What Is Its Purpose?

"To glorify God"

The supreme purpose for which all things exist is to show forth and to increase the glory of our great God. Accordingly, the chief purpose of the liturgy and of the Liturgical Year is to glorify God, to offer a full and varied homage to the Most High. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – the chief act of Catholic worship and the very heart of the liturgy, renders this homage and glory to God in the highest degree.

"To instruct and sanctify the faithful."

At the same time that the liturgy gives glory to God, it instructs us in what we must believe and do in order to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. The Liturgical Year unfolds in sequence, first, a panorama of the period of hopeful waiting for the coming of Christ, the promised Redeemer; then it presents the life of Christ in its historical development from His birth to His resurrection; and lastly, the continuation of His life work in the Church, His Mystical Body.

"To bind in unity."

Another purpose of the liturgy is to bind us together with one another with God in a magnificent unity. If we live the liturgical life of the Church, we pray and act with Christ and with His Church. We are never alone for we become a part of the activity of the grandest organization on earth—the Mystical body of Christ, of which Christ is the head and the Holy Spirit, is the life-giving soul. We become truly a priestly people, co-operating with Christ in His priestly work.

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