Day 159: When the Liturgy is Celebrated

When the Church celebrates the mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her prayer: "Today!" - a word echoing the prayer her Lord taught her and the call of the Holy Spirit. This "today" of the living God which man is called to enter is "the hour" of Jesus' Passover, which reaches across and underlies all history. CCC 1165

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses when the liturgy is celebrated. Liturgical seasons are not new, they can be traced back to Moses with Passover, and even to the earliest days recorded in Scripture. They help to center us on Christ throughout the year and by "recalling the mysteries of the redemption" are "in some way made present in every age" in which "the faithful... are filled with saving grace" (CCC 1163). The Catechism Compendium notes this on the liturgical season:

The center of the liturgical season is Sunday which is the foundation and kernel of the entire liturgical year and has its culmination in the annual celebration of Easter, the feast of feasts. (#241)

Bearing in mind the paragraph from the Catechism quoted above, we are called to take action in repentance, prayer, and worship today. As Benjamin Franklin reportedly said, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today." The Eschaton may be sooner than we think. I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II notes:

We cannot go back and change the past or go into the future. All we are given to work with is now. The liturgical season reminds us of this fact. It reminds us that there is something that is on its way, but we are called to live today. This helps us even when we look at our sins. We can look back and wish things were different and be trapped there. The Church asks us to surrender that past to the Lord and live right now, today. (p. 82)