Did you know?
Mass Education (Formation)
As we begin anew with the "Did You Know?" series, our purpose is an educational review of the Mass and its two major parts: The Liturgy of the Word and The Liturgy of the Eucharist. This series will be interactive giving you the opportunity to ask your liturgical questions. Click here to submit a question. Your questions will be answered directly by e-mail or through future "Did You Know?" segments in the bulletin. The celebration of the Mass not only gives us an opportunity to worship God and offer our lives to Him, but also gives us opportunities to receive His grace. We can please God by our "full, conscious and active participation" with faith and devotion. In fact, if we truly believe in the Mass, then the more we participate, the more grace we receive. Jesus Christ, our high priest continues the work of our redemption through, in and with the Liturgy of the Mass. By praying, singing and worshiping together, we participate in Christ's own prayer to God, the Father in the Holy Spirit. On Sundays and at weekday Masses our Church family through baptism becomes the body of the risen Christ here on Earth. We invite you to "Be Opened - Ephphatha!" Mark 7:34. Come join us in "full, conscious and active participation" as we praise and adore our God together with The Blessed Virgin, Mary, our patroness and all the angels and saints in heaven.
PART I
As we begin our series on “Mass Formation/Education,” it seems appropriate to start at the very beginning, even before the Opening Song, and even before you take your seat. It seems many times these days we have so much going on in our lives at one time. The second Vatican Council in its reform of the Liturgy called us all to be fully, consciously, actively, participating in the Sacred Mass. In order to do this, we need to make sure we are able to completely focus on the Mass that we celebrate. As we begin to think about going to Mass, we should take a few practical steps:
1. We should fast one hour prior to Mass. It is in this fast that we can begin to “hunger” to hear the Word of God and receive Him in the Body and Blood of Christ.
2. Consider not listening to the radio or talking on your cell phone on the way to Church. Spend the time in silence preparing your heart and soul for Mass or spend the time talking to those coming to Church with you. Talk about good things, uplifting things, things that help build each other up.
3. As you come into the parking lot and walk into Church, use very good and courteous manners. Treat other drivers kindly in the parking lot. As you walk in, greet one another; open the door for one another. Use good old fashioned chivalry! Say Hello, Good Morning, etc.
4. When you enter into the Church, bless yourself with the Holy Water, genuflect toward Christ present in the Tabernacle and say a short, but meaningful prayer as you sit or kneel in your pew. As you enter the Church, you bless yourself with Holy Water as a reminder of your Baptism; genuflect toward the Tabernacle and acknowledge the presence of Christ; then to privately prepare yourself and set yourself in the right frame of mind, you say a short prayer. It is this time that is “personal/private” prayer time. The Mass is an act of public and communal prayer.
Hopefully these few practical steps can help you to calmly, reverently prepare yourself to fully, consciously.
PART II
“Did you know…The Introductory
Rite is the first part of the Liturgy? This week,
we will review the Entrance Song, Greeting, Penitential Rite and
Kyrie. The Introductory Rite serves as a preparation for the
Mass. We are given the chance to transition from the busy
world to the quiet worship space of our beautiful church and its
environmental décor of the liturgical season. The Entrance
Song opens the celebration and unites us as one in heart and mind.
At the end of the entrance song, the priest offers the Greeting by
making the sign of the cross and our “Amen” response signifies the
presence of the Lord. For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them, Matthew
18:20. Through the Penitential Rite, the whole congregation
affirms God’s love and His mercy as we acknowledge our sinfulness
and need for God’s forgiveness. We are given a moment of
silence to examine our hearts, reflect on our sins and seek
reconciliation with God and others. This silence is followed
by the Confiteor, “I confess to almighty God, and to you, my
brothers and sisters that I have sinned….” or a set of
invocations. This general confession concludes with the
priest’s absolution. Kyrie Elesion (“Lord, have mercy”) is
still recited or sung in Greek, a common language in Christ’s
time. This prayer praises the risen Lord and calls upon His
mercy on behalf of people
everywhere.
“Did you know…The Gloria and The Collect or Opening Prayer conclude the Introductory Rites? The Gloria, an ancient hymn of the church, was originally used as an Easter song. This hymn praises the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we begin Advent, you will notice that The Gloria is not recited or sung during the Sunday Masses. This practice of omitting The Gloria also occurs during the season of Lent. The Opening Prayer, also known as The Collect opens our hearts to the presence of God as we are invited by the priest to pray in silence. This moment of silence is crucial to the prayer allowing us, the faith community, to be conscious of God’s presence and formulate our own personal petitions. The priest then gathers together (the meaning of the Latin word “collect”) all our unspoken petitions in a prayer to God, the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Our “Amen”, a Hebrew word meaning “so be it”, affirms our prayer to God. All these Introductory Rites help us to sincerely prepare our hearts and minds for the Liturgy as we come together to listen to God’s holy word and be nourished by His Body and Blood. As we conclude the Introductory Rites, try to imagine Jesus Christ Himself welcoming everyone to Mass. I am late as I run from the parking lot, reaching for the door, it opens and Jesus extends His Hand as an invitation to celebrate His Last Supper. I cannot find the words to explain why I have arrived late to Mass. Can you?
Did you know… the most important part
of the Liturgy of the Word is the Readings from Sacred Scripture,
the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God…And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth. John 1: 1, 14. God
speaks to us through the readings and Christ, as the Word
Incarnate proclaims the Gospel through the priest. The first
reading is taken from the
Old Testament which ties us to our Jewish heritage and reminds
of God’s actions in the past. The first reading is followed by a
Psalm. The Psalm comes from the Church’s most ancient songbook,
The Book of Psalms.
When we sing the Responsorial Psalm we are actually using God’s Word to respond to
God’s Word. The second reading is taken from the
New Testament and depicts the faith and practice of the early
Christians. In the New Testament, there are twenty one documents
written in letter form or
epistles. St. Paul is considered to be the author of the
majority of the epistles. His message is still relevant
today as we recall the love of God, the Father for His Son
and the good news of our redemption and salvation.
Both Testaments lead us to Jesus Christ with a connection evident
in St. Augustine’s words, “In the Old Testament the New is hidden,
in the New Testament the Old appears.” The Lectionary Book
contains the first and second readings. All sacred scripture is
proclaimed from the ambo. Next week we will discuss the
Gospel and Homily.
“Did you know… the word
Gospel literally means
“Good News”? As the pinnacle of the Liturgy of the Word,
Jesus Christ proclaims the
Gospel through the priest or deacon. The four
evangelists, Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John,
inspired by the Holy Spirit detailed the life and teachings of
Jesus in their first century writings. The Gospels of Matthew,
Mark and Luke are called “synoptic” gospels because each is
similar in view and historical reporting of the accounts of Jesus’
Ministry. The Gospel of John believed to be written later in
the first century is more symbolic following a different order
without the same stories. For this reason all four Gospels
are read in a three year cycle as we, the faithful experience the
personal account of each Apostle. Today’s Mass will conclude
Year B. As we begin the new liturgical year of the Church with the
start of Advent, Year C readings will be used. The
“Alleluia” acclamation
introduces the Gospel
reading. Standing in reverence, we sing praising God
as the priest or deacon processes from the altar with the
Book of the Gospels. Beginning with a greeting, the priest or
deacon then makes the sign of the cross on the book, his forehead,
lips and chest. We, the congregation do the same silently
repeating the words,
“May the Word of the Lord be
in my mind, on my lips
and in my heart”. As we receive the spiritual nourishment
of God’s Word, He challenges us to become modern day evangelists
going forth to proclaim the “Good News”.
“Did you know…the priest or deacon no
longer delivers a “sermon” preaching about a doctrine or law of
the faith but rather a “homily”?
The homily is an essential part of the Liturgy of the Word. By “breaking
open the word”, the homilist not only interprets the readings but
attempts to open our hearts so that we may be filled with the
power of God’s presence in our lives. The
homily also explains
the message of God’s love and redemption offering us hope as we
trust in the presence of Christ among us. We are
called to a deeper understanding of our faith through sacred
scripture and the lessons of the
homily. Today we
begin the season of Advent and a new liturgical year of the
Church. Advent prepares us for the coming of our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Let us prepare our hearts for His coming as
the Word made of our very flesh, both human and divine. The
environmental décor of our church will also change from the green
of Ordinary Time to purple in anticipation of the redemption of
mankind by the birth of Christ. What more can each of us do
to better prepare for the coming of Jesus?