Category: Mass

The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are not two different acts of worship, but two moments of one same mystery. The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the preparation of the gifts.

 “The presentation of the offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creator’s gifts into the hands of Christ who, in His sacrifice, brings to perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices.” (CCC 1350) It is a rite full of richness and expressiveness

This is the privileged moment for the collection, so that the faithful may offer their material assistance to their brothers in need. “From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection (1 Corinthians 16:1), ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Pope Benedict XVI on his Apostolic Exhortation “Sacramentum caritatis” mentions how all of creation is taken up by Christ to be presented to the Father in the sacrifice of the Mass. In this moment, every man presents, with Christ, his sufferings, joys and work, which is considered as a collaboration in the creative work of God, according to the commandment of Genesis: “Fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28).

In the rite, the priest first takes the paten with the bread and, with both hands, slightly lifts it up over the altar, while saying the corresponding prayer. He does the same with the wine. The two almost identical prayers that the priest pronounces, out loud or quietly, are similar to those that Jesus used in his prayers of blessing, to which the assembly responds “Blessed be God forever” (Romans. 9:5; 2 Corinthians 11:31)

After presenting the bread and wine, the priest bows before the altar and prays quietly. In this way the priest prepares to celebrate the Eucharist “in spirit and in truth,” knowing that “a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalms 50)

The priest then washes his hands, thus obtaining his “interior purification.” Once at the altar again, he calls all present to prayer in order that our mutual sacrifice may be acceptable to God. And the assembly prays for the communal good and of the Church.

Let us remember that, along with the gifts, there is also the fruit of our sacrifice, that all human realities and all creation are included in the bread and wine, in all their simplicity. May the Lord our God accept our sacrifice for our good and all of His Holy Church.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Preparation of the Gifts”, Home of the Mother, Accessed 10 March 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2435-preparation-of-the-gifts

The Prayer of the Faithful is an important part of the mass, it is the moment when the congregation comes together as one to repeat their plea to the Lord, asking for his blessing for the Church and for the world. In this way, we answer the call of Saint Paul: “Do not be anxious about anything, but, in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6).¹

The Prayer of the Faithful is the intercession made by the baptized, at the proposal of the deacon or the lector, who indicates the intention for which to pray. That is to say, the reason for prayer is pointed out to all those present and then the faithful pray together for that intention: “Lord, listen and have mercy”, “We beg you, hear us”, “Lord, hear our prayer”. This is the prayer of the faithful because, in the first place, it is made by all the faithful – not by a reader – and, in the second place, because they address God directly. That answer of all is the true Prayer of the faithful.

Therefore, the Prayer of the Faithful is the prayerful response of the whole assembly to the Lord to an intention that the deacon or a lector proposes to everyone. Let us not confuse the terms: each of the requests that are pointed out is not the prayer of the faithful because they are simply monitions, indications; nor is it the prayer of the faithful, understanding that each request – sometimes in a language not of admonition, but directly addressed to God, not to the faithful – is made by a different reader. The Prayer of the Faithful is the common prayer that everyone makes: “Lord hear our prayer”²

The Prayer of the Faithful caps the Liturgy of the Word in a way similar to the reception of Holy Communion at the end of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. For in the Universal Prayer, the baptized exercise the very priesthood of Christ by mediating “for holy Church, for the civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 53).³

Let us pay attention during petitions, make them our own, and respond with our prayer, for our Lord Jesus Christ has told us that whatever we ask in His name will be fulfilled (John 14:13, Luke 18:1-7).

¹ Anonymous, “Prayers of the Faithful” Hozana, Accesed on 2 March 2024, https://hozana.org/en/prayer/of-the-faithful

² Sanchez Martínez, Javier “La Oración de los fieles (I)” Fundacion InfoCatólica – Liturgia, fuente y culmen, 7 March 2017, https://www.infocatolica.com/blog/liturgiafuenteyculmen.php/1703030114-la-oracion-de-los-fieles-i

³ Priest, Jeremy, “Is the Universal Prayer (Prayers of the Faithful or General Intercessions) required at every Mass?” Adoremus, 9 September 2019, https://adoremus.org/2019/09/q-is-the-universal-prayer-prayers-of-the-faithful-or-general-intercessions-required-at-every-mass/

The Creed serves as a personal profession of faith, which is why it begins with “I” rather than “We”, and is also called the “Symbol of Faith.”

We should also consider where the Creed is placed in the Mass. Why not begin our liturgy with the Creed to verify the communion of faith we are about to celebrate? Or profess it at the end to remind us of the faith we are to carry into the world? The Creed’s place immediately after the homily gives it particular significance.

The liturgy is a conversation between God and God’s people in which the priest serves as representative of both, and so speaks on behalf of both at different times. It is important to remember who is speaking and what is being proclaimed. In the biblical readings, God is speaking to the people. This conversation reaches a climax in the proclamation of the Gospel in which Jesus is proclaimed as the Word of God incarnate who now speaks to his body, the Church. For this reason, we stand for the Gospel and show other appropriate signs of reverence.

Following the Gospel, the priest or deacon proclaims the homily which continues the Word of God as it is applied to our daily lives, leading us more deeply into the Paschal Mystery we are called to live and the memorial of which we are about to celebrate in the Eucharist.

The Profession of Faith is our opportunity as God’s people to respond to the Lord’s self-revelation and salvation. The word of God must be understood and accepted, lest we be passive spectators rather than active listeners (James 1:22).

The Creed is how we say to God: We have heard you and we believe you! The Creed is a summary of Scripture. It expresses our faith in God who is a Trinity of Persons that has acted in historical events and is revealed definitively in the person of Jesus. This revelation continues to mature and grow through the Holy Spirit present in the Church. We are proclaiming that we believe all this revelation, not just part of it, and that God offers it to us as an effective testament of his saving and redeeming love for us.

The next time we profess the Creed at Mass, let us remember to whom we are speaking. Think about what God has just said to us in the Scriptures and in the homily. Reflect on what it means to be a member of Christ’s people accepting the fullness of what God has revealed and eager to witness Christ to the world.

Mueggenborg, Daniel “Why do we say the Creed at every Sunday Mass?”, Northwest Catholic, 27 August 2021, https://nwcatholic.org/voices/daniel-mueggenborg/why-do-we-say-the-creed-at-every-sunday-mass

After the “Gloria” has been sung or recited, the priest invites the assembly to pray. Then the priest says the “collect” prayer and by which the character of the celebration is expressed. The collect prayer is usually addressed to God the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and is concluded with a trinitarian ending. The people, uniting themselves to this entreaty, make the prayer their own with the acclamation, Amen. (GIRM 54)

The Collect the introductory rites of the Mass conclude and then proceeds to the Liturgy of the Word.

The Liturgy of the Word is to be celebrated in such a way as to promote meditation, and so any sort of haste that hinders recollection must clearly be avoided. It is also appropriate to include brief periods of silence, in which, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the word of God may be grasped by the heart. It may be appropriate to observe such periods of silence, before the Liturgy of the Word itself begins, after the first and second reading, and lastly at the conclusion of the homily (GIRM 56).

In the readings, the table of God’s word is prepared for the faithful, and the riches of the Bible are opened to them. Hence, it is preferable to maintain the arrangement of the biblical readings, by which light is shed on the unity of both Testaments and of salvation history. Moreover, it is unlawful to substitute other, non-biblical texts for the readings and responsorial Psalm, which contain the word of God (GIRM 57).

The function of proclaiming the readings is ministerial, not presidential. The readings, therefore, should be proclaimed by a lector; On the other hand, the deacon, or in his absence, the priest, will proclaim the Gospel (GIRM 59).

After the first reading comes the responsorial Psalm, which is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word and holds great liturgical and pastoral importance, because it fosters meditation on the word of God.  It is preferable that the responsorial Psalm be sung, at least as far as the people’s response is concerned. Hence, the psalmist, or the cantor of the Psalm, sings the verses of the Psalm from the ambo or another suitable place (GIRM 61).

After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season The Alleluia is sung in every season other than Lent (GIRM 62).

The homily is part of the Liturgy for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life (GIRM 65). The homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself, He may entrust it, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person (GIRM 66).

Let us listen attentively to the readings and the Gospel that are the living word of God and nourishment of our spirit, let us also listen attentively to the homily which calls us to reflect on the Scriptures and their application to our lives.

When the entrance procession is over, and the priest and the deacon have been venerated at the altar, and after incensing it in the case of solemn celebrations, the priest goes to his chair and, together with the whole assembly, makes the sign of the cross, while saying: “In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” to which the assembly responds “Amen,” thus acknowledging that God is one expressed in the Holy Trinity.

The priest then salutes the assembly, which can be given in its short version: “The Lord be with you” or in its longer form: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”, (Roman Missal 2), the response of the assembly being “And with your spirit”. It is through this greeting and the response of the assembly that the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest (GIRM 50)

The priest then invites those present to take part in the Act of Penitence which, after a brief pause of silence, is carried out by means of the formula of the general confession of the whole community, and concludes with the absolution of the priest which, however, lacks the efficacy of the sacrament of Penance (GIRM 51). Which means, this absolution is only for those venial sins of which we are truly repentant, for in order to be absolved of mortal sins we must attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance.

Once the Act of Penitence is over, it is always followed by the “Lord, have mercy…”  where, after having confessed ourselves to be sinners, we ask for the mercy of our Lord, so that he may accept our sacrifice and find us worthy to receive him in communion.

The introductory rites conclude with the “Gloria” in which we join the angels of heaven in proclaiming the immeasurable glory of God, we ask our Lord Jesus Christ to hear us and have mercy on us, since He is the one who takes away the sin of the world. It should be noted that at the mention of our Lord’s name we bow, not only following the norms of the Church (GIRM 275), but also the scriptures (Philippians 2:9-11). The singing or recitation of the Gloria is suspended during the liturgical seasons of preparation, Lent and Advent.

Let us participate attentively in the introductory rites of the Mass, for they not only prepare us to be nourished by the Word of God and the Body and Blood of our Lord, but they work for the purification of our soul and prepare us to be one with Jesus Christ.

The formal beginning of the Mass is the entrance procession. Even if, for some reason, ministers do not enter a large procession from the back of the church, a formal entrance must be made. This entry is usually accompanied by a song. This song opens us to the action of the Holy Spirit. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal points out that singing is a way of showing and intensifying our unity with one another (GIRM 47), that is why the choir or cantor leads the assembly so that all together they sing this song of praise.

The Mass begins with a procession in which the celebrant and assistants approach the presbytery in procession, the order of the participants in the procession is established as follows: The thurifer with the smoking censer, when incense is used; the ministers or altar servers who carry the lighted candles and in the midst of them the acolyte or a minister carrying the processional cross; acolytes and other ministers; the deacon or, in his absence, the assigned lector carrying the Book of the Gospels elevated; and finally the priest who is going to celebrate Mass (GIRM 210).

Once the procession reaches the presbytery, the priest and all the members of the procession bow to the altar, the Book of the Gospels is placed on the altar, the priest and deacon approach the altar and kiss it at the same time, and depending on the occasion, the priest incenses the altar. All this is done because during the Mass, the altar represents Jesus Christ, as it carries in its mensa five crosses, one for each of the five wounds of Jesus Christ bore on the cross; when a church and its altar are consecrated, the altar is anointed by the bishop with the same oil that is used to consecrate the hands of priests and the heads of bishops (Dedication of a Church and an Altar 16a ). This is why, during Mass, reverence is made towards the altar.

Let us spiritually accompany the priest and his ministers during the entrance procession, for this also means for each of us a procession from our earthly nature to the Kingdom of God, from whom we will hear during Mass and share the banquet that He Himself has prepared for us so that we may have eternal life.

During Mass, the priest that presides is always reading from the book placed on the altar. Why is that? Shouldn’t he already know what is said at Mass? The book from which the priest reads is called the Roman Missal, which contains the structure and prayers that will be made during the Mass according to the liturgical season, as well as the Eucharistic prayers. This book also contains special indications for the celebrant called rubrics, where the rules according to which the liturgy is celebrated are indicated, they bear this name because they are written in red ink on the missal to distinguish them from the rest of the prayers.

The use of the missal is very important, since it means that Masses follow the same format in all the places where they are celebrated, thus forming a fundamental part of the unity and universality of the Church.

In the Roman Missal we can also find the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which establishes the norms of how the Mass is to be celebrated, either with only the priest (GIRM 120-170), with the priest and a deacon (GIRM 171-186), or a concelebrated Mass (GIRM 199-251); what should be the order of the participants of the entrance procession (GIRM 120); at what times genuflection and bowing should be made (GIRM 274-275), what words should be said on certain occasions, for example, when distributing communion (GIRM 286-287).

Let us celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice wherever we are, whether at home, visiting someone, or on vacation, for our Holy Mother Church has allowed us to feel at home every time we attend Mass, which we recognize by praying the Creed when we say the phrase “I believe in One,  Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”

Although as Catholics we have the obligation to attend Mass every Sunday (Canon 1247), this obligation is not only to attend but to fully participate, in the prayers, the songs, the liturgical responses and, if we are prepared, in the Sacred Communion.

This participation is extremely important because it is enough for each one to declare with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in his heart that God raised him from the dead, so that he can be saved (Romans 10:9). No one who believes in Him will be disappointed, splendid with all those who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the Lord as His God will be saved by Him. (Romans 10:11,13).

Our participation is not only to fulfill a social duty, but because we believe wholeheartedly in the salvation of our soul through the sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ, which we remember in the Holy Eucharist.

Remembering the words of Saint Paul: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

We must attend and participate in mass to be able to nourish ourselves with the word of God and fulfill the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ himself, to go and announce the gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15).

Let us faithfully attend mass, fully participate in the Eucharist, proclaim with our words and actions the wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let us bring the good news to everyone.