Mystagogy Liturgy & Sacraments IV

One of the things the Pentateuch teaches, and Leviticus in particular, is the central role public worship plays in the life of the follower. Engaging in the Redemptive work of God in a corporate, bodily manner, is worth suffering torture, persecution, and ridicule. This is a truth the early Christian communities understood.

If we lose sight of this vision of ourselves and the Church, [ecclesia public governing body, assembly of citizens in a city-state ,] we can over time think of it or treat it as something else. Those in charge of the liturgy and those who should be participating in it lose their way and a substitute is encountered. Liturgy though begins as a personal encounter with Our Lord and is not meant to end inside the building but rather is to be expressed in some form in the world around us. Hence the comparison of the believer to yeast, salt, light.
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