To quote Dr. Scott Hahn from his book, The Lamb’s Supper, “The Mass as Heaven on Earth,”
To go to Mass is to go to heaven, where “God Himself…will wipe away every tear” (Rev 21:3-4). Yet heaven is even more than that. Heaven is where we place ourselves under judgment, where we see ourselves in the clear morning light of eternal day…
To go to Mass is to renew our covenant with God, as at a marriage feast – for the Mass is the marriage supper of the Lamb. As in a marriage, we take vows, we pledge ourselves, we assume a new identity. We are changed forever.
To go to Mass is to receive the fullness of grace, the very lift of the Trinity. No power in heaven or on earth can give us more than we receive in the Mass, for we receive God into ourselves.”
© Heidi Bratton Photography
Mass is a Prayer
The Mass is a prayer in itself — not just the priest standing up at the altar praying; we are praying as well with our bodies, minds, and hearts. It is truly a gift, an offering, of ourselves in prayer offered in the Mass. Not only are we bringing our time, talent (the choir, ushers, Eucharistic ministers, lectors), and tithing, we bring our troubles, sins, and thanksgiving to the altar. So we must be prepared for this time.
Preparation
Preparation is key and there are some small things families and individuals can do to accomplish this. Nearly everything we do needs some kind of preparation, attending Mass is no different. The Mass order is the same each time and where ever one attends. This order doesn’t change, only the readings change and the message. Each day the readings are different with a different message. For this reason alone preparation is key for full participation to be possible, and it’s easier than ever with online information available in every form, from email alerts, to iPhone apps, we have the readings at our fingertips. Even those not online can find the readings in magazines such as The Word Among Us and Magnificat. Not only do these monthly periodicals provide the readings for each day, they also contain meditations, lives of saints, and prayers to use as added spirituality growth.
[Editor’s note: Catholic Lane publishes the reflection for Sunday Mass from The Word Among Us every week. Look for it in the blue “church street box” on the front of the site.]
Attending Mass with a little advanced preparation can help you avoid being distracted. A distracted person can be distracting for others!
It is a Celebration, not a Play
The Mass is a celebration bringing all the angels and saints, Church fathers, martyrs and the Blessed Trinity together with us for this celebration. It is hard to believe that this actually happens — that all the blessed join us in reality — so we need to have the grace of faith to embrace this aspect of the Mass celebration. We are not alone during this time, hence we are closer to heaven than any other time in our earthly lives.
The Mass is called a Celebration and the priest is called the celebrant and we are co-celebrants in the Mass — not spectators, not members of an audience as at entertainment. To be enterained, all we have to do is show up at an event. But to properly celebrate Mass, we need to be prepared.
