Liturgy Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Liturgy Religion - Essay Example Reading the verses from the Gospel has been a tradition observed by the churches for centuries, where it is performed while standing at the seats, though the Bible is listened to by the people attending Liturgy while sitting on their seats It has frequently been witnessed that churches follow different religious traditions while delivering sermon during liturgy; sometimes, the priests deliver sermons, called homily, by concentrating upon the verses recited from the Gospel (Chadwick, 1975, p.259) . Similarly, many a times, the priests select the verses from one or more of the sixty two Books of Holy Bible to include in the church service as homily. Although the church ministers and priests had established the church decorum in the aftermath of Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth (Latourette, 1975, p.196) , yet apostles and saints had not defined one specific rule to be applied related to homily. Consequently, both these traditions are followed by the ministers and prie sts at the churches. ... Consequently, homily in the UK churches contains the parts of Gospel already read by the attendants while standing. The supporters of applying the verses from Gospel in homily are of the opinion that since Eucharist is not complete without Gospel reading, and thus reading the same is compulsory and mandatory, continuation of the identical part of the Holy Scripture would be beneficial in understanding the verses already studied en masse earlier. Secondly, it is actually the Gospel, which could be stated to be narrating the sacred life of Jesus Christ, which the Old and New Testaments are unable to give account of. Moreover, being the sum of the message of the Christian Faith, according to Damascene, and especially the good news that Christ has saved mankind from the eternal consequences of sin, that He has overcome the central problem of the world—death, both bodily and spiritual—by means of His Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection, all have been described in the four b ooks of Gospel (2009, p.223)5. Since the is no other source more authentic, powerful and accurate than the Gospel, which could provide a detailed account of the life, sayings and journeys attributed to Christ, reading the same is the best possible way of communicating Christ’s holy message to his followers (Littleton, 2001, p.106)6. For instance, the Bible is unable to provide a detailed overview of the Sermon on the Mount, on which the foundation of the basic moral teachings of Christian faith is erected. Hence, the Christians have to consult chapter 5, 6 and 7 from the Gospel of Matthews7 in order to get acquainted with the sacred message the Holy Christ has communicated to entire humanity. Furthermore, it is Gospel that elucidates his noble mission, astounding miracles,