Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God opens with Luke’s Gospel (Luke 22:15): ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’

‘These words of Jesus at the Last Supper are the crevice through which we are given the surprising possibility of intuiting the depth of the love of the persons of the Most Holy Trinity for us (§2).

The world still does not know that everyone is invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), but Christ’s infinite desire to re-establish Communion with us will not be satisfied until we have all received His Body, His Blood (Revelation 5:9).

For this reason, that same Supper will be made present in the celebration of the Eucharist until He comes returns again (§4,5). The breaking of the bread opens eyes, rendering them capable of seeing the Risen One with the eyes of Faith, enabling belief in the Resurrection (§7).

We do this in remembrance of Christ (Luke 22:19), as He commanded, to offer the possibility of a true encounter with Him (§8). “Here lies all the powerful beauty of the liturgy” (§10). ‘This is the Way the Holy Trinity has chosen to open to us the Way of Communion…an encounter with Him Alive’ (§10).

The Church is to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration (§16).

“Let us be clear here: every aspect of the celebration must be carefully tended to (space, time, gestures, words, objects, vestments, song, music…) and every rubric must be observed. Such attention would be enough to prevent robbing from the assembly what is owed to it; namely, the Paschal Mystery celebrated according to the ritual that the Church sets down” (§23).

As Vatican News put it, Liturgy is about Christ, not the celebrants (§54).

Let us rekindle our wonder for the beauty of the truth of the Christian celebration…to recognize the importance of an art of celebrating that is at the service of the Truth of the Paschal Mystery and of the participation of all the Baptized in it, each one according to his or her vocation (§62).