3.
Religious Education 4
Liturgy and Worship
Prayer
Christian Prayer – a loving, conscious, personal
relationship with God, our all loving, good Father who
has adopted us through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ in
the Holy Spirit.
It is an “intimate conversation with God whom we know
loves us”. (St. Teresa of Avila)
The Holy Spirit brings us into the life of communion and
fellowship with the Father and with His Son. Authentic
Christian prayer is Trinitarian – through Christ, we have
access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph 2:18).
Prayer develops a conscious awareness of out
relationship with God. This relationship depends
fundamentally on:
 Who God is;
 Who we are
Prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart, to praise Him,
to thank Him, to ask forgiveness and to ask for favors. (St.
Anselm)
Prayer is also telling God that we think He has done a
pretty good job. It is also thanking Him for our parents,
brothers and sisters. We thank him for the good things
that happen everyday (passing the quiz or exam, winning
the game).
Prayer is telling God that we are sorry we haven’t done
as good as job as we could have done. We ask Him for all
the good things that we need to be a good person.
Prayer is not the speaking of many words or the hypnotic
spell of a recited formula. It is the raising of the mind and
heart to God in constantly renewed acts of love. (Rahner)
Prayer is when we open our hearts to God in an act of
love. This human love can be expressed in many different
ways.
BASIC TYPES OF PRAYER
1. Adoration – giving praise and glory to God.
2. Thanksgiving – thanking God for the blessings
and goodness that we received from Him
3. Offering – we offer our thoughts, words, and
deeds; we offer ourselves to God.
4. Petition –
5. Praise –
LEVELS OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER
1. Private, personal prayer
2. Public, communal liturgical prayer
FORMS OF PRAYER
Prayer of Need
We turn to God in times of need, when things go wrong,
when life seems all messed up. We turn to God because
He is our Father and we love Him.
Human life is full of problems and fears. In this prayer,
we tell God about all those worries and needs and ask
Him to help us.
Prayer of Forgiveness
We tell God that we have failed, we have hurt someone
and we are sorry about it. All love grows when we say,
“I’m sorry.”
When we admit our sinfulness, we admit our
fundamental humanness and the need of God’s
forgiveness of those we love.
Prayer of Dedication
It is the attempt to consecrate a part of our life to
someone as an act of love for him. For example, a
husband and wife consecrate or dedicate their lives to
each other. Dedication is good because it demands
unselfish surrender, which is one of the great acts of love.
Prayer of Decision
It is a prayer when we have to make choices. Should I do
this or should I do that? How am I going to handle this
particular situation?
In this moment, we are not alone in our decision making.
God is with us in love because we pray.
Think about this: What we say about prayer is not really
important. What matters is what we say in prayer.
We must find words for ourselves. They may be shy
words or weak words or frightened words. They may
come from joy or they may come from pain and sorrow.
They may be a resonant as thunder among the hills, or as
soft as summer rain. The only important thing is that they
come from the heart – in love.
Liturgy
WHAT IS LITURGY?
Liturgy – is the official, public worship of the Church (CCC
1140); an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ
(Vat. II, SC 7); the summit towards which the activity of
the Church is directed, and the fountain from which all
her power flows (SC 9-10, CCC 1074)
WHAT IS THE CENTER OF THE CHURCH’S
LITURGY?
The Holy Eucharist is the center of the Church’s liturgy.
The Holy Eucharist commemorates the Paschal Mystery
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE LITURGY Worship
1. Trinitarian & Paschal – directed to the Father,
through His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship – means “cultus” in Latin; homage paid to a
2. Ecclesial – gathered in an assembly; an ecclesial
person or thing. If addressed directly to God, it is
activity celebrated by the whole Christ, the Head
superior, absolute, supreme worship, or worship of
and members.
adoration. Or, according to the consecrated theological
3. Sacramental – pattern of symbolic, ritual
term, a worship of latria.
movements, gestures, and verbal formulas.
4. Ethically oriented – relates directly to moral life This sovereign worship is due to God alone; addressed to
and empowers the people of God to full Christian a creature, it would become idolatry.
discipleship.
5. Eschatological – makes present Christ’s saving Dulia – the veneration we give to martyrs, angels and
Paschal Mystery. saints.

Hyperdulia – veneration we give to the Blessed Mother

IN SUMMARY
In summary, liturgy is the official public worship of the
Blessed Trinity by the whole Church through the
celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, in a
sacramental and symbolic activity, with intrinsic moral &
ethical links in a built-in eschatological orientation
toward perfect fulfilment in the future.
The Faithful should be led to: full, conscious, active
participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded
by the very nature of the Liturgy.
MISCONCEPTIONS ON LITURGY
o Music – we can have liturgy without music but
there is no music that can make a beautiful
liturgy.
o Law - Is it okay for the priest to have no
vestment? But yes if we have understood the
laws of the Church.
o Rubrics – the external rites that priests do
around the altar in ceremonial worship. Liturgy is
not just the external but there is a spiritual
component in it for there is the action of Christ.
But to celebrate liturgy, we should celebrate it
externally.
o Variety/Novelty/Creativity – creativity is
important, but how far are we creative?
Creativity is a sense of what is proper and
needed at this given moment for this group of
people.
Creativity should be:
since she has a separate and absolute pre-eminent mark
among the saints.
WORSHIP IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Book of Psalms. Worship served as a guide for the
expression of the different moods and themes of our
worship. It may be a theme of lament, confidence,
petition, or thanksgiving.
WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Jesus worshipped in the synagogue every Sabbath.
As for the early Christian Church in Jerusalem:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the
prayers… And day by day, attending the temple together
and breaking bread in their homes, they received their
food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and
having favour with all the people…”
OBSTACLES
 Human laziness and weakness fortified by
secularist materialism of our age
 More personal obstacles of “growing up”
complaints of children and the youth (Why do I
have to?)
 Many routine, uninspiring liturgies, lacking in
spirit and heart
IMPORTANCE OF LITURGY AND WORSHIP
Just something to think about:

 Natural, without being disrespectful Is liturgy and worship important in my life as a young
 Human without ever taking one’s eye from God believer?
who is at the center of worship How is its importance manifested in my life now?
 Inspirational without discarding the liturgical
traditions
 Charismatic without letting the gifts of the Spirit
lead to faction and dissent

GENERAL NORM OF THE SACRED LITURGY

No other person, not even a priest, may ADD, REMOVE,
or CHANGE anything in the liturgy on his own authority.