I am often told that people enjoyed the experience of coming to Mass but they just didn't understand what was going on.It is important that you recognise the parts of the Mass and are able to interact with the priest in praying what is the central celebration for the Christian community.
Of course alot of the flowery additions, old fashioned music and ritualism can distract you from the central meaning of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so please don't allow yourself to get lost in the peripherals or be distracted by the priest.
Just focus on the reason Jesus left us this memorial of His life, death and risen Presence in the Christian community who gather to worship. If more people understood what was going on, then perhaps more people would participate!
Please let me know if you still have more specific questions about the Catholic Mass.
A Short account of the structure of the Holy Mass (As it should be..)
The objectives of the Holy Mass: The faith community gathers for the
Sunday Eucharistic celebration, or Holy Mass, in order 1) to praise and worship
God, 2) to ask His pardon and forgiveness for sins, 3) to thank Him for all the
blessings received, 4) to listen to His words in Scripture and homily. 5)
to present our needs and petitions before God at the intercessory
prayers, 6) to surrender and offer our lives to God during offertory, accepting
Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and 7) to recharge our spiritual
batteries, gain spiritual nourishment and deepen our personal relationship with
Jesus by sacramentally sharing his resurrected Body
and Blood in Holy Communion. The structure of the Eucharistic
celebration is organized to achieve all seven goals.
The parts of the Holy Mass. : A) the liturgy of the Word, which prepares
our minds and hearts for worthy celebration of the Eucharist, and B)
the liturgy of the Eucharist, in which our offering of bread and wine
become the Body and Blood of Jesus, risen in glory after His willing,
sacrificial death on the cross for our Salvation.
(A) THE LITURGY OF THE WORD.
This section of the Liturgy includes:
1) The Penitential Rite: in which we ask forgiveness for
our sins.
2) Readings : The reading of Scripture
has always been an integral part of the Liturgy. When the first Christians
gathered to "break bread," they kept the Jewish custom of
"breaking open the Word," as well. From the Hebrew Scriptures, they
read the Books of the Law and the Prophets; they shared letters written by
early missionaries like Peter and Paul; and they shared, of course, their own
story - the Gospels. The first reading is usually from the Old Testament, and
the second and the third, the Gospel reading, from the New Testament. The first
reading and the Gospel reading are usually connected by a common theme.
The Responsorial psalm, after the first reading, is used to
praise and worship God with active responses from the faith community. It is
primarily the Assembly's response, in word or song, to the reading which has
just been proclaimed. The Christian Community uses God's Word, taken from the
Psalms of the Old Testament, as a response to God's Word, thereby making God's
Word their own.
In the Second Reading, formerly termed the Epistle, the Assembly
encounters the early Church, living its Christian faith. This witness of the
Apostolic community provides an example for all times, since Christians of
every age are to recall the love of the Father made present in Christ, the good
news of redemption and the duty of Christian love. All followers of Jesus are
called to live decently and without blemish, to be tolerant of one another and
to be steadfast in the faith.
The Gospel acclamation is normally
expressive of Paschal joy (Easter happiness based on our belief that Jesus has
overcome death and we will also share in this glory), recalling the Life,
Death, Resurrection and Second Coming of Jesus. This song, Alleluia, which
accompanies the Gospel procession, comes from a Hebrew word that means
"Praise God". The whole Assembly praises Christ Who comes to proclaim
the Good News of salvation.
The Gospel reading: Everybody
rises to stand for the Gospel Acclamation. The Gospel is very sacred, since
these are the words and deeds of Jesus, so we surround it with many distinct
acts of respect. One of these is that we stand for the Gospel Reading. In the
early Church, it was the Deacon who was considered the special example of
Christ as servant. Only in the absence of a Deacon does the Priest proclaim the
Gospel. The making of small signs of the Cross on the book, forehead, mouth and
heart expresses readiness to open one's mind to the Word, to confess it with
the mouth, and to safeguard it in the heart. We are now ready to listen to the
Gospel.
3) The Homily (Sermon).
The ideal is that the priest or deacon explains the day's scripture
readings, and shows us how to apply them in our daily life. The reality is
often that the priest just talks about whatever he wants to. The homily is
meant to be an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word, is a continuation of
God's saving message, which nourishes faith and conversion. It is a
proclamation of God's saving deeds in Jesus Christ. Just as a large piece of
bread is broken to feed individual persons, the Word of God must be broken open
so it can be received and digested by the Assembly.
4) The Creed: By
professing aloud the Nicene Creed, we publicly express our
Catholic Christian faith. The Creed we use in the Liturgy today is called the Nicene-Constantinople Creed because these two early Ecumenical Church Councils developed it. It is also called the "ecumenical creed," since it forms a part of the liturgy of other Christian denominations.
Catholic Christian faith. The Creed we use in the Liturgy today is called the Nicene-Constantinople Creed because these two early Ecumenical Church Councils developed it. It is also called the "ecumenical creed," since it forms a part of the liturgy of other Christian denominations.
6) The General
Intercessions: Here we pray for the Church and
all people, for world leaders and public authorities, for the poor and the
oppressed, for the local community and parish; and for particular celebrations
and special intentions. (CCC-1349).
(B) THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
This section of the liturgy
includes:
1) Preparation of the Gifts. The priest receives the bread
and wine and prays over each, offering thanks to God.
2) The presentation of the
offerings at the altar
repeats the gesture of Melchizedek, and commits the Creator's gifts into the
hands of Christ who, by his sacrifice, brings to perfection all human attempts
to offer sacrifices. The early Christians brought wine and bread to be
consumed at the Liturgy, as well as money and other gifts to be given to the
poor. This custom is perpetuated in modern times as “the
collection,” taken up immediately after the intercessory prayers
(CCC -1350-51). On Sundays, the choir and/or the
Assembly may sing a hymn during the “collection” of people’s offerings
and while the bread and wine are brought, with the offering, to the
altar. Then the priest prepares the
bread and wine for the offertory, mixing a little water with the
wine to symbolize the human and the divine natures of Christ joined in the
Mystery of the Incarnation – God
becoming man. After preparing the bread
and wine, the priest washes his hands as a symbol of internal purification,
in preparation for the most sacred part of the Mass.
2) The anaphora or the Eucharistic
Prayer: With this, the prayer of thanksgiving and
consecration, we reach the heart and summit of the celebration. It begins with
a preface. The Preface praises God the Father for His
gifts of creation and redemption We will enter the prayer again with
Isaiah's song of praise, called Holy,
Holy, Holy. This was the
common Morning Prayer in the synagogues and it was the praise the crowd offered
Jesus as he entered Jerusalem Mass. : creation, redemption, and
sanctification. Thus, the entire community joins in the unending
praise that the Church in heaven sings to the thrice-holy God (CCC-1352).
In
the epiclesis, the Church asks the
Father to send His Holy Spirit (or the power of His blessing), on the bread and
wine, so that they may become the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and so that
those who take part in the Eucharist may become one body and one
spirit. (It is to be noted that some liturgical traditions put the epiclesis after the anamnesis).
The
institution narrative: The words of
consecration are taken from the accounts of the Last Supper in Sacred
Scripture. The words and actions of Christ, as well as the power of the Holy
Spirit, make Christ's body and blood sacramentally present
under the species of bread and wine. This is a re-enactment of His
sacrifice, offered once for all, on the cross (CCC-1353). The
priest will then raise each for veneration.
Memorial
Acclamation: The priest
sings “The Mystery of Faith" in
recognition of Christ's three-fold action of Death, Resurrection and Second
Coming.
In the Anamnesis that follows, the Church calls to mind
the Passion, resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus, and presents to
the Father the offering of his Son which reconciles us with Him. In
the
Intercessions, the Church
indicates that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church
in heaven and on earth: the
living and the dead, the pastors, the Pope, the diocesan bishop, his presbyterium (all
the priests) and his deacons,
and all the bishops of the world together with their Churches (CCC-1354). The Doxology and
the great Amen: The Doxology – the “Through Him, With Him and in Him” prayer
– summarizes the Eucharistic Prayer. The priest lifts up the Body and Blood of
Christ in a gesture of offering. This signifies the history of the world and
its ultimate destiny, namely, that all of creation is born in the heart of the
Father, fruits of his love, all of creation is established in existence through
Christ and all of creation is filled with love of the Holy Spirit. Our "Great Amen" to this prayer
acclaims our assent to, and our participation in, the entire Eucharistic
Prayer, which has made present Christ's actions, and is the center of our
Catholic Faith.
3) The Breaking of the Bread
4) The distribution of Communion: In the communion, preceded by the
Lord's Prayer and the breaking of the Bread, the faithful receive "the
Bread of Heaven" and "the chalice of salvation," the Body and
Blood of Christ who offered himself "for the life of the world."
Since the offered and consecrated Bread and Wine have been made
Eucharist ("eucharisted," according to an
ancient expression), "we call this food Eucharist. No one may
partake of it unless he believes what the Church teaches on
Christ’s real presence in the consecrated Bread and Wine is true, has received
baptism for the forgiveness of sins - a new birth, and unless he lives in
keeping with what Christ taught" (CCC-1355).
In receiving Communion, we share in the glorified Body and Blood of the
risen Christ so totally that He becomes our food and we become united with the
risen Savior and with the whole faith community. The Holy Eucharist becomes the
source of our spiritual nourishment.
5) The Concluding Rites
