At the Fountain of Love : living Holiness through the Liturgy

Abstract

This paper deals with God as Love personified. The love of God for man which has been revealed throughout the history of salvation, reaches its fulfilment in the mystery of Christ – God made man. By the Spirit, the life of Christ active in the Church is expressed through Liturgy. As this Trinitarian love unfolds itself it flows through and from the Church to reach out to all. It is in this way that the Christian responds to God’s call to holiness and communion through a relationship with the Father in union with the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. The aim of my dissertation is to demonstrate how in surrendering oneself to God’s will in worship and discipleship, the Christian becomes more Christ-like allowing the Triune God to transform him as he journeys towards the Heavenly Liturgy. A question to be asked here is: ‘Why worship God and how is this expressed in and through the Liturgy?’ In answering, the focus is placed on our salvation brought about by the kenosis of Christ. The work will be treating the fulfilment of God’s revelation in Christ through the Incarnation, Passion and Death, Resurrection and Ascension. Another topic will be the Paschal Mystery as celebrated in the Liturgy where the nucleus is the Eucharist, showing forth the true contents of the Liturgy. The work will try to underline the need for the believer to allow the Liturgy to revitalize his experience of the celebration in the way he approaches and understands the Liturgy. This is further expressed in his relation to God by progressive conversion and in relation to others in proclaiming and living the saving power of Christ.