By Jenny Koch
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), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1104-1112
When thinking about the sacraments, I often ponder the difference between tradition and celebration. Too often, we describe our liturgy as tradition, which unfortunately may conjure up negative thoughts of being outdated or stale. Celebrations, however, invoke the opposite reaction. We never miss a chance to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, despite the fact that they happen every year. In each sacrament, we are indeed celebrating, not repeating. Every time, we are witnessing the mysterious, experiencing and celebrating the life of Jesus. “Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present” (CCC 1104).
But how is this humanly possible? It is not our own power or our perfect attendance. St. John Damascene tells us the Holy Spirit “accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought.” The Catechism teaches, “It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present” (CCC 1104). This “transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the kingdom … and the Spirit gives life to those who accept him” (CCC1107). So while our liturgy is indeed traditional, repeated through the centuries, the rites are also transformative and worthy of a celebration.
At every Mass, during the epiclesis, the priest begs the Holy Spirit: “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” The same Holy Spirit that transformed the apostles in the Upper Room is a critical part of our liturgies. The Holy Spirit made the once-scared Apostles into confident preachers who eventually became martyrs. What a miracle! The Catechism teaches us that the Holy Spirit is indeed still working miracles: “In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his body … which gathers God’s scattered children together.” Our liturgies bring together the scattered. They give us common ground. They help us grow as a community. In today’s world of divisiveness and polarization, this seems to be quite a miracle.
Years ago, I was struggling with how to explain the liturgy. I was in a rut. A trusted priest took time to hear my concerns and also gave me some additional reading. He handed me a tiny yellow book called “Eucharist: The Body of Christ.” It’s only about 60 pages long, but it completely changed my view of liturgy. Father Paul McPartlan, a professor at the Catholic University of America, begins by explaining that liturgy is about life: “While the Gospel is indeed about sin and forgiveness, it is just as much about life and death.” He also writes that: “All in all; the church is continually in a state of epiclesis.”
Every liturgy. Every day. The Catholic Church is transforming and growing, building the kingdom while we wait in hope. During the liturgies — celebrations — we are experiencing a taste of heaven, a mysterious glimpse. Father Paul tells us that, “We close our eyes on this world, so as to open them on the next, in Christ.” If you can stand in the church and imagine one foot in heaven and one foot on earth, then you can begin to grasp this concept.
Scott Hahn reminds us, “The Liturgy is where Scripture comes to life — where the written text becomes a living word. All the promises of the Old Testament and the New point toward the liturgy of the Church, which is an earthly sharing in the eternal liturgy in heaven.”
Let us continue to pray that our hearts be open to experience the Holy Spirit, described as “like the sap of the Father’s vine which bears fruit on its branches” (CCC 1108). Need some help? Here is the most common prayer used by the faithful: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jenny Koch is a local publisher at Decided Excellence Catholic Media. Her family attends Corpus Christi Parish in Evansville.