A brief but technical overview of what the Catholic Mass should be

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.   The Eucharistic celebration consists of two parts: 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 from Sacred Scripture:  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.

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. During the offertory, we surrender our lives and all our blessings in thanksgiving to God, through Jesus Christ, our Savior, accepting him as our Lord and Savior.

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 on Palm Sunday, riding on the back of a donkey.  There are presently four standard Eucharistic Prayers, or Canons, in general use by the Western Rite.  The first anaphora or Eucharistic prayer I is the old Roman Canon.  The second anaphora or Eucharistic prayer II is the briefest. It is based on the third-century Canon of St. Hippolytus, and is the oldest fixed Canon. It was originally written in Greek, when Greek was the language of the Mass.  Eucharistic Prayer III is an entirely new Canon, which stresses the work of the Holy Spirit, both in the Mass and in the worshipping community.  Anaphora IV or Eucharistic prayer IV is a finely executed verbal painting of the whole of salvation history, accenting the various covenants God has made with mankind. In the Preface of the anaphora, the Church gives thanks to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, for all His works: 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:  This is a sign of our unity in Christ.  "Because there is one Bread, we who are many are one Body, for we all partake of the one Bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).

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: By giving ourselves to Christ at Mass, we are better able to give selflessly to others.  The Mass ends when the priest blesses the faith community and, (reminding it of its mission), says, "Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life." The people respond, "Thanks be to God."