Why is our worship together called “the Mass”?

Section 1332 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says we call it “Holy Mass (Missa) because the liturgy … concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.”  So the Latin term “missio” really describes the very end of the Mass, but that term ”missio” over the centuries has come to be used to describe the whole hour.

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Our English word “mission” also comes from the Latin word “missio”, and “mission” is a helpful way to think about what the term “Mass” means.  Those sent on a mission have been equipped and sent for a purpose.  At the end of the Mass, having received Jesus in Scripture and in the Eucharist, we are told to “go forth,” “missio,” to go on a mission to let Jesus’s life shine in everything we do and with everyone we meet.

 

Every Mass we have an opportunity to receive communion. What does the word “communion” mean?  

The word communion comes from one of St. Paul’s letters in the Bible.  He uses a Greek word which can be translated communion, sharing, partnership, or participation.  St. Paul says that when we eat Christ’ body and drink Christ’s blood, we participate in Christ’s sacrifice.  During the Mass, we offer Christ’s body and blood to the Father as an offering, and we offer ourselves as well. The whole liturgy of the Eucharist is our participation with Jesus, and especially receiving communion.  First Corinthians 10 says “The cup of blessing that we bless is… a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break is… a participation in the body of Christ. …  Look at [the customs of] Israel; those who eat the sacrifices [are] participants in the altar.”

 

What does the word “Eucharist” mean?

What does the word “Eucharist” mean? It means giving thanks, and comes from the Greek word used in the Bible and in early Christian writings. The Bible says that when Jesus was eating His last meal with His disciples, He took the bread and He took the cup “and when he had given thanks He gave it to them.” 

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “It is called Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek word eucharistein … recall[s] the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal – God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. …Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine… as ‘fruit of the earth’ and ‘[fruit] of the vine’ - gifts of the Creator.”  And this is why every week, we begin the liturgy of the Eucharist with the priest saying, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” and the people respond, “It is right and just.” 

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Catholics celebrate Thanksgiving not just once a year, but at every Mass. So let us truly be thankful in our hearts as we celebrate the Eucharist this week.

 

Why does the priest bow before the altar and kiss the altar?

The altar in the church is extremely important.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says Christ’s sacrifice was first made on the altar of the Cross, and now, “on the altar which is the center of the church, the sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. The altar is also the table of the Lord, to which the People of God are invited.”   Therefore “the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ Himself, present in the midst of the assembly of His faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving Himself to us.”  When we bow before the altar or kiss the altar, we show reverence and love for Jesus, who in the Eucharist gives His life FOR us and gives His life TO us. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1182 & 1383). 

 

How does acknowledging our sins prepare us to celebrate the Mass?

Whenever we get together with someone, we normally begin with apologies if there are any problems in the relationship.  We say things like “I’m sorry I’m late” to apologize for something we’ve done, or we say “I’m sorry I forgot to call you on your birthday” to apologize for something we failed to do.  Likewise, with God we begin by saying “I have greatly sinned in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.”  This confession at the beginning of Mass provides honesty in our relationship with God and it clears up small problems in our relationship with God, which we call venial sins.  This confession prepares us to be ready to offer ourselves to God as a pure offering during the Mass.  Larger problems in our relationship with God, called mortal sins, need to be cleared up during sacramental confession with a priest, which is why our priest is available to hear confessions at 3 o’clock on Saturdays, before the weekend Masses.

 

When we confess our sins at the beginning of the Mass, why do we confess not only to God, but to the other people in the building, our brothers and sisters?

The New Testament book of James tells us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”  In the communion of saints, the holiness of one person affects everyone, but also the sin of one person affects everyone.  St. Paul says the Church is a body, and when the foot suffers, the whole body suffers.  So when we sin and damage our part of the body, we owe everyone in the Church an apology.  Jesus said that we shouldn’t offer a gift at the altar without first reconciling with those we have hurt, so the Mass puts the apology to one another before the offering. Then we show our forgiveness when we say “Peace be with you.”  Only then are we are ready to offer the Eucharistic sacrifice.  That’s why we confess to our brothers and sisters at the beginning of the Mass.  

 

Why do we offer the Mass for someone who has died?

Prayers for the dead are in several books of the Bible, and archeological digs of underground tombs in Italy have found evidence that the Church celebrated the Mass near their buried loved ones and near the martyrs.

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Catechism 1371 says “The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who ‘have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified,’ so that they may be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ: St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote that during the Mass, ‘we pray for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all.’”

 

Why does the priest ask the Holy Spirit to make the bread and wine holy so “that they may become the body and blood of Jesus Christ”?   

When the Son of God first took on human flesh and blood in the womb of the Virgin Mary, she was told by the angel how this would happen: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  Since the Holy Spirit worked to give us the baby Jesus in a physical way so long ago, we ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to work again to give us Jesus’ real presence in the eucharist. This is why we can rejoice.  Jesus didn’t just come to His people 2,000 years ago.  Jesus comes to His people the Church every time we have Mass.  

 

Why do two people carry forward the hosts and wine in the middle of Mass?

In the Old Testament, the people of God brought God gifts of animals and bread and wine in thanksgiving for something God had done.  Sometimes it was simply that their crops had grown and they brought a portion of the harvest to God.  Sometimes they were thankful that they had recovered from an illness or survived a storm at sea.  They came to the temple singing and telling of how God had saved them.  And they brought a present for God: animals, bread, and wine.  After these were offered to God, they were eaten in a thanksgiving meal.  This was called a  “sacrifice of salvation” or a “todah sacrifice” or a “sacrifice of praise”  (Leviticus 7:11-15; Psalm 116:12-17).

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In the New Testament book of Hebrews, Christians are told to also “offer a sacrifice of praise.” (Hebrews 13:15).  So we have two people represent the congregation to carry the bread and wine forward and give it to the priest, who gives God our gifts of bread and wine, while we are singing and praying and speaking of the things God has done to save us. The priest prays a variation of the ancient Jewish prayers, saying, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you; fruit of the earth and work of human hands” and “the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands… may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.”  Later, the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” and we respond, “It is right and just.”  The priest then prays, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.”  Then he gives thanks for specific things God has done to save us.  Then we eat a meal with God in thanksgiving, and the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.”  This is how we “offer a sacrifice of praise.”

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What is the prayer the priest prays silently while he mixes the water into the wine in the chalice?  

The priest prays quietly: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”  The water represents humanity, and the wine divinity; in Jesus, these two things are brought together, not just in Him, but in us too.  The Son of God became human so that we humans could become sons of God.   We don’t become God, but we are given His Holy Spirit to live in us and to help us to love like God loves, so that we can love like Christ, who though He was God, chose to be born human so that He could love us and save us.  The prayer the priest says quietly at every Mass while mixing the water and wine, is very similar to the prayer said out loud at the very beginning of the Christmas Day Mass: “O God, grant that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”  

 

During the Mass, why does the priest pray, “Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world”?  

When we gather for Mass, we don’t just pray only with and for our friends in our parish, we gather and pray with the whole Church, spread throughout the world.  From the very beginning, the Church has included people from many nations and cultures.  The New Testament tells us how the Apostle Paul travelled to Turkey and Greece and Italy, starting parishes, and how the Apostle Philip baptized an Ethiopian man returning to Africa.  When the Apostle John saw a vision of heaven, he saw people there from every nation, race, and language.   Since one God made the whole world, and this one God sent His Son to be the savior of everyone, so there is one Church for the whole world.  Every Mass, we all pray together with one another and for one another.  Today, in Africa and Asia and the Middle East there are Catholics praying for us, just as we pray for them.

 

Why does the Mass include a prayer about Jesus entering under my roof right before communion? 

Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).  Jesus offers us a chance to have Him over for dinner, as we might invite a friend or relative or neighbor.  He wants to be near to us.  And yet we know that Jesus is God, and so this is somewhat like if we were to invite the President or the Pope to dinner; none of us have a house fit for such an occasion.  But Jesus promises that He will have dinner with us, if we only open the door.  Jesus can make our homes fit for Him.  And so every Mass, just before we invite Him to enter us through communion, we open the door by saying the prayer, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

 

Why do those of us sitting in the pews get incensed before the bread and wine are offered to God?

 “Incense is an expression of reverence and of prayer” as it smells sweet and rises up to God.  The Hebrews were commanded to burn incense in the temple every morning and evening, and the New Testament book of Revelation describes an angel offering incense in the heavenly temple “along with the prayers of all the holy ones.”  In the Roman Catholic Mass, just before we are incensed, the priest says a silent prayer, “With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.” Then the priest incenses the gifts, the cross, and the altar. Then another person incenses the priest and the people.  Those of us in the pews are incensed because we want to be a sweet and pleasing gift to God.  It is a sign that we are not spectators at Mass, but with Jesus we are actively offering our prayers, our gifts, and our lives to the Father as a present.

 

After communion, when should we kneel or sit in the pew?  

In general, each parish or diocese may have its own custom, and while attempting uniformity, also must allow for individual needs.  Those who are physically able may kneel in reverence for a bit as they pray after communion, or kneel as long as Jesus is visible in the hosts as communion is being distributed.  When communion is over for everyone, and the tabernacle door has been shut, that is a good time to stop kneeling and sit down. In a sense, we sit when Jesus sits.  This is often just a moment before the priest sits, and some may choose to wait for the priest to sit before sitting in the pew.  Most importantly, whether kneeling or sitting, an attitude of reverent prayer during the communion rite is what we want to reflect with our bodies.

 

What are the benefits of receiving holy communion?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1391-1394) lists several major benefits to receiving holy communion.  First, “The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.”  Second, communion provides spiritual nourishment necessary for growth in the Christian life, as it “preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism.”  Third, “Holy Communion separates us from sin.  The Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins… and preserves us from future mortal sins.”

So, every time we come to Mass, we have an opportunity to grow closer to Jesus and farther away from sin, and to be filled with more grace.

 

Why do we sing in the middle of the Eucharistic prayer, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”? 

These are the words that were sung on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, the custom for Jewish kings (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12). The crowd brought palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna to the King of Israel, the son of David.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”  Hosanna means, “Save us, we ask you” (Catechism 559).  The people were asking Jesus to be their king and save them, Hosanna.  So why do we sing these words of Palm Sunday during the Eucharistic liturgy?  We sing to welcome Jesus, who comes to us each Mass in the Eucharist to be truly present to save us, help us, and be our King.  Each Eucharist, we remember Holy Week, including Palm Sunday’s praises, Christ’s offering of himself on the Cross, and Christ’s Resurrection Easter morning.

The first written record of the liturgy outside the Bible includes the response after communion, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Didache,10). So we know that repeating the Palm Sunday acclamation has long been a part of the Mass.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in paragraph 559 and 570, says, “‘Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord’, is taken up by the Church in the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover of his death and resurrection.”

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During the Eucharistic liturgy, why do we say, “We proclaim your death O Lord, and profess your resurrection”?

 

This line of the Mass is taken from I Corinthians 11:26.  The Catechism says it means the Eucharist is “the memorial of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ by the liturgical action” (1330,1409).  Our liturgy of the Eucharist is about the events of Holy Week.

 

Showing Jesus’ body separated from his blood emphasizes that his offering was a sacrifice, and that he really died.  And yet because Jesus rose from the dead and is now alive, “It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, living and glorious, who is the offering, really present under the species of bread and wine” (Catechism 1410, 1413).

 

Because the risen Jesus is present in the Eucharist, he promises “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. And the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (John 6:56-57).  In the Eucharist, our bodies and our souls receive resurrection life from the resurrected Jesus as he remains in us and we remain in him (Catechism 1000). 

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Why do we collect money and bring it to the altar during Mass?  

The Bible teaches that Jesus is present to us not only in the Eucharist, but also in the poor, who are the least of his brothers.  When we give to God, we also give alms to those God cares about.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection… is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich.”  St. Justin Martyr wrote down an explanation of the Mass about 130 years after Jesus died, describing, “Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need.”

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Why do we genuflect, bow, and carry the Eucharist in processions?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord.  The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species.  The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession.”    

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When “Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love: Pope St. John Paul II wrote, “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease” (John Paul II, Dominicae cenae, 3).”  (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1378-1380).

 

Why do Catholics believe in the real presence?

The real presence is a term we use to describe how Jesus is present in a special way in the Eucharist.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense.” (Catechism 1374).

 

Why does the Catechism teach this?  Because when Jesus said, “this bread is my body,” he didn’t mean that symbolically, because Jesus said eating would cause actual effects in us, giving us life and a connection with him. In John 6, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”  (John 6:48-56).  St. Paul also emphasizes that this not ordinary bread, but has effects on the eaters, because he says many members of the Church are eating unworthily, and therefore are getting sick, but if they eat worthily, they participate in Christ’s sacrifice. (I Corinthians 11:23-24, 29-30; I Corinthians 10:16).  In addition to Scripture, we have many writings from Church leaders from the beginning of the Church, all of which confirm that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist in a special way.

 

Why do we bow whenever we pass the altar? 

We bow because the altar represents Christ.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us.” (CCC 1383)

 

The altar is both the place of Christ’s sacrifice, and the altar is the table of the Lord, where Jesus gives himself to us as the Bread of Life.  And so we bow before the altar as we bow before Jesus.

 

The altar in the church is also connected to the altar in heaven.  The priest prays, “We entreat you, almighty God, that by the hands of your holy Angel this offering may be borne to your altar in heaven in the sight of your divine majesty.” (CCC 1383). We bow as we remember that the altar connects us to the heavenly temple, and we bow before God.

 

Why do we eat and drink during Mass? 

One reason we eat and drink during Mass is to emphasize that God nourishes us, as a parent takes care of children by feeding them, or as a shepherd guides sheep to green grass and fresh water.  Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing that I lack.  In green pastures he makes me lie down.  You set a table before me, my cup overflows.” Jesus said, “I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd” (John 10:9-11). Jesus also said, ““I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35). When Jesus passed along his shepherding ministry to Peter, he told Peter, “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15). 

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And so we come to Mass to be fed by the Lord through the successors of Peter, to eat with God and with one another, to be nourished spiritually. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, the altar is the table of the Lord, where a banquet is set before us (Catechism 1382-1383). We feast with joy, knowing that the Lord provides abundantly for us as a good shepherd provides for his sheep.

 

How does receiving holy communion affect my relationship with other people in the Church?

The apostle Paul wrote that receiving communion makes us part of Christ’s body, and if each person in the Church is united to Christ’s body through communion, then we are all in one body and united to one another.  St. Paul said, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (I Corinthians 10:17).  St. Paul also described the Church as Christ’s body, saying, “you are the body of Christ, and individually parts of it“ (I Corinthians 12:27).  So the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism.”  St. Augustine wrote, “you hear the words, ‘the Body of Christ’ and respond ‘Amen’ (‘yes, it is true!’).  Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1396).

So each week we have a chance to affirm the body of Christ in the eucharistic host we receive, and at the same time to affirm the body of Christ in ourselves and in one another.

 

Why do we practice Eucharistic Adoration?

After the priest has prayed the words of Jesus over the bread and the wine, “this is My Body… this is My Blood,” that is what they become, and the Eucharist is Jesus present with us.  Since Jesus is God, we honor Him and listen to Him.  Eucharistic adoration normally involves placing a consecrated host into a gold ciborium container or gold monstrance, thus bestowing honor on Jesus, and then we genuflect, kneel, and stand in reverence; we offer prayers, and we listen silently to Him.  Even a few minutes in Jesus’ presence is valuable, but there is a custom of having a “holy hour” since Jesus asked his closest disciples to join Him for one hour as He prayed (Matthew 26:40).

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