Liturgy is a technical sounding word, still unfamiliar to many ordinary Catholics, although they find it in their missals (ea. 'Liturgy of the Word') and hear it is used with increasing frequency from the pulpit and in discussions groups. Our word "liturgy" therefore means "service", in the sense of serving God with public and communal worship. We might then be tempted to think of liturgy simply meaning "ritual" or ceremony - some people preferring this more formal expression of faith and others a more spontaneous one. However, while liturgy certainly includes ritual it is something much deeper than mere ritualism or ceremonial, and it is more than just the communal expression of our personal feelings of devotion. Liturgy is not just a matter of taste, or churchmanship. Liturgy is central to Christianity and is an integral part of our family relationship with God. The signs, symbols and sacred actions which form our public prayer and worship spring from the language and events of God's own self-revelation to us. Our liturgical celebrations arise directly out of the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ and are part of the very means by which we enter into that mystery.