Ready to Celebrate

 Mass is a religious ceremony filled with scriptural references.  As we have prepared ourselves to participate in the celebration of the Mass by understanding what goes on, praying, and having the correct disposition, we stand to sing the entrance hymn and respond to the Mass celebrant's greeting and prayers.

The entrance hymn expresses the unity of the people with their variety of voices joining together in communion to make the one voice of the church.  St. Augustine says singing is praying twice--so pray as best as you can.  God gave you your voice so let Him hear it!

When the procession reaches the altar, the Mass celebrant will greet the congregation.  We then collectively ask God to forgive our failings.  The priest will bless us:

May almighty God have mercy on us

forgive us our sins,

and bring us to everlasting life.

Amen.

(My "cloistered brothers" bless themselves after this prayer because they consider this a minor exorcism.)  Me too!!

Next, we praise God by singing the Gloria.  

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise You. We bless You. We adore you. We glorify You. We give You thanks for Your great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father: you Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You Who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You Who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy. You alone are the Lord. You alone, O Jesus Christ, are most high. Together with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Picture Jesus, or yourself hosting dinner.  You come in, greet and praise God and your guests.  This is exactly what we've done.

Let's sit now and listen to what God has to say.

Ready, Set, Go

 Many think the Mass is confusing.  I haven't even got there yet.  For the last three days of posting, I've just got myself in the mood, the grove, the correct disposition to pray the Mass.

Following St. Dominic I should, to the best of my ability, understand what I will see before me.  I will be prepared for all the Readings.  Like St. Catherine of Siena, I've dialogued with God about what's going on with me, and like Blessed Lataste, I'm open to all.

To make it simple, there are three parts to the Mass.  Think of the Mass as a supper.  It is the representation of the Last Supper, after all.  Jesus walks in the room, meets and greets and goes over to the table.  The priest in an entrance procession will head to the table/altar.  He greets everyone and prays that we are all worthily prepared for Mass.

Isn't this what we do ourselves at special dinners?  We come in and the host greets and wishes us well and hopes that the upcoming meal will bring us all together.

Depending on the day, it may be a special occasion, the entrance may be elaborate and singing may accompany the entrance, but essentially we've begun.