Roman Catholics, what is the meaning of the Mass?

<-- Catholic

The meaning of the Mass?

- The Mass is a form of Worship, the highest form because it mirrors worship and celebration that is depicted in the Book of Revelations. During the Mass, we Christians on Earth get to join with the Angels and Saints in Heaven in praising and worshiping God.

Can you imagine of a higher honor or a greater expression?

- The Mass is also a solemn encounter with the living Christ. Through the Eucharist (the summit and culmination of the Mass) Jesus becomes bodily present in the Church and each person who goes up to receive him, receives him into their bodies and accepts the Grace of God within them.

- The Mass has several parts to it, each with its own meaning.

-- Entrance - the faithful unite in singing and praise at the beginning of Mass, realizing that they are about to come into the presence of the Lord

-- Penitential Rite - The faithful ask God for forgiveness and acknowledge that all of us have sinned. We ask those present and in Heaven to pray for us. We prepare ourselves to spend time with the Lord.

-- Reading from the Bible -- There are then 2 readings from the Bible. Often times 1 from the Old Testament and 1 from the New. - We grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures. Readings are selected in a 3yr. cycle to ensure that if we attended Mass everyday, we'd hear the entire Bible read to us during that time.

-- Gospel - We all stand and sing Alleluia as the Priest raises the Bible so all can see. We rejoice at even the SIGHT of the Bible and in anticipation of hearing the Gospel read to us. The Priest then reads a passage from one of the Gospels.

-- Sermon/Homily - The Priest then ties all 3 Bible readings together and gives a 7-10min sermon on what we should learn from that. So our knowledge of God is expanded as he perhaps points out things we hadn't considered on our own.

-- Prayers of the faithful - We then listen to prayer intentions for the world, for the sick, for social justice issues, etc. - This expands our minds to not just think of ourselves in prayer, but to think of others.

-- Eucharistic Rite - We then enter into the final phase of the Mass by celebrating the Eucharist, when mere bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. Christ is now physically in our midst and dwelling within us. We receive spiritual food to sustain us and strengthen us.

Former Catholic... The meaning of the Mass is the re-enactment of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The bread and the wine are changed into the literal body and blood of Christ (according to Catholic doctrine) and His body is broken again; His blood is shed anew.

This video explains it. Also the priest at Christ the King in Tulsa did a series on understanding the mass. It's on their website.

Here is a link to #1 of the 6 part series of the mass explained. It starts after the regular homily.

http://www.christthekingcatholic.church/sites/defa...

https://youtu.be/drnuGBwLkzo

mass...

meaningless assembly of stupid sinners.......