THE MASS
Gathering
THE PROCESSION: The priest wears vestments that distinguish him from the common and ordinary proceedings of life. The stole designates his office.
PRIEST KISSES THE ALTAR: By kissing that altar the priest emphasizes to all of us and to himself that Christ is the only priest, victim and altar of sacrifice in this Mass.
GREETING: The priest traces the cross over himself and we do the same. The cross is never far from us during Mass.
PENITENTIAL RITE: We come as believers, still there are failings and faults that keep us from God and each other.
OPENING PRAYER: The priest invites us to pray in the silence of our hearts. He then collect our intentions in one prayer.
Liturgy of the Word
LITURGY OF THE WORD: On Sundays there are three readings from the Bible. The first reading is from the Hebrew Scripture. Then a psalm is sung or Recited. The second reading is from the Letters in the New Testament.
ALLELUIA/GOSPEL: "Praise God" is what the word Alleluia means in Hebrew. The priest greets us with, "The Lord be with you." then introduces the Gospel. He marks a small cross on his forehead, lips and heart with his thumb. We do the same.
HOMILY: The word refers to more than a sermon about faith or morals for it is an act of worship rooted in the texts of the Mass and especially in the proclaimed Scripture readings.
CREED: The Creed is a statement of our faith in and commitment to the Word we have just heard.
INTERCESSIONS: We pray that our assembly really will come to look like the Body of Christ. We also pray for the intentions in our hearts.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
OFFERTORY: Now we bring our offerings to God...the gift of a portion of our livelihood to share with others. It is our ordinary life that we offer as our gift, uniting ourselves with Jesus' offering.
PREFACE: The preface marks the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer. It is a hymn of gratitude and praise to God.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: The priest continues on our behalf to recite the anaphora, or canon of the Mass.
AFTER CONSECRATION: Our gifts of bread and wine are transformed with the words of Christ that though we see just bread and wine, our faith assures us that it is the Living Risen Christ who now is sacramentally present.
ANAMNESIS: Our memory reaches back to all the saving acts of God throughout history. The Father affirmed and accepted Jesus offering by raising him from death.
EPICLESIS: The Father's gift of the Holy Spirit gave us Jesus in the new risen life and in and through the church the gift of the Spirit brings us new life.
BEFORE THE PER IPSUM: We declare that we believe, that we agree, that we approve, and we join with and sign our name to this great gift-giving and supreme sacrifice that has just taken place by praying the "Amen".
OUR FATHER/SIGN OF PEACE: We prepare to eat and drink at God's table with the words Jesus taught us. Aware that Communion is a sign of peace we offer a sign of peace to those around us.
THE LAMB OF GOD: With the centurion of the gospel asking health and vigor for his ailing son, we humbly ask for the Lord to dwell with us and strengthen us in the communion we prepare to receivE.
COMMUNION: As God fed our ancestors on their pilgrimage in the desert, so God feeds us for our journey. The minister gives us the Eucharistic bread with the words. "The Body of Christ,"and "Blood of Christ" to which we profess our "Amen."
BLESSING AND DISMISSAL: We bow our heads to receive a blessing and as the priest names the trinity, we make the sign of the cross. He then dismisses us; "Go in peace..." And we give our liturgical "Yes" by saying "Thanks be to God."