UNDERSTANDING

THE MASS

CELEBRATING THE LORD’S DAY

Sunday is the day on which we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. We gather for Mass, rest from work, and perform works of mercy. People all over the world gather at God’s Eucharistic table as brothers and sisters.

Other Names for Mass

WHEN YOU ARRIVE

When entering a Catholic Church, bless yourself with Holy Water from the font. You do not have to be Catholic to do this. This is a moment you share with our Lord, indicating that you are entering God’s house and are preparing yourself for prayer.

Before entering your pew or seat, genuflect toward the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, which is indicated by a burning candle (usually a red one). This is called the Sanctuary Lamp and is always lit when the Blessed Sacrament is present. Genuflecting was an ancient sign of reverence toward a ruler. The Church adopted kneeling/bowing as showing the ultimate reverence toward the true King, our Lord. If you are not in view of the tabernacle, a simple bow toward the altar is appropriate. This sign of respect indicates that you understand that the altar is the table of the Lord, where the bread and wine are consecrated.

When kneeling or sitting, spend time in prayer. Collect yourself and prepare for Mass. Prayers can usually be found in the missalette or even in the song book. Give thanks for all that God continues to give you

THE ORDER OF THE MASS

The Mass is the most important celebration of the Church—it is the source and summit of our lives as Christians. As Catholics, we worship in an ordered way. All across the globe, Mass is essentially the same.

Introductory Rites – We Gather and Prepare

This first part of the Mass is mean tot gather all the individual people in the church, who have been called there by God, into the Body of Christ. The rite takes each of us out of our individual thoughts and gathers us all into the prayer of the Church. This is a transition that gets us ready for the awesome mystery of the Eucharist where we receive Jesus’ Body and Blood.

As we sing the Entrance Hymn, which helps unify us as one voice, think about the prayers you bring with you. Pray for yourself, your family, and your faith community. During the procession, which is the bringing of all of us to the altar, we are led by the cross as Jesus leads us today. We are now gathered as the Disciples were at the Last Supper – around the table of the Lord- and to the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

PENITENTIAL ACT

As we begin, we recognize our sinfulness and our need for and our dependence on, the mercy and forgiveness of God. We remember our sins and so we ask God for mercy.

Entrance Hymn

We are called together as a community and praise God in hymnsof praise.

Greeting

We pray the Sign of the Cross.The priest welcomes us.

When each one of us was baptized, we were signed with the cross of Jesus Christ. In that moment, the Church claimed us for Christ – we belong to him. As we are gathered for Mass, the very first thing we do is, once again, mark ourselves with the sign of Christ’s cross, reminding us of whose we are and to whom we belong. This also reminds us that the Mass, though it has many parts, is one great prayer! All the different pieces help to form this one most perfect prayer that we, as Catholics, share.

Penitential Act

During the penitential act, if the Confiteor is used, when we declare “through my fault” three times, we strike our chests. This is done by making a fist and lightly striking the chest each time the words are repeated. In the Bible, striking one’s chest was a sign of mourning. We mourn our failure to live up to God’s grace.

If the Confiteor is not used, the priest or the deacon will invite us to repeat, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy” as we remember our sinfulness and ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Gloria

After we have remembered God’s mercy and forgiveness given to us in Christ, the only appropriate response is to praise God. We do that in the Gloria which follows. This ancient hymn comes from the song of the angels at the birth of Jesus.

Collect

The priest invites us to pray silently and we offer our own prayers. Father then “collects” all of them in the opening prayer for the Mass. We ask God to hear our prayers.

LITURGY OF THE WORD: HEARING AND RESPONDING TO GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION

First Reading

We listen to God’s Word, usually from the Old Testament, and we are reminded of all those things that God has done throughout history to save us. During the Easter Season, the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles, which describes the work of the early Christian communities.

Responsorial Psalm

God’s word demands a response. The Psalms have been called the “Church’s first prayer book.” These are words that Jesus himself used in prayer. As we sing the psalm, we are responding to God’s greatness. We respond to God’s Word in song.

Second Reading

This reading comes from the New Testament; most often one of the epistles. These are instructional letters written by the Apostles to the earliest Christian communities, offering spiritual advice on how to live as a disciple. In these letters are advice and counsel that help us, too, live out our faith.

Gospel Acclamation

We sing “Alleluia!” which means “Praise the Lord!” to praise God for the Good News. During Lent, we use a different acclamation to acclaim the Lord’s words as our celebration is muted in this liturgical season.

Just as in the Introductory Rite there was a procession that helped us transition from the outside world to Mass, now there is a procession so that we might prepare our hearts and minds to hear from Jesus.

When the Gospel is proclaimed, the priest or deacon invites us to pay close attention andreminds us of God’s presence in our lives.

Invitation: The Lord be with you.
Response: And with your spirit.

Invitation: A reading for from the holy Gospel according to (either Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).
Response: Glory to you, O Lord.

With these words we sign ourselves with the sign of Christ – the cross. Tracing the cross on our foreheads, lips and heart, so that these words of Christ fill our minds, are on our tongues and are in our hearts.

Homily

The Liturgy of the Word continues with the homily where the priest/deacon helps us make connections between the Scripture readings and how we live out a life of faith. The homily helps us understand the Scriptures and leads us to Eucharist.

Profession of Faith

Having heard from the scriptures the words and works of the Lord, we are called to respond with what we believe. We proclaim our faith through the Creed. We proclaim as one: “I believe…”

Prayer of the Faithful

These prayers, also called the Universal Prayer, invite us to stand and present our needs and the needs of all others. This usually follows an invitation by the celebrant to gather all our prayers into one.

We stand and present our needs and the needs of others. This usually following a similar pattern: prayers for the Church, those in authority, for the sick and the poor, for those in our community, and often for those who have died.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST–CELEBRATING CHRIST’S PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST

Presentation and Preparation of the Gifts

People from the community bring forth the bread and wine to be offered to God. However, the bread and the wine aren’t the only things we offer God in the Presentation of the Gifts. We also offer ourselves. Each time we go to Mass, we are called to “lift up our hearts” and all that we are to the Lord! We offer ourselves as “gift” to God. Even though you are not walking forward, you can still “carry” a gift, given to you by God that you bring to this Mass to be blessed, broken, and shared with others. What gifts do you have that you will share this week?

Washing of Hands

In ancient times when the gifts were brought forth from the community, those could have included live animals. The washing ritual was a practical step before consecrating the bread and wine to be shared. The ritual remains in our Mass of today as a symbolic washing with a prayer that the priest says for interior purification, “Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” It is a prayer that we can pray with him in our hearts to help prepare to receive the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation.

Prayer Over the Offerings

The priest prays that God will accept the sacrifice of Christ and, with it, our sacrifice.

Eucharistic Prayer

This prayer of thanksgiving is the center and high point of the entire celebration. While the words are different in the 13 different Eucharistic Prayers, the underlying structure is the same. Each Eucharistic prayer acknowledges our need to give thanks to God, offers the bread and wine, asks God to send the Holy Spirit to transform the very bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, and intercedes on behalf of the Church, the world, the poor, and those who have gone before us.