Our People

Liturgy as Worship

Australian Bishops Conference Talk

By Most Rev. Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
7 May 2005

Heavenly Worship

In Revelations Chapter 4 St John says,

Then, in my vision, I saw a door open in heaven and heard the same voice speaking to me, the voice like a trumpet, saying, ‘Come up here: I will show you what is to come in the future’.

“A door opened in heaven.” I have an image from bushwalking of coming up to a house and looking through an open door as evening is setting. I am tired from the walk; it is a little cold; I have been eating simple foods and sleeping out. The house looks so inviting – the lights on, the smell of fresh cooking, the cosiness of the house.

Revelations Chapter 4 is a glimpse for the pilgrim of what lies ahead: heaven.

And what does he see?

The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.  Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.  And from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lampstands with burning flames. They are the seven spirits of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.

    In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.  The first of these living beings had the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth had the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight.  Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created everything,
and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”

We are given a glimpse of heavenly worship. The great cry goes up from the angels: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”. We identify here the same vision that captivated Isaiah in the Temple as the Lord called him to the prophetic ministry:

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. In a great chorus they sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”  The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.                                                                   (Is. 6, 1-3)

This was the vision that inspired the life and ministry of the prophet. He knew the glory of the Lord! There is a profound confidence in the ultimate victory of God that lies under all the writings of Isaiah. God will be supreme in the end! This vision of heavenly worship was the cornerstone of the faith of Isaiah. The Lord God revealed his glory to his chosen prophet. This one vision would be enough for a lifetime of faithful service through the most difficult of times.

The Sanctus

The Sanctus text is the oldest of the Mass. Clement of Rome (d.104) mentions it:

For the Scripture says…Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts; full is every creature of his glory. And we, led by conscience, gathered together in one place in concord, cry to him continually as from one mouth, that we may become sharers in his great and glorious promises.                            (I Cor 34,6-7)

The holy, holy is the cry of the people. It is the hymn of the Church. It is our moment of supreme praise and worship. We lift our eyes and our hearts to heaven. We hear the angels sing. We join our voices with theirs. Heaven and earth join together in a united hymn of praise – Holy is the Lord our God.

The Sacred Liturgy as Act of Worship

At every Mass we are invited to join the angels and saints in their hymn of praise and we join in singing the Sanctus. We, on earth, participate in the heavenly worship. Our voices as we say in the Preface, “blend with theirs”.

Let us consider the teaching of the document on the Liturgy from Vatican II. The Council, in article 8, states,

In the earthly Liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that Heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a Minister of the Holies and of the true Tabernacle; we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our Life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory.

Our participation in the Liturgy engages us in a cosmic reality, a word Pope Benedict XVI particularly likes. We are lifted beyond ourselves: beyond our meagre concerns; beyond our physical attachments; beyond our earthly preoccupations. We lift up our eyes. We lift up our hearts. We look to heaven. We see through the window. We behold the glory of the Lord.

The Old Testament, too, gives witness to the spirit of worship. A worship of God offered in the temple. In the Psalms there are a number called Ascent Psalms, like the short and simple Ps 134 that captures the pilgrim’s intention and expectation:

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
Who stand in the house of the Lord through the long hours of night. 
Lift up your hands toward the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
May the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion.

These were hymns sung by pilgrims ascending Mount Sion in Jerusalem to offer worship in the Temple. These psalms express the yearning to offer worship to God. The pilgrims came to the holy city, full of faith and expectation. They just wanted to approach the Holy of Holies. They wanted to lift their hands towards the sanctuary. They wanted to come into the presence of the living God. They travelled from their poor and estranged lives to seek the One who is life.

We Christian pilgrims have been given an opportunity “to worship in spirit and truth” in each Mass. We do not have to travel to Jerusalem or some sacred shrine. Each Mass wherever it is celebrated is a moment in which time is suspended. We are united with heaven. We are one with the saints and angels. We, in the spirit, behold the saints and angels. We have a foretaste of heavenly glory. We worship the Lord.

The Worship of the Lord Present in the Blessed Sacrament.

One of Pope John Paul’s final apostolic letters to the Church Universal was Mane Nobiscum Domine, Stay with us Lord, issued for this Year of the Eucharist. His desire for the year is expressed in these words,

There is a particular need to cultivate a lively awareness of Christ's real presence, both in the celebration of Mass and in the worship of the Eucharist outside Mass.

He speaks of the presence of the presence of the Lord,

The presence of Jesus in the tabernacle must be a kind of magnetic pole attracting an ever greater number of souls enamoured of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8).

Then he adds,

During this year Eucharistic adoration outside Mass should become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious communities. Let us take the time to kneel before Jesus present in the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by our faith and love for the acts of carelessness and neglect, and even the insults which our Saviour must endure in many parts of the world. Let us deepen through adoration our personal and communal contemplation, drawing upon aids to prayer inspired by the word of God and the experience of so many mystics, old and new.

Flowing on from these thoughts on the worship of the Lord, it is worth considering that Catholic instinct of desiring to offer worship to the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. The practice emerged at a time when there was a revival in appreciation of the Real Presence. This period gave rise to the composition of some of the great Eucharistic hymns, like those of St Thomas Aquinas, “Adoro Te Devote”.

I sense a yearning in the hearts of people of faith expressed in a renewed appreciation for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It is an expression of the fundamental yearning of the human heart for communion with the living God. In every human heart is the heart of a creature who acknowledges the Creator. We, as Catholics, know the Creator as the One revealed in the Scriptures and in the Incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

We have are given, through Revelation in the Word of God, a glimpse, a window, into heaven – and in our spirit we can behold something of the glory of the Lord.

Our one and simple response is adoration, worship.

Our great song is that of the angels, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts”!