when nothing out of the ordinary happens. Some of these special
times are marked by the Sun, others by the Moon. Rituals highlight these times
and allow participants to celebrate them. The rituals marking sacred times return
in cycles, whether that is once a year or every 20 years.
The regular recurrence of sacred times, and the repetition of rituals, makes
sacred time appear unchanging; it is time out of time. Although the rituals do
not change, over time the participants do. They change because their constant
participation in the rituals makes them become more andmore what their
religion is all about.
This rhythm of time enables people to grow to maturity as a member of their
religion.

Catholics and the Marking of Time

As members of a historical religion, Catholics celebrate time-sacred and
ordinary—in many ways. For Catholics, time is not all about making money,
being successful in school, being popular, or having a good job.
Time has a deeper purpose. It is intended to develop one's relationship to God
and to fashion a world that reflects the compassionate and loving God. For
Catholics, time is also for the unfolding of the mystery of Jesus in one's life
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1163). Here are some examples of how
time is lived in Catholicism.

The Liturgical Year

Over the centuries, the Church has created a detailed calendar of seasons, feasts,
festivals, holy days, and saints' days. These events give a sacred structure to the
entire year.
The Christian calendar (called the liturgical year) is organized around the story
of Jesus. It starts on the first Sunday of Advent-the Sunday nearest November
30. The first great feast of the liturgical year is the birth of Jesus Christ on
December 25.
During the year, Catholics remember all the major events of the life and death
and resurrection of Jesus.
The end of the Catholic calendar leads Catholics out of time: the last Sundays
before Advent look forward to the second coming of Christ.
The chart of the liturgical year, below, shows the rhythm of sacred and Ordinary
Time during the year. The colours of the chart represent the liturgical colours of
each season.

The Importance of Sunday

The first followers of Jesus were Jewish.
At first, they continued to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of
creation when the Lord rested.
For Christians, the Sabbath was the day when Jesus "rested" in the tomb.
However, they saw the "first day of the week"-Sunday, the day of the
resurrection—as more important, so early Christians began to celebrate the
resurrection every Sunday. Sunday, known as the "Lord's Day," is the main
marker of time for Christians. Easter Sunday, the most solemn of Christian
feasts, has been called the "Sunday of Sundays," the "feast of feasts." That is
why going to Mass on Sunday is so important for Catholics.
Marking the Times of the Day Jesus taught us to "pray always." For this reason,
Catholics set aside different times of the day to pray. In general, they are
encouraged to pray in the morning, in the evening, and before meals.

Easter
In the Western Churches, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full
Moon following the spring equinox. Because of the importance of the death and
resurrection of Jesus, the celebration of the Paschal Mystery begins with Mass
on Holy Thursday evening and ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.
This celebration is called the Triduum.
The most solemn liturgy takes place on Holy Saturday night. It is called the
Easter Vigil. It begins with the lighting of the Paschal candle. During the Vigil,
new members are baptized, confirmed, and admitted to Eucharist. The Vigil
begins in darkness until the light of the risen Christ is brought into the church.
On Easter Sunday, Catholics greet each other with "Christ is risen!
Alleluia!" The response is "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" Because Easter is so
important, the Easter season lasts for 50 days. It ends with the feast of
Pentecost, when Jesus sent the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Triduum
The three days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil
A time of staying awake and waiting before a great feast; at the Easter Vigil,
Christians stay awake with Jesus in the tomb to be present at his resurrection

Christmas-Epiphany (Theophany)
The other major feast after Easter is Christmas-Epiphany, which celebrates the
birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Magi to pay homage to him. In the Western
Church, the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25. The Eastern Church,
using the Julian calendar, celebrates it on January 7.
This feast is by far the most popular of the Christian feasts. It continues to be
celebrated as a feast of gift-giving and of the family in Western countries for
Christians, and for many people who are non-practising Christians.
Feasts of Mary and the Saints Because God's call for Mary to be the mother of
Jesus connects her intimately to the ministry and person of Jesus, the Church
celebrates a number of feast days honouring Mary. In Mary, the Church sees the
best example of whatthe work of Christ can do in a human being. In Mary,
Catholics see what they hope to be (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1172).
Alongside Mary, the Church remembers the martyrs and other saints who lived
as Christ did. Among them are a number of Canadian saints: the Canadian
Martyrs (eight Jesuit priests killed by the Iroquois in the 1640s), St. Marguerite
d'Youville, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, Blessed Marie de l'Incarnation, Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha, and Blessed François de Laval.
Because saints resemble, in different ways, the person of Christ, Catholics often
turn to the saints in prayer to intercede with God. The saints remain part of the
Church. Together with all the baptized, they form the communion of saints.

RITUALS AND COMMUNITY

A concert is a kind of ritual. It gathers people together and bonds them through
a common experience. As we know from going to concerts, rituals do more than
shape time.
They also create community.
As we saw earlier, liturgical time is measured not in seconds but in hours, days,
weeks, or even months and years. Liturgical life helps people to stand still and
focus on what is at the heart of being human.
Liturgical time wants to envelop us.
It takes time to form community through the celebration of rituals.
As we enter into rituals, we set aside our moods or emotions and join the larger
group. The longer a ritual lasts and the more often it is repeated, the more the
entire gathering moves as one.
In this way, rituals shape communities.
That is why communities stand on a common ground. They are bonded together
by their ritual actions.

Catholic Rituals Strengthen a Person's Belonging to the Church

The Eucharist Makes the Church
The Catholic tradition sees community as very important. In fact, the Church
understands itself as a large movement in which God gathers people from every
nation into a community with God. This gathering of all peoples into a
community is called the Church.
The ritual that creates the Catholic Church is the Sunday
Mass. Catholics celebrate that, in a broken world, God acts amongthem to
overcome all divisions and to make all of humanity one. That is why, more than
any other rite, the Eucharist makes the Church become what it is: a sign and a
symbol of God's community. Even though Catholics often fail, they celebrate
that God continues to form them into a community. For Catholics, the symbols
of this unity are the bishops, especially the Bishop of Rome, who is the pope.
By presiding at the Eucharist, the bishop oversees this gathering of all the
believers into communion or community.
The final prayer of Jesus was a prayer for unity of his followers. That is why the
division of Christianity into churches that do not accept each other, have fought
each other over the centuries, and have not been able to celebrate Mass together
has been so tragic. The divisions are obstacles to the mission of Christians to be
one as God is one. Because it is God who gathers people together, Catholics
believe that in the Eucharist, God gathers in one family all who believe in Christ
wherever they live in the world. All of humanity is part of the family of God.

Central Beliefs
Rituals Shape the Beliefs of a Religion
By now, it is obvious that rituals communicate something important.
They contain a message. Those who take part in rituals act out this message.
The Chinese family described earlier in this chapter left a place open at the table
for an ancestor in order to symbolize a belief. For the Chinese, setting a place at
the table for their ancestors is a central religious ritual.
Rituals seek to communicate things that words alone cannot convey. For this
reason, rituals always involve both words and actions. To signify the
importance of and their belief in the Trinity, Catholics sign themselves with the
sign of the cross.
Religious beliefs are usually learned by participating in rituals. Over time, they
become part of life. By entering into the rituals of religion, we enter the world
where the rituals make sense.
Liturgical rituals help us look beyond our everyday lives. They reveal truths that
transcend us, that are bigger than we are. They reveal the holy. The sound of
choir and organ, or guitar and flute; the church bells; the light shining through
the stained glass windows; the prayers; the statues of saints and biblical figures;
the open space; the incense; the taste of the transformed bread and wine at
Communion—all these point to something out of the ordinary. In these
moments, religions express their deepest convictions about what is ultimately
true.

Catholic Liturgy Shapes

Catholic Beliefs
Catholics express and affirm their beliefs in their ritual celebrations.
This happens particularly in the Sunday Mass, during the Liturgy of the Word.
The primary source of their beliefs is found in the Bible and in the
interpretations of the Bible. During the Liturgy of the Word, passages from the
Bible—both the Old Testament and the New Testament—are read and
explained. The proclamation of the Gospel about Jesus is the high point of the
Liturgy of the Word.

The Creed
During the Mass, the Creed sums up the Bible's story of God. Catholics recite
the Creed each Sunday after the homily to express what they believe and who
they are as a faith community. The Creed is like a story with three parts.
I believe
We tend to interpret "I believe" to mean "I accept that something is true." But,
that is not the original meaning.
To say "I believe in God" does not mean "I believe that there is a God." To say
"I believe in God" is more like a promise or a pledge. It means
"I promise or I pledge that from this moment I set my life, love, heart, and
mind, my whole being, on God and on God alone." People make this promise
because they love and trust God.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth ...
First, Catholics pledge themselves to the Father. The name "Abba" (an Aramaic
word), or "Father," is the name Jesus used when he spoke to God in prayer.
Jesus's whole ministry was about revealing who the Father is.
For Jesus, God (Abba, Father) is a Father like no other. "Call no one your father
on Earth," he said, "for you have one Father-the one in heaven" (Matthew 23:9).
For Jesus, God (Abba, Father) is a parent who loves his children fiercely and
will always care for them. This God is the creator of heaven and Earth, the
maker of all things, visible and invisible.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord ...
The heart of the Creed is about
Jesus Christ. The Creed sums up what the scriptures say about Jesus. Jesus is
the Father's only Son and the Lord.
The Creed highlights Jesus's life in six points. Catholics pledge themselves to
Jesus Christ because he is the Word of the Father, the one through whom God is
revealed. In other words, there is nothing more to see in God than what we see
in Jesus Christ. He is the full appearance of God.
Notice that the Creed speaks only about the beginning and the end of the story
of Jesus. The emphasis is on his death and resurrection. Here, the mystery of
God is revealed for Catholics. Here, God entered into the human drama of
suffering and death.
Catholics see the cross of Jesus as the symbol of God's love.
I believe in the Holy Spirit ...
The third part of the Creed is about the Church's commitment to the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. It is the Spirit of
God that dwells in human hearts and acts in the rest of creation.
The Spirit is known as "the gift."
The Nicene Creed—the longer creed that Catholics say at Mass—calls the Spirit
"the Lord and giver of life." That is why the Spirit is also called love. The Spirit
is where love happens.
The Spirit as God's power of love is revealed when two people can finally
forgive each other; when people find joy again in living; when life overcomes
death. The Spirit makes alive today in the community of Catholics what Jesus
brought to life in his time: God's kingdom of justice, peace, and joy.
When Catholics pledge themselves to the Holy Spirit in the Creed, they also
promise to respect, protect, and promote all living things.

Morality
As we just saw, the rituals of religion express people's ultimate beliefs. They
also teach people how to act. In some religions, moral teachings are quite
explicit, and sometimes there are many of them. In Judaism, for example, the
Torah contains 613 laws. Moral teachings make it clear how a religion sees the
world. They tell believers how to live in the world. They also tell what kind of
people they should become.
If in a ritual we pledge ourselves to the holy, we are expected to live in a
way that is holy. All religions expect this commitment from the people who take
part in their rituals. Practising Muslims are expected to live as faithful Muslims.
Practising Catholics are expected to live as faithful Catholics.
Morality is an important part of the rituals of a religion. Each religion follows a
moral order that is unique to that religion. The ritual or liturgical life of each
religion shapes that religion's moral teachings in a certain way.
Catholic Liturgy and Morality
The Catholic faith, too, promotes a specific moral or ethical view of life through
its rituals, especially the Mass. In the Mass, the teachings on morality are
mostly found in the readings from scripture.
Catholic moral teaching is based on both philosophy and theology: on
philosophical positions and theological reflections (see Catechism of the
Catholic Church, #1877-1942).
Here are three examples of the Catholic tradition and morality as shaped
through the scriptures:
1. Catholicism is first of all a celebration of God's love of humans and the
world. The focus is not onhuman sin, although the Church admits sin is
there. The focus is on God's grace, God's reaching out to people in love.
The scriptures say that God has an intense desire for human well-being
 and health. To express this idea, the scriptures use the word "salvation."
God wants all to be saved, that is, made whole and complete.
2. The main attitude of Catholics is to be grateful for the gift of love at the
heart of all existence.
Catholic worship or liturgy is to give praise and thanks and to live a life
of thanksgiving and generosity, mirroring for others the love God has for
them. They are to be generous to others—especially the poor—as God is
generous.
3. The highest expression of this response is found in the Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29).
Followers of Jesus must "be perfect ... as your heavenly Father is perfect"
(Matthew 5:48).

Philosophy
Literally, "love of wisdom"; the study of what is true, good, and beautiful in
human existence, the use of reason to seek truth and knowledge

Theology
The study of God

Love and Justice

Catholics believe justice to be a very important moral value. In justice, we give
others what is due to them: adequate food, shelter, security, and whatever they
need to lead a life of dignity, worthy of honour and respect. Just as Catholics are
fed through the scriptures and Communion at Sunday Mass, they are told to
feed others. No one is to be excluded; all are brothers and sisters.
The Catholic Church teaches that this moral goal is achieved through the
doctrine of social justice. Teachings on social justice related to business and
industry were developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to help
working people who suffered because of industrialization. At that time, many
people left their farms to work in factories and cities. The workwas hard and
often unsafe, and the workers were not always treated fairly.
Many could not feed their families. The Church spoke out against these unjust
practices. It pointed out that all people deserve to be respected and treated well
because they were created by God.
God's desire for justice for all is also found in the Spirit's presence in the world's
religions.

Love and Respect for Life

Catholics believe that human life has great value and dignity-that, in fact, life is
a gift from God. The Church proclaims a "gospel of life," especially for those
who are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves.
Catholics believe that life is sacred from the moment of conception until the
moment of natural death. The life of every person—those who are not yet born,
those who have disabilities, those who are terminally ill, those who are
criminals—is sacred to God.
Christ teaches about respecting life in all people. He told his followers this
parable to help them understand what it means to follow him:
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed
by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and
you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and
you visited me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that
we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to
drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked
and gave clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and
visited you?" And the King will answer them, "Truly, I tell you, just as you did
it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me"
(Matthew 25:34-40).

Family Life
Catholics and Family Life
Although much of Catholic faith is centred on the parish, where most ritual life
(baptism, Eucharist, weddings, and funerals) takes place, the family and the
home also play key roles. In the Catholic tradition, marriage is a sacrament.
This means that a Catholic couple—in their life together and with their family—
are to show both the faithfulness of Christ and the sort of love that Jesus had for
people. For Catholic families, the Gospel of Jesus acts as a trusted guide.
The Second Vatican Council called the family a "domestic church"
(Constitution on the Church, #11).
From the first moment of life, a child learns how to love through the love he or
she receives from parents, siblings, and relatives. The home is sometimes
portrayed as the school of faith, hope, and love. Catholic parents are encouraged
to teach their young children how to live, love, and pray, and, when they are
ready, how to take part in the Sunday Eucharist and in the life of the Church.

A Catholic Home
A Catholic home does not always look different from other homes. But, often
Catholic symbols will be prominently displayed in it: a cross or crucifix on the
wall, a palm branch left over from Palm Sunday, an icon, a little shrine with
house patron saints, a statue of Mary or a favourite saint, a rosary. Some
families use symbols when celebrating the great feasts of the Church, especially
Easter and Christmas. At Easter, they may paint Easter eggs; at Christmas, they
may set up a nativity scene and decorate their home with lights.
As well as showing their faith through visible symbols, Catholics are urged to
pray together. Many families pray before meals, because every meal is a
memory of the Eucharistic meal, where Christ gave himself to his followers.
Many homes also have a bedtime ritual where parents tell stories and say
prayers with their children.
A ritual such as this strengthens the bonds between family members and, at the
same time, strengthens each person's relationship with God.

Catholic Education
Religion, for Catholics, is a public act that aims to touch all life andlearning.
The Catholic Church says that parents have the right to choose their children's
education. In many countries-including some Canadian provinces—parents can
educate their children in the Catholic faith by sending them to a Catholic school.
In the 1960s, the pope and the world's Catholic bishops prepared a famous
document in which they said, "The future of humanity lies in the hands of those
who are strong enough to provide coming generations with reasons for living
and hoping" (The Church in the Modern World,
#31). Catholic schools work to contribute to society in this way.

The most important prayer for Catholics is the prayer that Jesus taught his
disciples. After Jesus had prayed for a whole night, thedisciples asked him to
teach them to pray. The prayer is called the Lord's Prayer. Catholics pray it at
Mass to begin the Communion rite.