Christians gathered recently at St Charles Lwanga Parish Molyko for another catechetical session with the Chief Catechist of the Diocese of Buea His Lordship Michael Bibi, in a bid to nourish themselves with the teachings of the church. The lesson looked at during this session was captioned “General Instructions of the Roman Missal”; a document which provides guidelines on the essential elements to be considered during the celebration of the Liturgy. The Liturgy which is the official public worship of the church, must be celebrated according to laid down liturgical norms, he noted.
Christians schooled on the General instructions of the Roman Missal
Paragraph 83 of the General instructions of the Roman Missal teaches on the apostolic traditions and the ecclesial traditions of the church. It notes that the apostolic traditions are those handed over by Jesus to the Apostles and which cannot be changed while the ecclesial traditions are those put in place by the church and which are subject to change as the need may be. The prelate noted that the mission of the church is to guard the deposit of the faith and that the Roman Missal helps Priests to properly celebrate the Eucharist and nourish the lives of Christians, thus the faith of the church must not be altered in the celebration of the Eucharist.
In addition, the Eucharist is celebrated in remembrance of the events of Holy Thursday; when Jesus gave his body and blood to His Apostles in an unbloody manner, and that of Good Friday; when Jesus gave himself to humanity in a bloody manner.
Priests in attendance
Amongst the groups in the church, is the royal priesthood and from the royal priesthood, some are called to the hierarchical priesthood such as the priests, for the celebration of the Eucharist. When the Eucharist is celebrated it should be noted, Jesus is truly and substantially present in the body and blood of Christ. He reiterated that it is important that those who participate in the celebration of the Eucharist should consume the consecrated Host and only a little is to be kept in the tabernacle. The reason for this is to ensure that Holy Communion is available for the sick and also to enable Christians to pray in adoration.
The Bishop further schooled Christians on the importance of the dignity of the celebration of the Eucharist where he noted that the celebration of mass is an action of Christ and an action of Christians and during this period, Christians must be active, conscious and participate fully . Dialogue between the priest and Christians must also be effective.
He also told the Christians that ; in the implementation of the general instructions of the Roman Missals the Bishop Is the moderator and therefore is obliged to celebrate the liturgy properly for others to emulate. The structure of the celebration of the liturgy can however be modified by a bishop or by bishops of a nation but without changing the essence.
Christians schooled on the general instructions of the Roman Missal
The Prelate also looked at the structure of mass, its elements and parts. Conferring paragraph 188 of the catechism of the catholic church, and paragraph 27 of the General instructions of the Roman Missal, he noted that Jesus is present in the Eucharist in these ways; the assembly of the people of God, the Minister who acts on behalf of Christ, the word of God( through the readings and homily), and in the Eucharist.
The Bishop also talked to Christians about the two parts of the mass which are ; the liturgy of the Word- which begins with the First reading and ends after the beading prayer, and the second part of the mass which is the liturgy of the Eucharist- it begins with the bread and wine procession and ends with the post communion Prayer.
