Biblical Sources of Liturgical Dialogues and Their Significance in the Celebration of the Eucharist

Abstract

The article analyses the dialogical structure of Christian liturgy with particular emphasis on the celebration of the Eucharist. Its starting point is the thesis that dialogicality constitutes an essential feature of the liturgy, expressing the relationship between God and the human person. The aim of the study is to demonstrate the biblical sources of the dialogical formulas present in the liturgy of the Mass and to determine their theological significance. The first part presents the biblical foundations of liturgical dialogue, with particular attention to the structure of the Sinai covenant (Ex 19–24), which reveals the pattern of God’s initiative and the people’s response. The article then examines selected dialogical formulas occurring in the liturgy, such as “The Lord be with you,” “Lift up your hearts,” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” the acclamations of the Liturgy of the Word, and the responses of the assembly (“Amen,” “Alleluia,” “Thanks be to God”). Their rootedness in Sacred Scripture and the continuity between biblical tradition and the Church’s liturgy are demonstrated. The analysis leads to the conclusion that liturgical dialogue possesses a theologically privileged character: the initiative belongs to God, while the human response has a communal, performative, and ecclesial dimension. This dialogue not only expresses the faith of the Church but also makes it present, actualizing the mystery of salvation. The liturgy thus appears as a space of living encounter between God and humanity, in which word and response form a dynamic unity.