Active participation is the fundamental and necessary source from where the Christian faithful deduce a conclusion of a valid Christian spirit. The Second Vatican Council in the Sacrosanctum Concilium stated that “Pastors of souls must zealously strive to achieve it, by means of the necessary instruction, in all their pastoral work.”
The church solemnly required that the Christian faithful be led to that full, conscious and active participation in ceremonial festivities sanctioned by the very character of the liturgy. When the Christian faithful participates in the action, it is, in essence, their responsibility and duty because they accepted to be baptized. It is essential and imprudent for active participation to be contemplated before all else in the promotion of the sacred liturgy.
This active participation required by the church shows that the catholic faithful believe that they need the clergy and saints to arbitrate between them and God. The Catholics accept that it is impractical to deliberately attain a connection to God unless the arbitrators, in this case, the pastors and saints themselves, are saturated with “the spirit and power of the liturgy, and undertake to give instructions about it” to their flock.