Year For Mass

When we gather at Mass, we do what the first Christians did when they gathered: we tell the stories and we share the meal. These two actions we name as “The Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Eucharist.” The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (DV) teaches us that the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are to be regarded with the same reverence: we feed first from the table of the Word, and then we are fed from the table of the Eucharist.

In the introduction to the Lectionary, the Liturgy of the Word is described as meditation, a form of prayer: “the liturgy of the word must be celebrated in a way that fosters meditation … the dialogue between God and God’s people taking place through the Holy Spirit demands short intervals of silence, suited to the assembled congregation, as an opportunity to take the word of God to heart and to prepare a response to it in prayer”.

First, we listen to a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), after which a Psalm is sung (or recited) antiphonally. Next, we hear a reading from the New Testament, usually from one of the “letters.” The highpoint of the Liturgy of the Word is the proclamation of the Gospel by the priest or deacon. A homily, developed from the Readings, follows.

The Word of God proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word is not the words written in a book, but the Word that is spoken. It is God who speaks to us: “when the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, proclaims the Gospel”. God’s word is alive and active, and demands our active listening. The Word of God dwells in the communal hearing. We worthily fulfill our role in the Liturgy of the Word when we attentively listen to the Word, carefully and prayerfully proclaimed.

Where is the Mass celebrated? The early Christians gathered in their homes to celebrate their liturgies. For them, Sunday was a special day because it was the day of Christ’s resurrection; so they would meet early in the morning before they began their day to share the Eucharist. For a few hundred years, Christianity was not an acceptable “religion” in the Roman Empire so it was actually dangerous to be a Christian. Worship was “concealed” and Christians used their homes as places of worship. There is evidence that some of the homes were renovated to make some larger rooms to accommodate the growing numbers. There are also remains of homes where special rooms for baptism were created. But the place of worship for the early Christian communities was the private home.

In the fourth century, all of that changed. The Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of the entire Roman Empire. It was at that time that the small private places of the celebration of the Mass were abandoned for the large public spaces of the Roman Empire. The Christian community was now huge and worship was public. Christians now gathered in large public buildings, called basilicas.

These large spaces demanded grand liturgies. This is when the Mass structure expanded to include new actions points: elaborate entrance processions and long offertory processions accompanied by music. Elaborate churches were built, and the “priesthood” developed as the roles and responsibilities of the leaders of the liturgy grew. The centrality and importance of the Eucharist in the public lives of the Christian people grew and grew.

Liturgy is an action that has evolved over two millennia. In our own time, reforms in the Mass instituted by Pope Pius XII and the liturgical reforms of Vatican II resulted in what we know and celebrate today as “the Mass.”

How do we know about the Mass? Has it always been the way we know it today? The Mass, in some form, has been celebrated for over twenty centuries.

The first Christians living in the early centuries of the church were a people who had a mostly oral tradition. They told others about their lives as followers of Christ. A natural part of their new “life in Christ” was gathering to tell the stories and share a meal: the Mass. They did not focus on the Mass as a separate event of their day or week. The Mass was simply integrated into how they lived as Christians.

There were also letters such as those of St. Paul that tell us about the Mass. At that time, the majority of people were pagan, so some Christians wrote descriptions of their lives. Homilies from some great preachers in the early church give us insights. Often such saints as St. John Chrysostom preached to the newly baptized to explain to them what had happened on the night of their baptism. Eventually, some prayer books and later, guides to the liturgy, were also written.

The core of the Mass has always been the same: taking, blessing, breaking, and giving. The skeleton of the Mass is: taking bread and wine, blessing God for it, breaking bread and pouring the cup, and giving Holy Communion. In 150 A.D., Justin Martyr wrote to the emperor trying to explain to pagans what Christians did when they gathered. He tells clearly that the people gathered early in the morning before work; they read from the prophets or the gospel stories; the president (priest) reflected on what was read; the Christians prayed for the world, the needs of the church and themselves; bread and wine were brought and the president (priest) said a prayer of blessing according to his ability (using his own words from the depth of his knowledge and understanding of scripture); deacons distributed bread and wine to those present; liturgy continued by the bringing of communion to those in need and caring for those who needed to be cared for.

Over the centuries this structure has been elaborated on but when we gather for Eucharist today we do what the first Christians did when they gathered – we tell the stories and we share the meal. Spend a few minutes reflecting on this great tradition preserved and safeguarded for us by all those who have remained faithful to celebrating the Mass.

Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI

Sr. Mary Henry, CCVI

Sacred Heart Parish, Valley Park, Missouri

e begin every celebration of the Mass with “The Introductory Rite” which includes the Entrance and Procession, or the Gathering, the Sign of the Cross, the Greeting, the Penitential Act, the Kyrie, Gloria and the Collect. All of these together prepare us as the Body of Christ gathered, to enter into our great prayer of praise and thanksgiving – the Mass.

The Penitential Act is a communal recognition of our sinfulness, and, an “act of praise for God’s mercy and forgiveness” (Williamson, “The Confiteor,” LTP, 2011). The Penitential Act takes one of three forms, unless (especially during the Easter season) the blessing and sprinkling of water is done, as a reminder of our Baptism.

The most noticeable change to the Penitential Act with the implementation of the New Roman Missal is the first form, which includes “The Confiteor.” The Confiteor is a communal statement, expressing the sorrow of the entire community to the entire community. We begin the Confiteor by saying, “I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned … .” Soon, we will add the word “greatly” before the word, “sinned.” Any sin is a turning away from God, and is a threat to our relationship to God, and consequently, to one another. “Greatly” is an appropriate adjective to use, because it clearly expresses the reality and seriousness of our sin.

The next thing we will notice is that the phrase, “through my fault” is repeated three times, rather than once (as in the current translation).

This is a literary tool used for emphasis and is found in other places in the Mass: Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy; the Holy, Holy, Holy; and, the Lamb of God. Accompanying these words, the Missal includes the rubric, “they strike their breast.”

This is a practice that has ceased to be used by many, but the rubric is not new; it has always been in the English translations of the Roman Missal. Striking the breast is an ancient gesture expressing sorrow, and is a sign of our contrition: “I turn in repentance … I strike my breast” (Jeremiah 31:19).

God’s forgiveness and mercy is great gift; God wants nothing more than wholeness for each of us, and to be united with all of us. We are human; we are broken and we sin. But we can turn to God together, and with confidence acknowledge our sinfulness, because we know that we are loved, and we are forgiven. In the Penitential Act, we prepare ourselves to enter into the great mysteries. With the Confiteor, we do this appropriately with a communal prayer, with one voice and one body.

Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI

Sr. Mary Henry, CCVI

Sacred Heart Parish, Valley Park, Missouri

he Gloria “is a most ancient and venerable hymn by which the Church, gathered in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb …” (GIRM, 53). The opening words of the Gloria are from the Gospel (Luke) account of the birth of Jesus, “so many have deduced that the hymn has its origins in Christmas celebrations” (Turner, At the Supper of the Lamb).

The GIRM 2002 (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) instructs that the Gloria is intoned by the Priest, or by a cantor or by the choir. This tradition (now explicitly instructed) of the preside beginning the Gloria probably originated as a way for the Bishop (at the conclusion of the Entrance Procession) to first raise his voice in praise to God, before greeting the people (Turner).

The English words (of the new translation) are simply a translation of the Latin text of the revised Roman Missal. Shortly after Pope John Paul II promulgated the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal in 2000, the Congregation for Divine Worship issued (in 2001) Liturgiam authenticam. This is a set of principles that govern how the Latin Mass is to be translated into the vernacular. What we will hear is the Gloria translated into English, using those principles.

With the new translation, we will hear a beginning of the Gloria that more closely reminds us of the infancy narrative in Luke’s Gospel.

We will sing “and on earth peace to people of good will” rather than “and peace to his people on earth.” And then we sing “we praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God almighty Father.” All the descriptions for God have been restored, and the result is excessive. But this is the point of the text: there is no word or phrase that can adequately express our experience of God.

A small change that can be easily overlooked is the change from the word “sin” to “sins” – “Lord Jesus Christ … you take away the sins of the world …” This simple change reflects a shift from an emphasis on the sinfulness in the world (that Jesus redeems) to our own personal sin. Jesus takes away sin from the world, but individual sin as well. Jesus forgives our personal sin.

“On the whole, the revised translation of the Gloria reflects the long tradition of the hymn … It should root us in scripture, give us words to praise God, and be an occasion to reflect on the forgiving power of Jesus Christ” (Paul Turner, Understanding the Revised Mass Texts).

Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI

Sr. Mary Henry, CCVI

Sacred Heart Parish, Valley Park, Missouri

e begin the Eucharistic Prayer with a dialogue between the priest and the assembly. This dialogue traces its beginnings to the fourth century and through this ancient dialogue, we continue a tradition in which both the priest and the people together prepare for the Eucharistic Prayer. The dialogue is meant to be an action that calls us to special attention and preparation for something significant that is about to happen. Also, it is a symbol of the unity of the Church and an encouragement for us to all engage together in the Pascal Sacrifice at hand.

V: The Lord be with you.

R: And with your spirit.

V: Lift up your hearts.

R: We lift them up to the Lord.

V: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

R: It is right and just.

All of the words of the dialogue are scriptural. The invitation to “lift up your hearts” invites us to reach out our hearts to God in heaven.

And our response indicates that indeed we are placing our hearts with Christ.

The third verse and response speak to the essence of the Eucharist.

The Greek word eucharistia means “thanksgiving” and in the third verse the priest says “let us give thanks.” This phrase, often used by the early Christians, may have come from Jewish prayers.

After the dialogue, is the Preface (to the Eucharistic Prayer). It is a prayer of thanksgiving with roots that reach into the Jewish tradition of a meal prayer, said by the father at the end of a meal that includes a blessing for gifts of creation, thanksgiving for the gift of revelation, the covenant and God’s saving works. It ends with a petition for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Prefaces always give specific reason why we give God thanks, and often will name a special feast or reason why the community gives praise to God on a particular day. The prayer ends by leading us into the singing of the “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

We will recognize a few different words in the Holy, Holy as we begin to use the new translation. Now we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might.” We will soon be praying “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.” These words come from the book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Scriptures and give us an image of the magnificent heavenly choir of angels and saints. The words “power and might” are more abstract terms and do not speak clearly the translation from the original Latin.

Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI

Sr. Mary Henry, CCVI

Sacred Heart Parish, Valley Park, Missouri

If you’ve been alive in the last few decades, and watch any TV at all, you’ve seen at least one episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Two of the most memorable characters created for SNL were Wayne and Garth, high school stars of their own TV show, “Wayne’s World.” High school students and friends, Wayne and Garth were hosts, and guests included their teachers, other students, their own parents, etc., etc. Probably the most memorable appearance of any guest was of their idols, the rock band Aerosmith. Wayne and Garth, in unison, bow to their idols, chanting over and over as they bow, “We’re Not Worthy! We’re Not Worthy!” Since then, the gesture and the phrase have become “iconic” and been repeated by countless others in many other settings: “I Am Not Worthy! I Am Not Worthy!” It’s a natural thing to say when confronted by something or someone we hold in great esteem and it is beyond what we can express with words alone.

Christians recognize the phrase, because the centurion said it to Jesus himself when Jesus healed his beloved servant. When Jesus did this completely loving and compassionate act on behalf of a stranger and a Roman (a gentile), the man expresses his thanks by saying to him, “Lord, I am not worthy … (that you should come under my roof).”

So it is when we approach the table to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. This is during the Communion Rite, where we remember together (and pray) the words that Jesus taught us (The Lord’s Prayer).

After the Lord’s Prayer, the priest prays for peace and unity, and we offer one another a sign of peace. Then quietly, the priest breaks the bread, and we pray together, “Lamb of God … Lamb of God … Lamb of God.” Then we are invited to the feast. The priest will say to us, echoing the words of John in the Gospel: “Behold the Lamb of God!” The new translation gives us the words of the centurion:

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.”

By quoting the centurion, we are saying what he was expressing to Jesus, that we are humbled by his loving and compassionate act of the healing of his servant. For us, it is the act of giving of his life, death and resurrection and what we are about to receive: his very own Body and Blood. At the same time, we acknowledge that we are sinful, but that we can approach the table to receive because a loving and compassionate God forgives us, and wants to be united with us in the gift of the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI

Sr. Mary Henry, CCVI

Sacred Heart Parish, Valley Park, Missouri