Principle Eight: Worship Is A Way Of Life

Worship is not only an action. It is also a way of life that the church experiences in each of its members day by day. When worship is central, all of life proceeds toward it and issues from it again, in blessed rhythm. Worship as a way of life is summed up in the following way in the Liturgical Constitution of Vatican II: "The liturgy (worship) is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed; at the same time it is a fount from which all the church's power flows. " When I think of these words, I visualize an hourglass set on its side. At the very center, the waist of the hourglass is worship. On the left, everything that one does in life, both work and leisure, moves toward the center, worship. On the right, everything that one does in life work and leisure is empowered by worship. In this vision of life our worship stands at the center and gives shape to all that we do. Worship, then, is not only the public acts that we do as a gathered community, but our very day…