Desiderio Desideravi: summary of key points in simple language
“Liturgy is of first importance in our lives. God must be in first place and prayer our first duty,” Pope Francis recently stressed in Desiderio Desideravi. And he pointed out that "it is important now to spread this knowledge" to "each one of the faithful" in "an accessible way." So here is a summary of the key points in simple language.
The Liturgy is the “today” of God’s saving work
From the beginning of creation, God has been preparing for the Last Supper of Jesus.
Because Jesus has an infinite desire to become one with us, everyone is invited to that Supper. Here Jesus himself is the Passover Lamb that we take.
How great is the gift and how small we are.
The Mass is the supper of the wedding of the Lamb
To be present, there is one requirement: the wedding garment of faith.
Our response to Jesus’ desire is to surrender to his love, to let ourselves to be drawn by him.
The content of the Mass: the crucifixion of Jesus
the act of perfect worship
the only true liturgy
The Eucharist is a memorial, a remembering of this cross where Jesus offers his body and pours out his blood.
In Emmaus, when Jesus breaks the bread in front of the disciples, he opens their eyes, making them see him as the Risen one.
There is no possibility of true encounter with Jesus other than the community that celebrates. Because what was visible in Jesus has passed on to his sacraments.
The Liturgy: place of encounter with Christ
In the Liturgy, we encounter Jesus and the power of his Paschal Mystery reaches us.
In the sacraments, the Risen Jesus continues to forgive us, heal us, and save us.
The Church is the sacrament of the Body of Christ
The Church came from the pierced side of Jesus, as Eve came from the side of the sleeping Adam.
We become part of the Church when we believe and are baptized. We become flesh of Jesus’ flesh.
There is only one act of worship: The obedience of Jesus, the Son of God who died on the cross. The only way to take part in this worship is to become “sons in the Son.” Because the only acting subject of the Liturgy is the Mystical Body of Christ: Christ and his Church.
The Liturgy is an antidote for the poison of spiritual worldliness
Beware of the dangerous temptation of “spiritual worldliness”.
Two present-day poisons feed this:
- Gnosticism – one who is imprisoned by his own subjective thoughts and feelings
Pelagianism – a narcissist who does not need God’s gift of grace and believes he can save himself with his own efforts
The Liturgy is an antidote to these poisons:
It is an action of the whole Church and not of the individual
It is not our achievement but a gift. In it, we only boast of the cross of Christ
Let us rediscover the beauty of the truth of the Christian celebration
For the antidote to work, we are required to rediscover the beauty of the truth of the Mass.
For this:
- Don’t be content with only exterior observance of the rite
- Don’t be careless, superficial, and merely functional
Let us be clear:
Take care of every aspect: gestures, words, song, vestments
Observe every rubric (liturgical instruction)
An essential part of the Mass: being amazed at the Paschal Mystery
The Paschal Mystery—the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus—is what is made present in the Eucharist.
An essential part of the Mass is to be astonished by the Paschal Mystery: God saves us through this deed and reveals his plan through this deed. And what happened 2000 years ago continues to reach us in the celebration of the sacraments, also called “mysteries.”
If we lack amazement, we risk not receiving the flood of graces.
Note: St. Padre Pio recommended: "With your mind's eye, transport yourself to Calvary." He also said: “If you want to assist at Mass with devotion and with fruit, think of the sorrowful Mother at the foot of Calvary.”
The need for a serious and vital liturgical formation
To fully live the liturgy is an extremely demanding challenge because we lack reference points and values (knowing what is truly important and first).
The first document of Vatican II is about the Liturgy. The reason for this, says St. Pope Paul VI, is that the Liturgy is the priority over all others. The liturgy is first in importance to the life of the Church.
- Because God must hold first place; prayer to him is our first duty.
- The liturgy is the first source of divine fellowship in which God shares his own life with us.
- It is the first school and the first gift.
- It is the first invitation that we give to all men.
- It is “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed, and at the same time the source from which all her power flows.”
Let us spread this knowledge now in a simple language so all Catholics may see God in the liturgy--and put the Sunday Mass at the center of their life.
The decisive point of our lives is the knowledge of the mystery of Christ. This is not a matter of ideas, but of a real engagement with Jesus. Liturgy is not about “knowledge,” but is about praise, thanksgiving, and docility to the Holy Spirit. The only goal is to become one with Jesus.
To be formed by the Liturgy, it is important that we become capable of symbols, to have an interior attitude to use and understand symbols.
Ars celebrandi: for all Catholics
The art of celebrating the Liturgy requires knowledge:
First, understand what is happening: the Paschal Mystery is made present, by means of memorial (remembering), so that we can experience it in our life. Without this understanding, we fall into problems.
Then, understand how the Holy Spirit and symbolic language work
Learn the art of celebrating through:
Discipline, not sentimental feelings
Serious work on your relationship with God, obeying the Church
All Catholics are called to live this attitude in all they do in the Mass: gathering, being seated, standing, kneeling, singing, being in silence, acclamations, looking, listening.
Take part in the celebration as one body. Everybody doing together the same gesture, everyone speaking together in one voice — this transmits to each individual the energy of the entire assembly.
All this puts order in our interior world, making us live specific feelings, attitudes, behaviors.
The art of celebrating is required of the entire assembly that celebrates.
Ars celebrandi: particular concern of the priest
Priests who preside in an inadequate way usually are too concerned to be the center of attention.
But the risen Lord is in the leading role. The priest should be overpowered by Jesus' desire to be united with each person. The priest is in the middle between Jesus’ burning heart of love and the heart of each of the faithful.
Silence is absolutely important
It is something grand: take extreme care of silence, one of our symbolic gestures
A symbol of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit
It moves us to sorrow and desire for conversion, makes us ready to hear the Word, awakens prayer, leads us to adore the Body and Blood
Liturgical year and the Lord’s Day: rediscover their meaning
The liturgical year makes us grow in our knowledge of the mystery of Christ, going deep into the mystery of His Death and Resurrection, awaiting his return in glory. This is a true ongoing formation.
On the Lord’s day we celebrate the event of our salvation. Sunday is a gift that God gives to his people.
Read the entire document here at the Vatican website. The Spanish version, which probably is the original, is here.
Relevant materials:
- Paschal Mystery: Center of the Christian Life - hardly discussed truth, but is the most important teaching of Vatican II
- Atheist-Theologian's Search for the Most Powerful Cure for All Evils - a video of my discovery of the Paschal Mystery in the Eucharist based on my life story
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