By Brenda Hopf
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly Connecting Faith and Life column has been renamed Connecting Liturgy and Life. The columns consist of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): The Celebration of the Christian Mystery.
Introduction to Part 2, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (cf. CCC 1066-1075)
As I started to reflect on the Introduction to Part 2 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church — the liturgy and the sacraments — my thoughts turned to our two grandkids, who are now in the midst of basketball season. There is a lot of hard work, commitment and willingness to play your role if your team is to have any real success. So too, if we are to be effective in our roles as disciples of Christ, we must approach the liturgy with our full and conscious participation as the people of God in the work of God.
Just as members of a sports team must understand the ins and outs of their sport and the role they play, we too must understand the true meaning of what is happening at the liturgy and what our role is in that work. At its heart, the liturgy is the prayer of Jesus to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The liturgy, the official prayer of the Church, is Jesus’ gift to us. We literally join Jesus himself as he offers praise and thanksgiving to the Father.
Because we are participating in the liturgy by praying with Jesus to the Father, our main focus, especially at Mass, is worship. This is not a time for private devotion or personal prayer, with the exception of the time of sacred silence after communion. Oftentimes, our focus may be on what “we get from Mass,” but the main reason we gather is to worship together as a community, taking part in the work of the Church, side-by-side with Jesus.
As a united community of believers, we remember the story of salvation as it comes to life in the liturgy. This is why it is so very important that we play our role, not as a bystander just watching, but as a “team member” offering ourselves back to God by bringing our struggles, joys and work and putting them on the altar with the bread and wine to be offered along with Jesus’ sacrifice. It is here on the altar that the Father, pleased with our offering, gives us the very life of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, along with the other six sacraments, works in a very beautiful and simple way, by the use of things we can see — water, oil, bread, wine and gestures — to make present realities we cannot see, like grace, forgiveness, new life and the body and blood of Jesus. God reaches us where we are through these visible signs with invisible realities that give us what we need to go forth as disciples of Christ to do the work of God in the world.
The bottom line is, when it comes to liturgy and the sacraments, we are participating in something bigger than ourselves. These are mysteries we will never fully understand, but are called on as members of the Body of Christ to fully and consciously participate in with faith — with all we have to give. The liturgy and the sacraments are encounters that deepen our relationship with God if we “give it our all,” just as a coach might say as encouragement to a team that is having a less-than-stellar performance.
It is my hope that this next year of articles on Part 2 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will help us all to become more aware of the reality we experience through participation in the liturgy and the sacraments. I mean, seriously, can you imagine if we were invited to play alongside our favorite sports person, sing a duet with our favorite music artist or have dinner with our favorite celebrity? We would be elated! When it comes to praying alongside Jesus through our participation in the liturgy and the sacraments, we are on a whole other level. It is supernatural. We are literally praying side-by-side with Jesus, praising the Father and receiving graces beyond all measure. It is definitely something bigger than ourselves.
Brenda Hopf is a member of Divine Mercy Parish.