Mass: The Lord's most precious gift

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Sister Guadalupe Maria Cervantes, PCI is a member of the Pax Christi Institute.

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Over two thousand years ago, on the night before he died, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. In a mysterious manner it contains the sacrifice of his Body and Blood and enables that sacrifice to continue in history until he comes again.

He entrusted the Eucharist to his Church. "Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me (1 Cor 11:25)." What is our response to this command of Jesus?

To understand what the Mass is about and how we should respond to this precious gift that he has given to us; it is important that we understand what it means for us, the faithful, to be active participants in the Mass and what the role of the priest is.

Active participation begins with external acts, but goes beyond our external acts. Thus, as active participants we are called to attentively listen to the readings and homily and reflect upon their meaning in our lives as well as to sing and recite the appropriate responses. Mass is not a spectator event where the priest does everything.

As the priest acts in Persona Christi, or in the person of Christ, and offers the Sacrificial Offering, we, the congregation, stand in union. We sit as we listen, we kneel as we offer the Eucharist and we pray as a sign of humbling ourselves before our God and King.

Through the celebration of the Eucharist each week, we have the opportunity to renew our faith and to be strengthened to live the Gospel more fully. In the coming months we will journey together through the Mass, which will ensure an awareness of the meaning and graces of our Sunday Liturgy.

First of all, what is the Mass? The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the Mass by saying, "The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation of his Body which is the Church (CCC 1407)."

The Mass is made up, as it were, of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, two parts so closely connected that they form but one single act of worship. For in the Mass, the table of God's word and of Christ's body is laid for the people of God to receive from it instruction and nourishment.

There are also certain rites to open and conclude the celebration. The purpose of these rites is for the faithful coming together to take on the form of a community and prepare themselves to listen to God's word and celebrate the Eucharist properly (adapted from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal 7, 8, 24).

Our first journey in next month's issue will consist of the parts preceding the liturgy of the Word, called the Introductory Rites.