Mass
The Eucharistic Prayer – The Oblation The greatest sacrifice ever offered is the sacrifice of Jesus freely giving his life for us on the Cross. As Jesus says in John 15:13, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down…
Read MoreThe Eucharistic Prayer – Memorial Acclamation & Anamnesis Following the words of Jesus that transubstantiate bread and wine into his Body and Blood, comes the Memorial Acclamation and Anamnesis. At this point in the Mass, we recall the paschal mystery…
Read MoreThe Eucharistic Prayer – The Institution Narrative cont’d Last week we discussed the Institution Narrative where Jesus instituted the Eucharist as he said, ‘this is my Body…this is my Blood.” We believe in the Real Presence because Jesus says so. …
Read MoreThe Eucharistic Prayer – The Institution Narrative After the Epiclesis comes the Institution Narrative. The Institution Narratives are Jesus’ own words at the Last Supper. The Catholic Church did not make up its teaching on the Eucharist. Our belief in…
Read More3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – HomilyJonah 3:1-5, 10Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (4a)1 Corinthians 7:29-31Mark 1:14-20January 21, 2024 You can see near the end of this homily, I did something different to help people understanding the Bible shapes…
Read MoreThe Eucharistic Prayer – The Epiclesis Within the Eucharistic Prayer, the Epiclesis is the portion where we ask the Holy Spirit to transubstantiate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. In Eucharistic Prayer II, the explicit…
Read MoreThe Eucharistic Prayers Following the offertory at Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer follows. There are a total of ten Eucharistic Prayers found in the Roman Missal that contains all the prayers for Mass. The Eucharistic Prayers are trinitarian in their nature. …
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Eucharist – “My Sacrifice and Yours” As we transition from the offertory to the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says, “Pray my brothers and sisters,, that my sacrifice and yours, may be acceptable to God, the almighty…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Eucharist – The Offertory Part 3 When the gifts of bread and wine have been placed on the altar, water is used twice. The first is as the priest or deacon pours wine into the chalice…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Eucharist – The Offertory Part 2 After the gifts of bread and wine have been brought to the altar, the priest holds up first the bread and then the wine and says (silently if music is…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Eucharist – The Offertory The first part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the Offertory. At a Sunday Mass, two things happen concurrently while the offertory hymn is song. The altar is set and a…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the EucharistLast week we ended our discussion of the Liturgy of the Word with the Prayers of the Faithful. Now, we turn to the second half of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist. After Jesus’ Resurrection,…
Read MoreThe 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…
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