Liturgy...please define

Hello to all out there.

Yesterday Magyar posted on Litgury and Revelation.

Now, I always thought Litgury meant litature. For a while I was a Liturgical Minister and did the readings at Mass so I assumed the connection with the written word.

In yesterday's post, litgury seems to have a deeper meaning, almost like heaven on Earth. Help.

For Roman Catholics, liturgy is the Mass.

For Eastern Catholics, liturgy is the Divine Liturgy.

The ecclesiastical Catholic liturgy means the office or service to God composed of the reading and chanting of prayers, the reading of the Word of God, and the performance of sacred ritual according to a definite order, as headed by a bishop or priest. Ecclesiastical liturgy is distinguished from private prayer, because it is performed primarily in church and served by clergy, who must be lawfully ordained to this service through the Mystery of Ordination.

The purpose of Catholic public worship is to edify the faithful by setting forth the true doctrines of Christ through readings and chanting, and to dispose them towards prayer and repentance. The services represent the most important events from sacred history, accomplished for our salvation both before the birth of Christ and after. They inspire the faithful to give thanks to God for all the benefits received from Him, intensify their supplication for further mercies from Him, and help them to gain peace in their souls.

The most important aspect of the liturgy is that the Catholics enters into a mystical union with God through the celebration of the Sacraments, especially in the Sacrament of Holy Communion; and from this union with God, the Catholics receive the power of Divine Grace to live a righteous life.

This is wonderful. It is like an on-line Catechism.

I think it is interesting to contast gnotism with what happens in the Mass. The goal of gnostism is to experience a union with God while here on Earth. Well, that is what is happening in the Mass. I idea of the parsouia, the real presence of Christ in our midst. After almost 50 years of attending Mass I can finally feel His presence.

Of course the difference with gnostism and the Mass is that gnostism seeks to obtain the experience through hidden knowledge and the Mass accomplishes it through sacrament and communion of the faithful.