For the faithful Christian, worship of God is the expression of our love, faith and devotion to our Creator and our Savior. In fact, our faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, an understanding of who God is... reveals to us through the grace of knowing him. When the heart of man finally comes to rest in God's mercy, it comes to see that all creation was made for worship. Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation (CCC 347). Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This immediately echoes the solemn call: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (CCC 2083).
In Christian tradition, the Church, being the Body of Christ, participates in "the work of God" to worship through the liturgy. (CCC 1069-70) Liturgy is the work of the people, the work of Christ done on behalf of the people, and the work of God in which the people participate. (The Liturgical Institute)
HOLY MASS
The highest form of worship is the Divine Liturgy, known as The Holy Mass where we celebrate both the Liturgy of the Word and The Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us (CCC 1382).
Liturgical Resources:
PRAYER
"In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Kingdom is "the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit." Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's love" (CCC 2565).
ADORATION
Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy (CCC 2096). To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name. The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world (CCC 2097).
Perpetual Adoration is the continuous exposition of Christ in the Eucharist, known as the Blessed Sacrament where we as Christians accompany Our Lord. It is our opportunity to experience and truly discover the real presence of Christ while receiving the miracles of his grace for conversion of our hearts, our families, and the world.