CODE OF CANON LAW 208; CELEBRATING THE MASS 127; SPIRITUS ET SPONSA 12 Practical Points

Having a special care for preserving and deepening the unity of the one body of Christ, his Church, a unity in love and in truth, in unity and in mission Flowing from their rebirth in Christ, there is a genuine equality of dignity and action among all of Christ’s faithful. Because of their equality they all contribute, each according to his/her own condition and office, to the building up of the Body of Christ. The celebration of the Eucharist, like the entire Liturgy, is carried out through perceptible signs that nourish, strengthen, and express faith. Thus, the utmost care must be taken to choose and to arrange those forms and elements provided by the Church that, in view of the circumstances of the people and the place, will more effectively foster active and full participation and more properly respond to the spiritual needs of the faithful. It is the duty of pastors, in particular, to promote dignified celebrations, paying the proper attention to the different categories of persons: children, young people, adults, the elderly, the disabled. They must all feel welcome at our gatherings, so that they may breathe the atmosphere of the first community of believers who “devoted themselves to the Apostles ’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”