In short, we understand the word "liturgy" to mean the worship service, but in fact, it is much more than that. The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work on behalf of the people". In Christian tradition it has come to mean the "work of the people" participating in the "work of God". Liturgy then, refers not only to the celebration of worship, but also the proclamation of the Gospel and the living of a charitable life.
Through the witness of sacred Scripture, we see both the work of God and the work of the people present in both testaments. God calls Abraham and enters into a covenant with him so that through Abraham a family of faith may be formed so that through their work the work of God in the redemption of the world may be fulfilled. In his book, Justification, author N.T. Wright states: "God, the creator, called Abraham, so that through his family he, God, could rescue the world from its plight". Wright speaks of this as God's "single purpose" - a plan "through Israel for the world". Israel longed for a Messiah who would restore right relationship between humanity, creation and God. In analyzing the writings of St. Paul, Wright concludes that what "Israel had longed for God to do for it and for the world, God had done for Jesus, bringing him through death and into the life of the age to come." The implications of this are that from a covenant perspective, God's promises to Abraham had been fulfilled and from the eschatological perspective (future hope and fulfillment of God's plan begun in Jesus), the new world order had begun (but is not yet complete).
For Christians, the liturgical year (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time) mark the central themes of God's work among God's people while the liturgy is an active participation of God's people in the work of God. The liturgy celebrates the fact that God has been faithful to the covenant with Abraham in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and proclaims the new age begun in Jesus that God will bring to fulfillment in the future and our participation in the process of bringing it to fulfillment.
All of this forms the "mystery of Christ" which we proclaim and celebrate in liturgy. To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in the Church and in the liturgical celebrations of the Church. The liturgy does not contain ALL of the actions of the Church, but it is the source from which the people of God are nourished to participate in God's work and it is the pinnacle toward which the activity of the people of God is directed. Liturgy is therefore an encounter between Christ and the people of God. The reading of Scripture, signs and symbols, words and actions, singing and music, preaching and sacraments all point to Christ who himself is the meaning of all these things.
The season of Advent begins on November 27th. Advent comes from the Latin "adventum" which means waiting. Throughout this four week period the Church, the people of God, waits for the celebration of Christmas. This waiting is marked by both a remembrance of the waiting of the Hebrew people for the birth of the Messiah and an anticipated hope of the return of Jesus at the end of this new age that God began in the resurrection. For this reason, throughout the liturgical season of Advent we will re-read and relive the great events of salvation history in our Sunday liturgy in our own time and space. May our Advent celebrations - our Advent liturgies - our Advent "work" be a time of devout and joyful expectation.
