REFLECTIONS ON THE MASS

Here are my reflections on the mass.

Rev. Jack Vessels, SJ

1. Not too long ago the mass was referred to formally as ‘The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass’. Holy because of God; sacrifice because an on-going celebration of Christ’s loving gift of self on the cross; mass because the final farewell is ‘go, you are sent’ – the Latin ‘missa est’ becomes ‘mass’ in English; nourished by the bread of the Word & the Bread of the flesh, we are sent on our mission to the world.
   
   
2. More recently we refer to the mass as the Eucharist (Greek word for gratitude) or its parts, the LITURGY OF THE WORD & the LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST. It begins with song and the entrance of the ministers, in many countries a procession led by dancers in rhythm with the entrance song. After the presider-celebrant greets the congregation, he invites all to acknowledge our unworthiness to participate in this renewal of the sacrifice of Christ. This prepares us to be guided by the Word & strengthened by the Bread in our daily struggle to be free of sin. On Sundays & other special days this rite is followed by a prayer sung (or recited) glorifying the Trinity. The OPENING PRAYER, first of three short prayers designed for that day’s mass, is then offered by the celebrant as president of the community. These are the initial rites of Liturgy of the Word.
   
   
3. The presider, in this part of the mass fulfills his role as teacher of the faith community. At weekday masses there are two readings, at Sunday masses three. The FIRST READING on Sunday is always from the Old Testament, except during the Easter season (Easter thru Pentecost) when it’s taken from the Acts of Apostles – the OT prepares us for the resurrection, the Acts describes the risen Christ alive in the early church. This reading is chosen for its appropriateness to the gospel text which follows. An appropriate PSALM is sung or recited by the congregation following the first reading.
   
   
4. If Sunday, a SECOND READING taken from NT Letters, Acts or Revelation follows the first. Unlike the first reading, it is NOT chosen for its connection to that Sunday’s gospel, but is read in sequence from one Sunday to the next. The proclamation of the gospel is then introduced singing an Alleluia antiphon & verse. At weekday masses there is no second reading, only the first & the gospel. Nor is there a pre-established connection between the two; both are from OT & NT books read in sequence, one day to the next.
   
   
5. The GOSPEL is proclaimed as the living Word, that is, Christ alive & communicating his directives to the community of faith. After its proclamation the presider gives a homiletic explanation & exhortation based on the readings. It is followed by the congregation’s recitation of the Nicene CREED, expression of the community’s commitment to live in daily life the Word declared. In a reminder that the church throughout the world is joined in this specific commitment, the intercessory PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL are formulated for the material & spiritual needs of GOD’s people everywhere. This concludes the LITURGY of the Word.
   
   
6. Christ is the head of the church. He nourishes the minds & wills of the members of his body through the Liturgy of the Word that they might know & carry out his directives. He is also the heart of the church & now prepares to nourish theirs with his love, strengthening them in the LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST with his own promised living flesh & blood. This liturgy also begins with a procession which brings bread & wine – food & drink – to the altar of sacrifice, gifts of the community symbolizing the daily lives they wish to offer them to the Father through Christ’s offering of his own. The presider receives the gifts & prayerfully offers them to the Father in the name of the community, which he represents & is a member; he finalizes this rite with the second of the prayers proper to that particular mass, the PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS.
   
   
7. The celebrant now intones the PREFACE, the hymn of thanksgiving which introduces the EUCHARISTIC PRAYER, center of the liturgy of the Eucharist. At this juncture the celebrant ceases to be ‘presider’ representing the community & becomes the ordained priest of Jesus Christ, authorized to represent Christ himself to pray in his name the eternal sentiments of the Word made Flesh. Christ himself is priest & victim, altar & temple. The Eucharist Prayer is his prayer-Jesus himself at prayer, the rest of us loving members of his body praying with him these prayers of self-giving sacrifice. Baptized into this priesthood of Jesus, the faithful present unite themselves in the chapels of their own hearts to Christ as he offers this one saving sacrifice throughout the world & throughout history for all mankind.
   
   
8. This prayer of Jesus includes the ‘consecration’ of the community’s gift of bread & wine – made holy by his will & his words in fulfillment of the simple method he devised to nourish spirituality the members of his body with his own body & blood. The Son of God takes on humanity without ceasing to be divine in order to communicate to us his divine life and love; he does not take on breadness; rather he uses bread & wine as his medium to unite with us as ‘the bread come down from heaven for the life of the world.’ By his human will, this bread becomes his flesh, this wine his blood.
   
   
9. The Eucharistic Prayer fittingly concludes with the community’s reciting, with Christ, the prayer he tought us – the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father. The celebrant then returns to his role as presider & leads the community in its prayers, now no longer directed to the Father but to Jesus, in thanksgiving & preparation to partake in the meal he himself has prepared for us. After the distribution of his body & blood to those who- in humble acknowledgment of their unworthiness & whose faith embraces belief that this is indeed the body of blood of Christ – approach to receive, the mass concludes with the third of the movable prayers, the PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION, and a blessing on the community sent back into the world to be Christ, live his message & communicate his love.
   
   
10. Whenever an ordained minister (priest) is not present, the Sunday liturgy – thus lacking the central Eucharistic Prayer – consists of the Liturgy of the Word, true nourishment for the members of the community with the bread of the Word. A Liturgy of Communion may follow the Liturgy of the Word with the distribution of hosts consecrated at an earlier mass, perhaps celebrated elsewhere & brought to the community by a deacon or lay minister of Communion. Where such is not available, the assembled members of the community conclude their participation in the Liturgy of the Word with prayers of spiritual communion.
    
    

Jack Vessels

I personally think mass/holy communion can help anyone with any degree of faith to lead to worship and have a greater personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It will nourish your sole, as does prayer and the Word. All leading towards getting to know Christ better.

Les Washington