Prayer as a focal point of Mass

After attending a sparsely populate Mass yesterday I came to the realization that if all the non-practicing Catholics out there starting coming to Mass on Sunday, it would be amazing. Mass would be going on non-stop all day, all around the world on any given Sunday. The churches would no longer have to beg for money during "pledge drives" and the various community and outreach ministries would not have to have fund raisers. The surge would be so overwhelming that you might actually see a decline in sin worldwide. Who knows? But, it is that type of big thinking that kept me working as a youth minister. All that pensiveness got me focused on the importance of the Mass as a Catholic tradition and so I decided I would write about it today. There are so many facets to the Mass that it would be hard to write about all of it in one setting, so I will cover the importance of prayer in Mass today. Next week, I may follow up with scripture in the Mass and the week after that I would like to write about Communion and the Eucharist as the focal point of the Mass. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

First, let us review what the Mass is briefly. Mass is the term used to describe celebration of the Eucharist in the Western liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some largely High Church Lutheran regions: in Scandinavian and Baltic countries the Lutheran Eucharistic service is also known as "the Mass". The term is derived from the late-Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go, the dismissal is made"). The Council of Trent reaffirmed traditional Christian teaching that the Mass is the same Sacrifice of Calvary offered in an unbloody manner: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner... this sacrifice is truly propitiatory" (Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2). The Council declared that Jesus instituted the Mass at his Last Supper: "He offered up to God the Father His own body and blood under the species of bread and wine; and, under the symbols of those same things, He delivered (His own body and blood) to be received by His apostles, whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in commemoration of me, He commanded them and their successors in the priesthood, to offer (them); even as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught." The Roman Catholic Church sees the Mass as the most perfect way it has to offer latria (adoration) to God. It is also Catholic belief that in objective reality, not merely symbolically, the wheaten bread and grape wine are converted into Christ's body and blood, a conversion referred to as transubstantiation, so that the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the Eucharist (a.k.a. The Real Presence, which will be discussed at a later date). There are 5 parts of the Mass: Introductory Rites, The Liturgy of the Word, The Liturgy of the Eucharist, The Communion Rite, and Concluding Rite (some of which we will elaborate on in later weeks). Before the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII from 1951 to 1955, it was forbidden, except for Midnight Mass on Christmas night, to begin Mass more than one hour before dawn or more than one hour after midday. In the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus (1953) and the Motu Propio Sacram Communionem (1957) Pius XII permitted the celebration of Mass at other times. There are no longer any time limits. Furthermore, since the Second Vatican Council, the time for fulfilling the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation now begins on the evening of the day before (in theory, after First Vespers), and most parish churches do celebrate the Sunday Mass also on Saturday evening. By long tradition and liturgical law, Mass is not celebrated at any time on Good Friday (but Holy Communion is, since the reform of Pope Pius XII, distributed to those participating in the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord with hosts consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday) or on Holy Saturday before the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Okay, I will stop with the background on the Mass, but I hope this explains some things to you about the intricacy of it.

On to the topic at hand, prayer as the basis for the Mass. Some people ask, "Are Catholics a people of prayer? Don't the ritual and ceremony and liturgy of Mass get in the way of real prayer?" Some of the most important figures in the Catholic church led lives of reach prayer devotion outside of Mass, but I have no doubt that there moments of most intense prayer were during liturgy, at Mass, as they took Holy Communion. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal." How can that be? Well, why don't we think a minute how we react to the liturgy? Do we turn towards heaven as we listen to the proclamation of the Gospel? Are we going forward in love to receive the Eucharist? Are we full of joy as we sing the Great Amen? Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that the liturgy, the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist are all prayers to God - moments of intimate communion and communication with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, the liturgical and ritual life of the Catholic Church is filled with prayers and is a prayer to God.

Entering the Presence of God

Perhaps the most natural, even unconscious, act of prayer for Catholics is the Sign of the Cross. Making the Sign of the Cross as we enter the church for Mass orients us. It reminds us to who we are - baptized Christians and children of God - and focuses us on what we are doing - approaching God our Father through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. As Christians, we have been "conformed to Christ's death" (Philippians 3:10) in baptism and we desire to be transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Praying to Christ is a recognition of the relationship we have with him and a commitment to grow ever deeper in that life-giving union. Therefore we spend the time immediately prior to Mass in quiet contemplation, stilling our souls, and removing distractions from our hearts and minds.

Praying for Forgiveness

At Mass, after the opening procession, the priest blesses the people: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." United in faith, we acknowledge our sins and failings. The Penitential Rite is a prayer of confession: "I confess to almighty God…" But we don't just admit our sins, we confess who God is - almighty, just, and holy - and who we are - sinful creatures loved by God and in need of his grace. This requires humility, which is always necessary for prayer. If we do not appreciate who God is and how reliant we are upon Him, we will not pray properly. Prayer is relationship and good relationships must be based in honesty and gratitude. Without our acknowledgement of the holiness and power of God, we cannot share in the love and mercy of God.

The Prayer of Praise

Once we acknowledge our sin and frailty, we rejoice in prayer, praising God for who He is: "Glory to God in the highest! Peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory…" The God who is just is also merciful; He makes us a "holy and beloved" people (Colossians 3:12). The Gloria continues, of course, with praise for the Son and the Holy Spirit. All Christian prayer is Trinitarian, for each of the three Persons aid us in the life of prayer and our prayers are always oriented towards the Triune God. Notice that we ask of Christ: "Receive our prayer." As High Priest, Jesus intercedes before the Father in heaven on our behalf. Our prayer in the Mass is always joined to the prayer - the self-giving - of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hearing with Prayerful Ears

We don't usually think of prayer in the context of the Scripture reading, but we should. Hearing Scripture and praying are inseparable, especially within the Mass. Prayer requires openness to God's word and will; Scripture is God's Word and reveals His will for us, His children. The readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels ask for a response. In Scripture, as well as in the sacraments, it is God who initiates contact with us. "God thirsts that we may thirst for him." He desires to love us fully and to give Himself to us completely. Prayer is our "Yes" to the Triune God who is Love. St. Paul writes, "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God's thirst for us provides us the opportunity to know God and to experience His endless love. Our "Yes" to God opens the doors to prayer; it is prayer! Whether it is a cry of joy, exhaustion, or pain, prayer comes from the heart, so it doesn't need to be articulate or poetic - just honest and humble.

Faithful Prayer, Prayer of the Faithful

Is the Creed prayer? Certainly, for reciting it and contemplating it further establishes and deepens our relationship with God. Not simply a laundry list of beliefs, the Creed is a map of reality that tells us who God is and what the Catholic Faith is all about. In reciting the Creed we say to God, "We are yours - I believe these truths," and He responds by saying, "I am yours" in the Eucharist. The Creed is a prayer of faith, hope, and love: by faith we address God, in hope we look forward to our full communion with Him, and in love we live for His glory. The Creed articulates what we believe while shaping our minds and hearts. In the Prayer of the Faithful, we join together to pray for our world, our nation, our leaders, and for the Church. These are concrete expressions of our faith in God's work in the world. In humility we entreat, "Lord, hear our prayer," knowing that He faithfully answers those who call on His name.

Eucharistic Prayer

The Eucharist, the Catechism explains, "contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is 'the pure offering' of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and…it is the 'sacrifice of praise.'" The Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second half of the Mass, is a series of beautiful prayers full of praise, adoration, and joy. First, the priest prays over the bread and wine, acknowledging that these gifts will become for us "the bread of life" and "our spiritual drink." Then we join with the priest in asking God to accept "our sacrifice." What is that sacrifice? We joined to Christ and His perfect sacrifice! We are, St. Paul explains, "to present (our) bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).

The Eucharistic prayers are also full of praise. In them we thank God for his acts of salvation, especially the gift of "the Savior you sent to redeem us." These marvelous prayers contain the words of consecration and mark that moment when the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. No wonder the Eucharistic prayer ends with the Great Amen, our repeated expression of thanks and joy. Then, standing before our Lord, we pray as he taught us: "Our Father…" This is, St. Thomas Aquinas said, "the most perfect of prayers," for it summarizes the entire Gospel. It is also a prayer of unity, prayed together as the family of God, with the common hope of the coming Kingdom. The prayer of unity is then followed by the Sacrament of unity, the Eucharist. Our journey of prayer leads us home to the kingdom, to the intimate marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Catholic Life is Prayer to God

To be Catholic is to pray. We pray at home, in our cars, at work, in silence, and out loud. But in the liturgy, at Mass, in hearing Scripture and partaking in the sacraments, our prayer life reaches its highest and most sublime point. There, kneeling before the altar, with a "cry of recognition and of love," we offer ourselves in prayer: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Amen.