What is God’s plan for the accomplishment of our salvation? God’s plan for our salvation is, of course, very Trinitarian.
Liturgy and the sacraments are first and foremost works of the Holy Trinity.
God the Father is the
one with the plan, which is nothing less then our participation in
divine, Trinitarian, life both now and in eternity.
God the Son is the one
who makes the Father’s plan effective through the Incarnation and his
suffering, death, resurrection and ascension.
God the Holy Spirit,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son and is sent upon the church at
Pentecost, is the one who effects the plan in our lives.
God the Father sends
the Son. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is
poured out on the church Christ established. And it is the church that
is the dispenser of the mysteries of salvation.
The church then makes
the Trinitarian life – which the Father planned to give us, the Son died
to give us and the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church to give us –
abundantly available in the liturgy and the sacraments.
It is through the
sacraments that the salvation wrought by the Paschal Mystery of Christ
is made accessible to us here and now. We, too, can have a real share in
Christ’s life, work and love. It is first and foremost through the
sacraments that we do so.
We must always keep in
mind that the Father, not human persons, is the source and goal of the
liturgy. Liturgy is Christ’s work, not humanity’s. The Holy Spirit, not
man and woman, is the “artisan of ‘God’s masterpieces,’ the sacraments
of the new covenant” (CCC 1091). God is the author of the sacraments and
liturgy. They are not humanly instituted rituals.
This being the case
should change the way we respond to these mysteries, and indeed
understand that this demands nothing less than a response of faith. What
comes to us from the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit to the
Church in the sacraments is meant to elicit in us a response to the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The sacramental economy includes such a
response, what St. Paul calls “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26).
We are given nothing
less than Trinitarian life in the sacraments. As participants in the
church Christ established through the power of the Holy Spirit, with the
authority given to him by the Father, we are called to give a very
Trinitarian response of faith. “…The Church, united with her Lord and
‘in the Holy Spirit,’ blesses the Father ‘for his inexpressible gift’ in
her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving” (CCC 1083).
In our lives, we are to
give the response of adoration. “Adoration is the first attitude of man
acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator…homage of the
spirit to the ‘King of Glory,’ respectful silence in the presence of the
‘ever greater’ God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of
love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications” (CCC
2628). The response of faith, in adoration, must, by necessity, include
a humble disposition because “…humility is the foundation of prayer”
(CCC 2559).
In our lives we are
also to give the response of praise. “Praise is the form of prayer which
recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds [praises] God for
his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply
because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart
who love God before seeing him in glory” (CCC 2639).
Further, in our response of faith we are to give the response of thanksgiving. St. Paul
tells us, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As the Psalmist
says, “Give thanks to the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever!
Let that be the prayer of the Lord’s redeemed, those redeemed from the
hand of the foe…” (Psalm 107:1-2).
The response of faith
must also include, living a life “…worthy of the calling you have
received…” (Ephesians 4:1). Our daily life must be lived out worthy of
the Trinitarian life we receive in the sacraments, a life of faith, hope
and love. Let’s us not deceive ourselves like those in Isaiah’s day,
being ones “…who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into
light, and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet, and sweet
into bitter!” (5:20).
Prior to our next
reception of the sacrament of sacraments, the Eucharist, “a person
should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For
anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks
judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
We must always remember
to “be on your guard, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be
strong. Your every act should be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).
Printed with permission from the Northern Cross, Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota.
Brian Pizzalato is the Director of Catechesis, R.C.I.A. & Lay Apostolate for the Diocese of Duluth. He is also a faculty member of the Theology and Philosophy departments of the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England. He writes a monthly catechetical article for The Northern Cross, of the Diocese of Duluth,
and is a contributing author to the Association for Catechumenal
Ministry's R.C.I.A. Participants Book. Brian is currently authoring the
regular series, "Catechesis and Contemporary Culture," in The Sower,
published by the Maryvale Institute and is also in the process of
writing the Philosophy of Religion course book for the B.A. in
Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition program at the Maryvale Institute.