The U.S. Bishops have urged priests and deacons to use the time prior to the introduction of the new wording in the liturgy and the time immediately after to reacquaint parishioners with some of the theology behind our celebration of the Eucharist. All of us need reminders from time to time about what we are doing when we come to Mass and why. It is especially important for those who have not had much religious instruction or have forgotten what they learned years ago. People need to keep abreast of new ways of doing things whether that person is a professional or an ordinary citizen. Lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, clergy, etc. need to keep up with new things or else they will fall behind in their profession. The average person needs to know the best products to choose from in the grocery store, appliance store or hardware shop. In the same way we need to keep up-to-date in our religious life and now is the time to learn more about the celebration of the Eucharist.

Our Mass is divided into four parts, The two main parts are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Each of these two main parts has an introductory part. The introductory rite before the Liturgy of the Word starts off with an entrance hymn or antiphon. The entrance hymn is meant to create a celebratory mood and usually does not stop when the priest/celebrant and deacon reach the presider’s chair. The hymn can be as long as necessary to create that celebratory atmosphere. The priest and deacon reverence the altar as a symbol of Christ with a kiss and make their way to the presider’s chair. Together all make the sign of the cross, the symbol of our salvation and the priest greets the people with the words used by St. Paul when he began his epistles. The priest then gives some introductory remarks about this particular celebration and he concludes his remarks by inviting all for the moment of silent recollection of who we are and who we are called to be as members of the Body of Christ. We reflect on our faults and ask God to forgive our failures for not living up to our Christian calling. The penitential act follows
where we praise God for His mercy and the priest proclaims an absolution. Since it is not the absolution given in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance), we do not make the sign of the cross at this time.

At Sunday Mass, the ancient hymn, the Gloria, is sung or recited. Since it is a hymn, the preference is to sing the Gloria. It is an acclamation of God the Father and of his Christ present among us who are members of his body. Its opening line recalls the Christmas story of the angels announcing peace at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). The Introductory Rite concludes with the collect or opening prayer. This is the highlight of this part of the Mass. It collects our individual prayers into one as we find ourselves together as a community. The main purpose of the introductory rite is to form a worshipping community. With the words of the collect we prepare ourselves to hear the Word of God and get a sense of what to listen for in the words to come. Since the Liturgy of the Word is a vital part of our Mass celebration we should all be on time to listen to God speaking to us in scripture.

On weekends, we traditionally have three readings plus a psalm which is a response to the Word of God by using the Word of God. Normally, the first reading and the Gospel are related in theme. The second reading is usually not connected to the other readings in theme. Its introduction in the Mass was a way of exposing more Scripture to Roman Catholics. We call this part of the Mass the Word because it is God’s Word addressed to us by God himself. God is speaking to us and hopefully we get that
message. The scriptures are the written record of and reflection on the acts of God in the past whether it be found in the Exodus story or in Jesus. It is in the homily that the homilist tries to point out how God still acts and still speaks to us today. This is why the Church urges the homilist and people to be silent after the homily for a few moments to reflect on the meaning of Scripture in our world today. Silence is also urged after each reading as well as after the homily. Before we come to the next part of Mass we have the Creed (on Sundays and feasts) and the intercessions. In the new translation, the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed both have word changes that we will have to get used to. The Nicene Creed (Council of Nicea) developed out of the baptismal formula used in the early centuries in the Christian community at Jerusalem. The Apostles Creed is the old baptismal formula used in Rome. The Creed is used as an affirmation of faith in all God has done, is doing, and will yet do. The Prayer of the Faithful, or bidding prayers or general intercessions that follow are acts of the whole community praying for the world which the community is sent to serve. These prayers are meant to be global, universal or truly catholic even though they can also be local and parochial. Even when we pray for ourselves we pray for the larger world and the needs of all.

The question arises about using a missal or missalette to follow the readings. Many bishops and priests have said that the Word of the Lord is meant to be listened to not read while the lector or priest/deacon reads to us. While we can debate this forever, the general preference is to discourage the use of reading the texts at Mass by following along in a missalette.

In 1998 the liturgy committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference issued an excellent set of “Guidelines for the Publication of Participation Aids.” With respect to the Liturgy of the Word, it said: “It is clearly preferable that the Word of God be clearly heard by all who participate in the liturgy, for ‘In the hearing of God’s Word the Church is built up and grows’ (GILFM 7). For this reason, the printing of readings and presidential prayers in participation aids is discouraged, unless other circumstances make it impossible for the word to be effectively proclaimed. Even in these instances, however, it is preferable that steps be taken to assure the effective proclamation of the Scriptures rather than resorting to providing a ‘read along’ text to the members of the assembly. Therefore, the ideal is to participate by an attentive external and inner listening to the proclamation of God’s Word and to the presidential prayers at Mass, rather than simply reading along with them.

The missalettes will not go away and can be used prior to Mass or during the week to prepare for Sunday Mass. With good readers and good audio equipment, many parishioners now put down their reading material at Mass and listen attentively to the proclamation of the Word.

Very Rev. Michael T. Driscoll, O. Carm.
Administrator Pro-Tem