Liturgy is the main – one almost could say the exclusive – occupation of the Church. Christian life is so profoundly interwoven with the liturgy of the Church that one can never fully live a life in Christ without liturgical participation. Jesus came so that humans may have life, and have it abundantly. To grow in this life, he declared, one needed to have a close relationship with him, like that of the branches to a vine (Jn 10:10 and Jn 15:1-6). Through baptism, a Christian begins a new life in the risen Christ (Rom 6:3-4). The old self of the believer is set aside and the person is reborn. While awaiting the fullness of the divine life at the end of time, the Church already enjoys the first fruits of that life here and now. The liturgy should be explicated and understood as providing the context and means for the faithful to grow in the divine life, in response to the mysteries of salvation. As an icon of that new life, a Christian should be able to challenge and renew his or her old life in and around the Church. It is liturgy that builds up the body of Christ and makes it the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Commission Chairman: Rev Fr. Vargheese Puthenpurackal