Mass
The Liturgy of the Word – The Prayers of the FaithfulFollowing the Creed, we conclude the Liturgy of the Word with the Prayers of the Faithful. They are also commonly called the General Intercessions or Universal Prayer. The priest introduces…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – The Homily & CreedAfter the readings are finished, the congregation sits while an ordained person offers the homily. The homily is to help break open the readings and help people apply them to life…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – Daily Mass ReadingsJust as on Sunday, during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter the readings for daily Mass are selected to correspond to the themes of the season. At daily Mass there…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – How the Readings Are Selected Last week, we read about the importance of the Word of God. Today we take a look at how the Sunday readings are chosen. Every Latin Rite Catholic Church…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the WordAfter the Collect (opening prayer), we begin the Liturgy of the Word. This includes all the readings, the homily the Creed, and the Prayers of the Faithful (aka General Intercessions). The readings we share are the…
Read MoreThe Collect (Opening Prayer) After the Gloria comes the Collect, often called the opening prayer. The priest begins, “Let us pray” and then there is silence. The silence is intentional as a moment to collect our thoughts to bring together…
Read MoreThe Penitential ActAfter the greeting, the priest may offer a few words on the readings or recalling why we come to Mass. Following that, he says, “Let us acknowledge our sins so as to prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred…
Read MoreThe Greeting After the Sign of the Cross, the priest offers the greeting. There are three options for the greeting by the priest. The first one is “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion…
Read MoreThe Sign of the Cross The two main parts of the Mass are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Before we begin the Liturgy of the Word, we have the Introductory Rites. They begin with…
Read MoreThe Importance of Music Music has long been part of how people give thanks and praise to God. We hear of how the people sang in thankful response to God’s action in their lives in Exodus 15, Numbers 21:17, Judges…
Read MoreThe ProcessionAs each person arrives for Mass, they find a seat in the pews. It is a good time to pray in silence as you wait for the Mass to begin. When it is time for Mass to begin, the altar…
Read MoreThe Hidden Depths of the Mass #5Gestures Before we enter our pew we genuflect. When we come up for Communion we bow before we receive Communion. Why? Because our gestures mean something. In this case, they signify our reverence for…
Read MoreThe Hidden Depths of the Mass #4Preparation for Mass What do we mean by preparation? It should include taking a few minutes before Mass to quiet our thoughts and to center ourselves on the Lord. This is often best done by spending…
Read MoreThe Hidden Depths of the Mass #3 Can We Fully Understand It? As we learn more about the Mass, an important piece to consider is that the Sacraments, including the Eucharist are rooted in mystery. We are not going to…
Read MoreThe Origins of the Mass Initially, Christians gathered with Jews on the Sabbath for the Jewish worship that included readings from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and a sermon. Then the Christians gathered on Sunday for the Eucharist. As hostility…
Read MoreBeginning this week you will see a new series of articles in our parish bulletin for St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s that I am writing to help people better understand and better appreciate what we do at Mass. …
Read MoreGone are the days when men came to Sunday Mass in suits and women came in their nice dresses. We are offered something wonderful in the Mass (see my series The Greatest Gift: The Eucharist and Uncovering the Treasurers of…
Read MoreAt the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to talk about something I have spoken about before. Why do we go to Mass? I write this in the midst of Holy Week. In the events we…
Read MoreI recently had a couple who are regularly readers of this blog and participants in my webinars ask me if I have anything new to offer on the liturgical year and/or the lectionary. As regular readers they are already aware…
Read MoreIn the fall of 2020 I did a series of presentations entitled, Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass. The goal of that series was to help people understand why we do what we do at Mass. From better understanding, we…
Read MoreIf it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I am referring to our celebration of the Mass. It is certainly worth doing! The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith (Lumen Gentium, 11). We know…
Read MoreI just uploaded the video and slides from the third and final video in my series, Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass. You can view this third video at www.renewaloffaith.org/masspart3. Peace, Fr. Jeff
Read MoreI just uploaded the video of the webinar I offered last night as part II of my series Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass. Here’s the link – www.renewaloffaith.org/masspart2 Peace, Fr. Jeff
Read MoreI started my new series of webinars, Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass, last night. You are view the recording of the webinar on my website at www.renewaloffaith.org/masspart1. Peace, Fr. Jeff
Read MoreHello, Today I recorded a new 18 minute video on church vestments and liturgical colors. You can see the video at https://www.renewaloffaith.org/video—vestments.html. I hope it aids you in the riches of our liturgy. I am looking forward to a series…
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