Worship and Liturgy

The Office of Worship and Liturgy supports and nurtures the liturgical life of the Diocese of Knoxville so that the people of God can enter more deeply into the mystery of the Trinity. It serves as a resource for the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy throughout the Diocese of Knoxville. The office assists pastors and those in parishes and schools who are responsible for sacramental liturgical preparation and celebration. It also assists the various ministries and offices that serve the people of Knoxville.

Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of the man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses, and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members.

From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 7).