(Adoration, veneration).
– Worship only God, in word and deed: Mat 4:10, Mat 7:22-27.
– With prayers: Luc 1:10, Jua 4:2124, Eph 5:18-20, 1 Cor.26-40.
– Veneration, praise, to the Virgin Mary and Saints: Luc 1:48, Rev 8:3-4.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, COST
see, WORSHIP, ALTAR, TABERNITY, TEMPLE, HIGH PLACES
vet, (a) CULT. See WORSHIP, ALTAR, TABERNITY, TEMPLE. (b) WORSHIP IN THE HIGH PLACES See HIGH PLACES. exc, WORSHIP IN THE HIGH PLACES (See HIGH PLACES)
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Set of acts and attitudes of man in relation to the divinity. In a general sense, it encompasses everything that refers to the relationship of the creature with the Creator. And in a strict sense it refers to any act of worship, sacrifice, prayer and acknowledgment of dependence on the divinity.
The concept is equivalent to what has been cultivated (from the Latin “cultum”, the cultivated) and refers to what is being done or presented to recognize the absolute sovereignty of God and pay him due honor.
All religions are based on a cult, and simple belief is not enough to be such. That is why men have shown in all times their beliefs in actions and attitudes
Christianity, heir to Judaism, also had, by the will of Jesus, the permanent tribute of homage to God the Father. Jesus himself declared to the Samaritan woman that with him comes the time to overcome external worship and to adore God within “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4. 24). Various aspects or features enter the concept of worship: place, protagonists, times, demands, intentions.
The place, which is the mount, the temple, the sanctuary where a certain mysterious presence of God is intuited. Worship expresses respect, veneration and love for God, which we call the virtue of religion. And that virtue is identified with adoration, with sacrifice, with prayer and with the vows and commitments to carry out certain good actions or pious behavior.
Worship is the first act of worship. “To worship God is to recognize him as God, as Creator and Savior, Lord and Owner of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. It is to fulfill the precept of “You shall worship the Lord your God and only him shall you worship (Lk. 4. 8), says Jesus quoting Deuteronomy (6. 13)”. (Cat. Igl. Cat. 2096)
Prayer is the way we express worship. Whether it is done in the form of an attitude of recognition, or by reciting appropriate formulas (prayers), prayer implies addressing God and acknowledging him as our Lord and Father. “Prayer is elevation of the spirit towards God. It is an expression of our worship of God: a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, of intercession and supplication.” (Cat. Ig. Cat. 2098)
When the prayer is made in the form of offerings and giving actions, we speak of “sacrifice”. Also the Christian sacrifice is different from the pagans or the ancients. Jesus demanded it, remembering the words of the prophet Hosea: “I want mercy, not sacrifice”. (Mt. 9. 13; 12. 7; Hos. 6. 6)
In Christian worship the only acceptable sacrifice is that offered by Christ on the cross and perpetually renewed in the celebration of the Eucharist.
The believer also expresses his attitudes of worship, adoration, offering and sacrifice with many other manifestations: with “promises and vows”, with devotions or commemorations, with processions and pilgrimages, with alms or acts of charity, with signs or memories, with festivals and sacred times, above all with the sensible signs instituted by Christ himself to give us thanks through him, for such are what we call mystery or sacraments.
The duty to offer God an excellent cult, which we call latría or adoration, in Christianity we make it compatible with other secondary cults, which we call dulia or veneration, and directed at figures who have been models of life and virtue, saints, martyrs, confessors, apostles and virgins. In a special way we offer this cult to the Mother of God, to the Virgin Mary (cult of hyperdulia). And we do it personally and, above all, in solidarity and community.
Educating in worship is a duty of the educators of the faith. Without religious expressiveness, there is no faith education.
And not only should expressive religious practices be carried out, but believers should have a clear vision of what each action is before God.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
Cult attitude towards God
The “worship” indicates “veneration” (adoration) of God or recognition of his absolute lordship. It is an essential element of “religion” as a relationship with God. It is expressed by external actions (prayers, sacrifices, rites or celebrations, vows, etc.), but it must have its origin in internal attitudes of humility, petition, trust… Merely external ritualism would not be true worship.
A worship of “adoration” (“latría”) is paid to God. The cult of saints is called “veneration” (“dulia”) and is expressed through their festivals, intercession, images, relics, etc.; it always has the meaning of praising God for the “wonders” that his grace has done in the saints (cf. Lk 1:49).
The worship that God wants is “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24), not only because of his quality as Creator, but especially as God of the Covenant in salvation history. The cult is now a response to the salvific plans of God, manifested in the Old Testament and realized in the paschal mystery of Christ (Priest, Victim and altar). We adore God Love, one and triune. We worship Christ, the Son of God made man.
Advertise to celebrate and live
The evangelizing action starts from the proclamation and testimony, to necessarily lead to the celebration of the Paschal mystery of Christ (liturgy and sacraments) and transform into personal, family and social Christian life. Christian worship, as a liturgical celebration, is the presence of the mystery of Christ that is announced and that calls for conversion and baptism. “Christ is always present in his Church, above all in liturgical action” (SC 7). This presence takes place mainly in celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, which must be announced to all peoples.
The Permanent Signs of Evangelization
Christian worship is a set of effective signs of evangelization. The evangelizing action always tends to build a Christian community (evangelized and evangelizing) where the paschal mystery of Christ is celebrated, especially in the Eucharist. Well-celebrated worship makes the ecclesial community missionary, since “it greatly contributes to the fact that the faithful express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the authentic nature of the true Church” (SC 2). At the same time, the Christian cultic celebration “presents the Church, to those who are outside, as a sign raised up in the midst of the nations” (ibid.).
References Adoration, praise of God, liturgical year, consecration, Marian devotion, Sunday, Eucharist, obsequies, glory of God, images, liturgy, liturgy of the hours, Paschal mystery, Easter, prayer, religion, popular religiosity, priesthood, sacramentals, sacraments, sacrifice, sacred, holiness-saints, Trinity, vows.
SC document reading (entire document); CEC 1135-1209; CIC can. 1186-1190.
Bibliography AA.VV., Comments to the constitution on the sacred liturgy (BAC, Madrid, 1965); AA.VV., The celebration in the Church (Salamanca, Follow me, 1985); JJ ALLMEN, The Christian Cult. Its essence and its celebration (Salamanca 1968); A. BERGAMINI, Worship, in New Dictionary of Liturgy (Madrid, Paulinas, 1987) 501-511; O. CASEL, The mystery of the cult (San Sebastián, Dinor, 1953); EJ LINGELING, Worship, in Fundamental Concepts of Theology (Madrid, Cristiandad, 1979) I, 289-304; J. LOPEZ MARTIN, The liturgy of the Church (BAC, Madrid, 1994); St. LYONNET, The Nature of Worship in the New Testament, in The Liturgy after Vatican II (Madrid, Taurus, 1969) 439-477; G. MARTIMORT, The Church in prayer. Introduction to the liturgy (Barcelona, Herder, 1969); M. SCHMAUS, Worship, in Sacramentum Mundi (Barcelona, Herder, 1972ff) 92-97.
(ESQUERDA BIFET, Juan, Dictionary of Evangelization, BAC, Madrid, 1998)
Source: Dictionary of Evangelization
DJN
A
SUMMARY: 1. introductory. 1.1. worship in general. 1.2. Most important cultic aspects of Judaism at the time of Jesus. -two. Jesus and worship in the synagogue and the temple 2.1. Jesus and the worship of the synagogue. 2.2. Jesus and the observance of the Sabbath and other religious practices. 23. Jesus and the temple cult. -3. Jesus and the new cult. – 4. The early Church of Jerusalem and the cult. 4.1. The Jerusalem Church and worship: a) Faith in the God of the OT, who has resurrected Jesus Christ and poured out his Spirit; b) The church of Jerusalem represented in two communities of different language. 4.2. Jesus Christ and the worship of him in the early Church.
1. Introductory questions
1.1. usually
Etymologically “cult” derives from the Latin verb form, known linguistically as “supine”, from the verb cólere, a verb rich in meanings (“to cultivate”, “to care for”, “to serve”, etc.); by worship is understood, then, the service rendered by man to superior forces or to the divinity in which he believes. According to the science of Religion, worship means the exercise or form with which man or a community expresses internally or externally their relationships with superior forces, divinities or God. In the cult religion acquires its concrete form, which tends to be expressed in a set of fixed rules or rites. From here follows the intimate connection between worship and rite. The cult encompasses and penetrates all the dimensions of man, whose cultic actions, because he is a unity of body and soul, acquire a transcendent and symbolic meaning. The cult and its rites tend to the sanctification of man and the community.
Cultic actions can be very diverse, are regulated by religious tradition, written or oral, and need to be repeated, resisting arbitrary change. The practice of external worship requires sacred places, such as temples, and certain relevant times, such as festivals, pilgrimages, etc. In order to take part in the cult in a valid way, an act of initiation and the observance of certain norms of cultic purity are necessary.
1.2. Most important last aspects of Judaism at the time of Jesus
After the return of the Israelites from Babylon, the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt as the only center of worship in Judah where sacrifices were offered. The organization of the cult of the time of the “Second Temple” (until AD 70) goes back essentially to Nehemiah (circa 433 BC). The…