3. The liturgical outlook of the Council did not keep to interchurch relations, but was open to the horizons of all humanity. Indeed, in his praise to the Father, Christ attaches to himself the whole community of men and women. He does so specifically through the mission of a praying Church which, "by celebrating the Eucharist and by other means, especially the celebration of the Divine Office, is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the entire world"⁸.

In the perspective of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the liturgical life of the Church acquires a cosmic and universal scope that makes a deep mark on human time and space. It is also possible to understand in this perspective the renewed attention that the Constitution pays to the liturgical year through which the Church journeys, commemorating and reliving the Paschal Mystery of Christ⁹.

If the Liturgy consists in all of this, the Council rightly affirms that every liturgical action "is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree"¹⁰. At the same time, the Council recognizes that "the Sacred Liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church"¹¹. Indeed, on the one hand the Liturgy presupposes the proclamation of the Gospel, and on the other, it demands a Christian witness in history. The mystery proposed in preaching and catechesis, listened to with faith and celebrated in the Liturgy, must shape the entire life of believers who are called to be its heralds in the world¹².